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LAGOS Law Maker, Hon. NOHEEM BABATUNDE ADAMS
Honourable Noheem Adams is a young and quite affable politician. He’s also very intelligent. He represents Eti-Osa constituency 1 at the Lagos state House of Assembly. He is currently the Majority Leader of the House. Being a Lawmaker exposes him to different kinds of people but he does not suffer fools gladly. Meeting him for the first time, you immediately get the impression he is a very private and organized person. While at work in his office, he appears intensely focused only on his job and the files on his table waiting to be attended to. When he entertains visitors, he tries to make it brief so he can also attend to others without keeping anyone waiting for unnecessarily long periods. But what would perhaps impress you the most about this remarkable legislator is his amiable nature. He is always warm and friendly to the next person, and it’s of little or no significance to him whether he’s older than you or not. This probably explains why he was the clear favourite of his people and eventual winner at the last Lagos Assembly elections held last year where he got the mandate to represent his people for the 3rd term running. City People’s Senior Editor, WALE LAWAL(08037209290) had persistently requested for an interview with Honourable Noheem and was finally given audience not so long ago. The seemingly quiet gentleman was gracious enough to take us through his humble beginning and eventual foray into politics. Here are excerpts.
We’ll like to know a little more about you, sir, can you share a bit about your background with us?
Well, my name is Noheem Babatunde Adams, I am the Lawmaker representing Eti-Osa Constituency 1. I was born into the families of Owoseni Adams and Oketiri of Ado land and Imam Arafa Shitta Eletu Ogudu chieftaincy family with a blood link to the lineage of Olufunmi family of Shangotedo all in Eti- Osa in Lagos State. I had my primary and secondary education here in Lagos. I hold a B.sc in Accounting and an MBA from the Lagos State University and proceeded to start a remarkable career with the Lagos Internal Revenue Service, exiting the agency as Revenue Supervisor after almost a decade. It was shortly after I left that I proceeded to go into mainstream politics because I have always been involved in politics right from my days in the University of Lagos.
I was just going to ask you how your romance with politics started because you don’t exactly cut the picture of a conventional politician?
Yes, like I said, my passion for politics started right from my days in the university. I have always been passionate about fighting for people’s rights and protecting the powerless. I always stand for equity and fairness. In 2003, I emerged the representative of Accounting Department in the Students Parliamentary Council (SPC) of the LASU students Union. And I was only in my 100 level at the time. I also became at a time, the Assistant General Secretary of Faculty of Management Sciences Students Association in my 200 level. In my 400 level, I became the Chairman of the Students Union Electoral Committee and conducted one of the best elections ever conducted in the institution. So, I have always been involved in politics. I always enjoy being in the midst of people and trying to see how we can address critical issues affecting us together.
Having emerged the Lawmaker representing your constituency for a third time, how would you say you have fared? What were the things you started with when you first got into office?
I have done quite a lot. I donated study equipments to Ajah Olomu secondary school, it’s now in operation. I also donated a borehole to Ilaje community in Ajah. I donated a borehole to Igbara community in Eti- Osa local government and I also donated to Iru market right there in my constituency in Eti–Osa. During the empowerment, I was able to empower about 200 hundred people. I gave out monetary gifts, sewing machines, hairdressing machines, generators and several other items. Without meaning to sound immodest, I can tell you I have gone the extra mile to empower my people one way or the other. But you know, you can’t satisfy everybody at the same time, that is totally impossible. What I will continue to do is stay committed to my promise to bring them the dividends of democracy the best way I possibly can. Once the funds to do more are available, they can be rest assured that I will do more and make sure it gets to everyone in every community.
You look quite young, sir, and you don’t exactly look like a politician. You look more like a private career person who may not have time to be meeting and relating with all manner of people as politics demands. How have you handled this part of politics?
One of the things I love the most is meeting people. I derive a lot of joy from it and I really know how to relate well with people I meet. And I guess this is so easy for me because I naturally love socializing. I socialize a lot. I love going to parties, celebrating in other people’s joy and enjoying myself in the process. Whenever people from my constituent invite me to parties, I try as hard as I can to attend if the time is convenient for me. I attend parties organized by leaders of my party and I also attend that of members as well. For me, socializing is part of life. There is so much pressure around us, so sometimes you just need to step out, hang out with friends and relax your brain and your entire self for a while. No matter how busy you are, as a politician most especially, you must mingle with the people, talk to people, hear their views, listen to their opinions and their challenges so you can actually know how to forge ahead in your quest to be of service to them in the most effective way possible.
How easy or difficult was it for you to decide you were going to become a politician, knowing how extremely tough politics can be in this part of the world?
Sincerely, it wasn’t much of a difficult thing for me to decide on. I think it’s been a part of me since my younger days. Like I said earlier, way back then in my University days, I was a student union leader, speaking for the people and fighting for them is something I’ve always been passionate about. So, the motivation and desire to serve people and be a leader of people has been there since my days in Lagos State University. One of the ways I relax and enjoy myself is being in the midst of people. I love talking to people, so I guess you could say I grew naturally into politics. It just became a part of me. I just have a natural flair for politics.
Tell us about your constituent members, how have they assessed your performance so far since you took up the mandate to represent them? What has been your relationship with them?
The relationship between us has always been a fantastic relationship. Anytime I attend the party meetings or LGA meetings or Ward Excos meetings, the reception they give me is overwhelming. They always show me love. They appreciate the things I have been doing for them. They are a fantastic people and I love them. They are appreciative people who show gratitude for every little thing I do for them. I will continue to commend and appreciate them for the opportunity given to me to serve them. Anywhere I go, they always welcome me with open arms.
What are the other things you’re still looking to do for members of your constituency, projects that you hope to start and complete within a short while from now?
We have a lot of projects, but the thing is that in politics, when a project has not been executed, don’t even say a word about it because once you do, the people would start listing that project as one of the things you have promised to do for them which you have not fulfilled. Certainly, I have a lot of projects lined up for my constituency, as soon as we flag off the projects they will see it and we will commission them by the grace of God.
Eti-Osa is known to have some of the most restless youths in Lagos. How do you reach out to the youths? What programs do you have specifically for the youths and for the elderly ones as well?
For the elderly ones, what I do is prepare monetary gifts for them as a way of supporting them. As for the youths, what I do is to give out JAMB forms, GCE forms and encourage them to go school and further their education. And for those who are not interested in furthering their education, we assist them in acquiring vocational skills. We take them through computer trainings, tailoring, etc. Those are some of the little things we do to keep our youths busy and productive. There are several other things we plan to do, hopefully, very soon, we shall unfold them one after the other.
I often ask your colleagues to describe the leadership style of Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, what can you say about him?
Well, what else can I possibly say about the man? Everybody loves him. He’s a man of the people. He’s a man of the masses. Sincerely, if you ask me to score him, I will simply give him a hundred percent. He knows how to co-ordinate people. He knows how to co-ordinate the House of Assembly in a very effective and satisfactory manner. The Speaker rarely criticizes or marginalizes anybody. Nobody can say he has been sidelined by Mr. Speaker, instead, what you’ll hear is that he carries everybody along in the system. He has been very good to everybody, and to me in particular. The man has been so good to me.
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