Sanwo-olu names Onikan Stadium after first Lagos gov

LBabajide Sanwo-olu, yesterday, during a ‘Day of Honour’ organised to celebrate the first military governor of Lagos, the late BrigGen. Mobolaji Johnson, renamed the re-constructed Onikan stadium as ‘Mobolaji Olufunso Johnson Arena’.

The late Johnson, who was always present in state’s events, despite not physically strong, passed on in his Ilupeju home on October 30, at the age of 83.

Paying glowing tributes to the late military administrator, Sanwo-olu described him as a man who sa w the future and worked to achieve the Lagos dream.

The governor and his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, led other members of the State Executive Council (SEC) and other dignitaries to the event.

Sanwo-olu said the late Johnson’s selflessness in service and excellent achievements had been a source of inspiration to successive administrations in Lagos.

Describing the former administrator as quintessential manager of resources and people, Sanwo-olu said the late Johnson’s personality symbolised integrity, humility, fairness and justice.

He said: “In whatever role we knew him, the first and longest serving military administrator of Lagos stood out as a special person for his leadership and charismatic personality. If anyone was qualified to be addressed as ‘an officer and a gentleman’, it was Brig-gen. Johnson. Despite his imposing frame, he was as gentle as a dove. “He never threw his weight around, though he was a man of power. As a man of authority, he was never authoritarian. Though a soldier, he never ruled with an iron hand; he was compassionate.”

The late Johnson’s administration, Sanwo-olu added, started the construction of Ikorodu and Mushin general hospitals, and modernised the Lagos Island General Hospital, expanding its facilities.

Aside building maternity annex at Onikan Health Centre and an additional ward at Igbobi Orthopedic Hospital, the governor said the late Johnson also established five new government colleges in each of the five divisions of the state.

All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Bola Tinubu, spoke glowingly of the deceased, describing him as “a servant leader and a man of incorruptible character”.

The former governor said the late Johnson, despite being a military administrator, held the people as the cornerstone of his administration and economic policies.