OLUJIMIAGBAJE

A major contender in the Lagos state gubernatorial election, Olujimi Agbaje of the People Democratic Party (PDP) is the opposition candidate shaking up the incumbent political party that have ruled Lagos for 20years. A three time aspirant, Olujimi is keen on making a change in Lagos and he is by no means throwing in the towel just yet as he is back on the race with his sleeves rolled up to embark on one of the toughest gubernatorial elections to date. Olujimi intends to give it his all in his bid to cinch the coveted seat of Lagos state Governor. This riveting interview has dispelled the notion of him being a ‘leap year candidate’ who only shows up every fours years to contest again. Although many believe Olujimi’s presence on the political scene should be more felt than just a four year appearance at every election, this interview reveals the amount of work Agbaje has done behind the scenes with his plans for Lagos State should he win. He speaks to OLUFUNKE BABS-KUFEJI about his reason for forging on. But the question is, are Lagosians ready for a change?

Being a Lagosian and having lived in Lagos all your life, what has changed about the city and what will you like to see come back to the state?

I am a Lagosian to my deepest roots. On my paternal side, I come from the Onilegbale chieftaincy family of Isale Eko while my paternal grandmother is of the Lasunwon family of Ikorodu. I have extremely fond memories of growing up in Lagos. We lived in Apapa, but I also spent a lot of early childhood with my maternal grandmother on Idoluwo St, Lagos Island.

Apapa was a new development, so we still had wide open spaces to play. I rode my bicycle to and from primary school which was close enough to home. I was safe, my parents knew I was safe. Incredible as it sounds, we used to catch little fish and tadpoles in the gutters flowing round our homes, that’s how clean they were! Crouching in these gutters to get home and escape my father’s attention was standard. They were clean, I only wet my feet!

Idoluwo was different, though just as enjoyable. Isale -Eko, with its Agbo-Ile’s. Whole extended families living in close proximity, looking out for each other, a spirit of community.

We were everybody’s children, liable to be scolded by any adult if we did wrong, with my granny adding her own spanking or scolding to the punishment already suffered. Though living in such relatively densely populated compounds, Isale Eko was clean. Sanitary inspectors (wole wole) did their jobs properly and ensured inhabitants kept decent compounds.

My days at St Gregory’s College - the best! Disciplined, thorough teachers, good food, sound pastoral care, healthy academic and social competition which exposed us. I was adjudged responsible enough to be made a Prefect. Sports was an integral part of the school curriculum and this made us healthy and hardy. My choice of sport was cricket and I played for my school and Lagos State at the National Sports Festival. I treasure the friendships developed from school and sports which have remained for life. I developed a basis and solidification of my Catholic faith. In short, an education at par with any in the world, without leaving Lagos State. We used the public transport system Benson Transport, Oshinowo Transport, LMTS/LSTC, Ferries.

l regret to say that most of what I enjoyed as a child is now beyond the reach of the average Lagosian. Our gutters are filthy and do not flow. Our sidewalks are no longer safe for children to play, with cars and buses driving on them. Traffic has become a nightmare wherever you live, Okokomaiko or Osborne Road. No class of Lagosian is spared.

Infrastructure has seriously deteriorated with planning permissions ignored or circumvented. Neighborhoods are no longer anywhere as safe for us or our children, most of our primary and secondary schools now mere square or rectangular structures without soul. It’s my passion to see that sense of order restored and improved in a modern Lagos that underlines my running for office.

This will be your third time contesting for the governorship election in Lagos state. How confident are you that you will be elected this time?

This election, as have been the two previous ones in which I offered myself, isn’t about me. It is about the people of Lagos versus an oligarchy. As long as the people feel they deserve better and are willing to commit themselves by voting, then their voices will be heard in this election. My electoral base from the previous election remains relatively intact. I have since expanded the base to be much surer of victory this time round. I also believe that my vision is even that much clearer for Lagos. We are addressing issues that are important to Lagosians – the quality of their lives in this State, the economy and their future.

I believe many know my antecedents by now. I am a pharmacist by training and have devoted most of my adult life to caring for the health needs of the communities where my pharmacies have been located over the years - Apapa, Victoria Island, Ikeja. Over the years, my company has represented reputable transnational companies in Nigeria - Pfizer, Wyeth, Sanofi etc. I have been very active in the pharmacy profession holding many positions including National Chairman of the then Nigerian Association of General Practice Pharmacists and Chairman, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria Lagos State. I was awarded Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (FPSN), the youngest Nigerian to be so honoured; Fellow of the West African Post Graduate College of Pharmacists (FPCPharm), Fellow of the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy (FNAPharm). I have served on the boards of educational institutions across the country. Nigeria has also honoured me with Officer of the Order of The Niger (OON) for services to pharmacy and politics.

How did you choose your running mate?

My running mate is Mrs. Haleemat Oluwayemisi Busari. A legal practitioner with over 30 years working experience at the top level of her profession. I had never met her prior to this election campaign but I was clear in the qualities I was looking for in a running mate. I needed someone as a partner who in her own right could be a governor.

We went through a long list of people and shortlisted a few names based on my agreed specifications. I asked about her and then decided to meet her. After a series of talks with her, it was decided that she would be the one. Yemisi will have a specific role to play in our government and I know will be extremely hands on and operational because of her very successful private sector antecedence. She is very experienced in structuring deals especially with respect to investments and fund raising. I know she will adequately oversee our contractual relationships with the private sector and see to our commercial governance issues, which is going to be so important in the light of our plans for Lagos.

The impact of women at the highest levels of government continue to be positively felt worldwide. Yemisi has not been selected as a token female in our government but brings very strong values to the partnership. She has held her own during this campaign. We are going to make a great team.

The slogan for your campaign this year says, “The Mandate To Free Lagos Starts Now”. What inspired this slogan?

The slogan for our campaign is actually Freedom Democracy Lagos and it speaks to the unspoken

Lagos and its residents should be free to dream big, to rise to their highest potential, to participate freely in governance, to demand for accountability, to make their choice of leaders, to create prosperity, share in prosperity and live a good quality life.

challenges that the people of Lagos face. The first being to seek freedom from godfatherism, selfish interests, monopolized opportunities, unachieved lives, hopelessness by the masses, freedom from want and poverty and the terrible traffic that ensures you sleep only four hours a day. The list goes on and on.

The second is the absence of true democracy in the state, where there is a godfather, who has literally derailed democracy in the state and recently truncated the term of a sitting Governor through what was clearly state capture. This is a clear example of people not only losing their freedom to vote, based on how many were harassed in the attempt to do so, but the absence of democracy in the process.

The third aspect of our slogan is about Lagos itself and its unfulfilled potential. Lagos is the 5th largest economy in Africa. Bigger than the economies of Ghana and Kenya combined. Despite this economic status, how is Lagos viewed compared to these countries? Not very well I am afraid.

We live in a State no one quite knows the revenue being generated by the State, a State where activities by the Government are determined by a few vested interests. Lagos is one of the only States left that hasn’t signed the Freedom of Information Act.

This is a State that doesn’t feel it needs to be accountable to its citizens. As I said earlier, Lagos needs to be free from godfatherism, vested interests, traffic, poor school results, a poor health care system. Using traffic as an example, the average Ikorodu resident spends four hours in traffic trying to get to work on the Island and another four hours getting back home. That’s an average of two months in a year in traffic. What kind of life is that? Is that freedom? Lagos is failing. Lagosians need freedom now more than ever.

Lagos and its residents should be free to dream big, to rise to their highest potential, to participate freely in governance, to demand for accountability, to make their choice of leaders, to create prosperity, share in prosperity and live a good quality life.

Governance in Lagos State over the last two decades, has failed to meet even the most basic current needs of our people nor has it laid any foundation for the future. Our citizens have been unwittingly coached into believing that the model of development in small increments foisted on the State since 1999 is a marker of excellent governance.

If elected, what is the first and most important issue concerning the state that you will address and why?

This is a loaded question. Lagos State is failing on so many fronts. We have a situation where the Lagos State population stands in excess of 20 million with a million migrants coming into Lagos annually. Our greatest resource is therefore our people and we have to make them valuable to our society.

If I lock just twenty of our top brains in this State in a room for a week to come up with solutions to deal with our traffic, water, waste, infrastructure and other pressing problems, I bet you they will. Thereafter, the challenge will be the will of leadership to execute with integrity and the care of the people in mind. I intend to do that but honestly, that is the easy part. Solving the problems of Lagos as seen today is not the only pressing issue. But, answering the question of where Lagos will be in the next five, ten and even fifteen years, is the real challenge. That is what I have decided to focus on as the way to rescue our children from a pending economic, social and even political catastrophe in the State.

I am going to focus on human capacity development, using education as the anchor. I launched my BIG IDEA initiative for Lagos, where I have declared a bold vision to spend up to 50% of the State’s resources on building an Education Economy. This simply means that every Ministry, Department and Agency must seek ways to devote up to 50% of their finances, time, manpower and other resources to building a world class knowledge economy for Lagos State.

I am not in the least surprised that we have received mixed reactions to this proclamation, and some say it’s impossible and that I do not know what I am talking about. This, to me, is an example of how we have lost our ability to envision for the future. Nobody wants to do anything bold or audacious anymore. We have been brow beaten into accepting incrementalism, doing bits and pieces here and there. Do you think that is how Dubai got to where it is today? Yet we celebrate them for their vision. I have this big vision for Lagos, and it is my role as a leader to envision for the future and thereafter challenge my team to make it happen, obviously supporting and pushing them all the way.

I will kill two birds with one stone on my plans for Lagos State. First, I will jump start the economy, secondly, by focusing on creating an Education driven economy, I will create sustainability and the path of growth for the future.

While moving immediately to tackle the menace of indiscriminate trailers/trucks on our roads and bridges. Within the first six months as Governor, I will rehabilitate the over 1,700 primary schools in the state. For every school, we will provide borehole facilities, power and internet access. We will embark on a massive fast track recruitment, training and retraining of teachers, paying them additional allowances and providing additional privileges.

I want to make the schools, other education institutions and skills development centres the heart of every community in the 57 Local Government Areas, which we will split into five economic zones. Our skills development initiatives will be designed to respond to the needs of these economic communities.

My BIG IDEA ties in with our strategy for immediate inner-city rejuvenation by an economic engagement with the local communities in the initial rehabilitation of our schools, for which we estimate an injection of N100bn and further subsequent investment in the total education value chain and eco-system. The change has to be transformational rather than incremental or cosmetic,which has been the case in the past twenty years, given the resources that have been available to government to date (close to N7.00tr). We will make everything else – infrastructure, roads, power etc. revolve around education which must be our priority for the next 10years building a knowledge economy.

Of course, my BIG IDEA will not be at the expense of other investments that have to be made. l honestly believe, and do challenge any one, about us making human capital development our value proposition for Lagos State. The knowledge, skills and health of our people, will equip them and future generations for a lifetime of prosperity.

Education is so critical to our success and even more critical to our ability to sustain that success and it will become an anchor for our economic, social and even political development.

l have been challenged about the funding of my BIG IDEA. I will surely get funding to actualise this vision based on the quiet assurances received from those too timid to step out and say so publicly for fear of political reprisals. Hence our cry for freedom! First of all, I am confident that the state will get greater value for money in executing these projects. I also know that I will gain the implicit trust of all those who invest in our mission. They will trust how I will spend, engage and manage their money. They know I will not steal, nor condone it. I know they will trust the integrity of my leadership. I will also raise money from just plugging the huge holes that exist in Lagos State’s Treasury and the wider financial economy of the state. For example, there is the Alpha-Beta company, which, by the admission of its Managing Director receives at least 10% of the State’s tax revenue every month, serving as a conduit pipe for a massive money laundering scheme, tax evasion and other vices and has become an avenue for the official corruption of government officials.

I am extremely excited about our BIG IDEA

You have vowed to remove the Lekki tollgate if elected. But it’s been argued that the toll generates money to maintain the road, so why will you want it removed?

I state it here again, I will remove the Lekki Epe toll gate. My reason is simple, that axis does not have a motorable alternative route. For many of those that live on that axis or are indigenes of that area, they have no other option but to pay the toll.

A tolled road MUST have an alternative. Even though the toll is generating revenue, Government’s infrastructural decisions cannot be based solely on money. I have also heard the argument that by cancelling the tollgate you are sending a message to private investors that there isn’t sanctity of contracts. That argument is flawed. In case people do not know, this particular toll road is no longer a private concern, it is fully owned by the Lagos State government as they have bought back the concession.

Our local governments are no longer as relevant and accountable as they used to be. Do you intend to revive them to their past glory?

Our local governments have been turned into political machineries as opposed to agents of development. The State government has purposefully withheld their funds so they can continue to play the Power game for selfish reasons. The local government is an essential partner and plays an important role in the development of any State. They function at the community level and are thus close to the citizens. Our local governments need to be revived, given the resources that are due to them and be monitored effectively for accountability purposes. The Local Governments in Lagos State will be empowered like they have never been before, to step up and take responsibility for the urban renewal, which our education economy is going to drive. Clearly some will struggle initially but it will be our role to support and encourage them.

Being in the medical field, what will be your immediate solution to dealing with waste disposal, pollution and health care in Lagos?

The Healthcare model we intend to run is very similar to the UK National Health Service Scheme that revolves around the private general practitioner. It will place emphasis on primary healthcare that is responsible for up to 75% of our health issues. Part of our school rehabilitation programme, includes the situation, where physically possible, of basic health care centres within the school premises, or certainly near its vicinity, so that it can benefit from the facilities of the school, e.g. water, power, security etc. This will serve as transition, whilst the private general practitioners get embedded in the health scheme. All this is in our bid to make the community life revolve around the schools.

Lagos State generates 12,000-14,000 metric tonnes of waste on a daily basis, equivalent to an estimated 400 trailer loads. We need to implement the 3Rs of waste management; Recover, Recycle, Reuse.

All we significantly do is the Recovery model where we concentrate on collection of refuse, look for places to dump the waste which then end up on the streets. So we have to learn to recycle our waste by sorting into organic or inorganic waste and “process” accordingly. The final and ironically profitable part of our waste management strategy will be the reuse of waste. Options include the conversion of organic waste into biogas, or compost. Inorganic waste such as plastics being turned into pellets and back into bottles.

We must aim for a zero-waste policy. We must see waste as a valuable resource and start working to change that mindset right from our kids in schools.

On infrastructure, most especially road transportation, what are your plans to improve on the present situation and not just major roads but the inner roads too?

The dilapidated state of our roads has led to the terrible state of traffic we experience in Lagos State today. Like I said earlier, people in particular parts of Lagos state spend an average of two months a year of their lives intraffic!

Our short term, quick fix approach is to fix all potholes regularly as they arise. Again, the local governments must take active part in this. Our traffic lights must be working and also working smarter. No reason why the traffic lights can’t work with radar thus sensing where traffic is heavy and adjusting the lights based on traffic flow. Our traffic operatives must also work more efficiently, with adequate training and support required to make sure they bring sanity to our roads. We must restore order on our roads.

Our mid to long-term solution will give Lagos a multi modal transportation system of a combination of road, water and rail transportation. I talked about using ferries as a young lad growing up in Lagos. We must take full advantage of our waterways, dredge them when necessary so that bigger safer ferries can ply deeper waters. Ikorodu, Badagry, Epe to Lagos MUST become a reliable option to commuters because it will be safer and more conducive for goods transportation. A light rail system that has been 12 years in the making is an offence against Lagosians. It will be completed soonest and come into use. We must also promote a walkable city. Sidewalks must be enforced, and they make the environment neater.

Lagos transportation issues are deeper than fixing the roads. There is also an urban planning problem. Why must people in Igando or Agbara have to travel to VI every day to work? As I mentioned earlier, we intend to split Lagos State into five economic zones, almost like self-contained cities where accommodation, jobs, school, recreation are all provided in a locality reducing the daily movement of Lagosians across the State. This will have a significant positive impact on the traffic situation.

What will be the philosophy of your government?

My governance will be an open and accountable government. A government that is about the people and not a few. A government that allows for feedback and actually listens. A firm but humane government. A government where the buck stops on my table.

Do you have any plans for the youths, less privileged and how do you intend to make sure they are accommodated in your government?

As part of our manifesto, we have pledged that 10 percent of the Lagos State procurement budget will be set aside specifically for the youth, less privileged, the disabled and women. So, our BIG IDEA is going to incorporate this as we increase the level of community participation in our inner-city rejuvenation. SMEs will also implement majority of the capital expenditure of our Big Idea (the Education Ecosystem).

This is not a charity case but providing that support required in the first step towards being entrepreneurial. This will also come with the appropriate mentoring and training.

I have also said I will be the oldest member of my cabinet.

When you are not being a pharmacist, businessman or politician, what do you enjoy doing?

I enjoy reading, travelling, watching movies and having a quiet time relaxing with family. My wife, Biola and I, have been married for 37 years. As our family has expanded, catching up with our lives, discussing Lagos, Nigeria and global events is always lively! I also enjoy quality time with friends.

Do you have any pet peeves?

I do not like procrastination or dishonesty. Procrastination makes for missed opportunities, dishonesty is just plain bad.

Any last word to the electorate on the importance of voting during the coming election?

Lagos State has enormous potential. We are talking about the 5th largest economy in Africa but does it feel or look that way?

Voting is the only way for the people to change their story. Without voting, all the frustration, vocal opinions and arguments we have on a daily basis amount to nothing.

l have heard a few people say what’s the point in voting? Our votes don’t count. Trust me, they do. When you are registered to vote, and you don’t cast your vote, someone else will vote for you.

I want to ensure that Lagosians get value for the huge sums of money made by this state. I have a clear and workable strategy to realise this vision for the benefit of every Lagosian, not just the few who have held our beloved state hostage for so long.

My BIG idea will catapult Lagos state into a totally new realm, bringing with it the fresh opportunities for people that this State so desperately need. Remember that it took Obafemi Awolowo less than seven years to create a legacy that so many wish to be associated with. It took Alhaji Lateef Jakande three months to abolish the three -shift education system In Lagos. Jakande’s ferries were operational within two years of coming into office. In four years, he built six mini waterworks; 14,000 low cost houses and contracted for the Lagos Metro line project. It took Mudasiru less than two years to establish new standards for low cost housing and rebuilt 30 schools in Lagos. It took Malaysia and Singapore (countries poorer than Nigeria in 1964) less than 20 years to become ten times richer than Nigeria. All of this, driven by a strong vision.

I therefore ask Lagosians to share this vision with me. It has been done and it can be redone. It is time to try something new and bold. There will be no regrets.

Education is so critical to our success and even more critical to our ability to sustain that success and it will become an anchor for our economic, social and even political development.