By Olufemilade Oyinade
Former governor of Lagos and the Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola revealed that All progressives Congress presidential candidate Bola Tinubu was very generous to him when he was a young lawyer, saying he used to give him, “Pocket-Money”
Fashola opened up on how he met the APC chieftain and the genesis of their relationship, explaining that before meeting him in person he had seen Tinubu at various events.
Fashola, commonly described as Super Minister nostalgically recalled how Tinubu was generous to him and would often give him money.
He said he met Tinubu between 1990 or 1991 when he, Bola Tinubu was then working as a Treasurer in Mobil with his office at the Bookshop House CMS on Odunlami Street. “I didn’t directly meet him. I had seen him at parties, but we never met. At that time, I was a senior associate at the law firm of Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe and Belgore, where I was practising.
He disclosed they got introduced when a nephew to Tinubu joined his firm. “Wale Tinubu, his nephew came to join the law firm, then. He was always mentioning “Uncle Bola”, and one day, he said, “let’s go and see my uncle.” We got there and went out to lunch with him. That was when I could say we formally met.
“From then on, he would consult us on legal issues and we would help and give him advice. Sometimes, he would just come and say. “See we have this issue, what do you lawyers think?” We ran around and he would always give us pocket money. I think one thing that left some impressions on me was his commitment to his staff, and that was symbolised by what I witnessed on a particular day after the Sallah celebration.
“He brought Sallah meat to the office and supervised its sharing from floor to floor. As exalted as his office was, he ensured that those who could not come to his house, even to the lowest driver, got part of the Sallah meat. I recalled that after the sharing of the meat, he sent someone to aggregate how much it would cost to buy a soft drink for everybody and equally distributed money to them.
“The incident left an impression on me and that became my practice when I started observing the killing of rams for Sallah. For me, it speaks of his concern about those working for him.”
On why he thinks Tinubu described him as one of his greatest achievements, Fashola stated, “Well, there are many ways to look at it. For me, that kind of statement coming from him puts more pressure on me. I thought that I had seen all the pressure that could come from this experience to be governor of Lagos State. That adds pressure on me in no small measure.
“I think how I became governor is public knowledge. Nothing could put pressure on me than the commitment in pursuit of his decision in 2006 that I was the candidate he was endorsing for governor and the cost in terms of stress, disagreement, fights and long-draw emotional arguments. Of course, immediately after I won the election, the biggest pressure was to ensure that I didn’t regret the decision.
“One, the people of Lagos State could have said: “We didn’t know the man you have brought and this might have turned the state upside down.” There are other sides to it that I would want to keep to myself. As I have said time and time again, he should sit down and write his memoirs so that people may know the story of that election. This is what he should use to explain to Lagosians the offers, the counter offers and choices he made and why he, as it were, went for broke.
“The question to ask is: What was his abiding commitment after eight years as well as questions on who became governor, and who did not? But, in terms of the next step from there, it is to say that it is an enriching experience for our democracy, and not simply about me. It is also about institution building in the sense that I have continued to compare our 13-year journey despite its twists and turns with those that we seek to benchmark ourselves against
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