Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN (Yoruba: Babatúndé Rájì Fáṣọlá; born June 28, 1963) is the thirteenth
governor of Lagos State, Nigeria.[1] As a candidate of the Action Congress party, Fashola succeeded Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on April
14, 2007,[1] and was sworn in on May 29, 2007.[1] He was reelected on 26 April 2011.[3]
Babatunde Raji
Fashola (SAN) is a descendant of the patriarch of the Fashola family, Alfa
Bello Fashola of Princess Street in Isale Gangan, Lagos. On the Fashola family
tree, he is the great-great grandson of Bello Fashola, a philanthropist and a
very close friend of Esugbayi Eleko, who contributed morally and financially to
the struggle to return Esugbayi Eleko to Lagos after the Oba's banishment from
his kingdom by the then colonial government. Bello Fashola had 137 children
with Tiamiyu Bashorun Fashola as the eldest child. The direct linkage is as
follows: Bello Fashola begat Tiamiyu Fashola, who begat Raji Olayinka Fashola,
who begat Ademola Fashola who begat Babatunde Raji Fashola.
He is also linked to Isale Eko through
his paternal grandmother who is a direct descendant of the Shomade/Bashua
family of Obun Eko and Suenu chieftaincy family house. His paternal great,
great grandmother was Jarinatu Okunnu from Isale Eko Onilegbe family whilst his
maternal great grandmother is from Idumagbo Isale Eko of the Suenu Chieftaincy
family.
Early career
Babatunde Raji Fashola was born in Lagos on
June 28, 1963. He attended Birch Freeman High school Lagos and Igbobi College Lagos. He studied Law at the University of Benin from
where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws, LL.B.(Hon), degree in 1987.
He is married to Mrs. Abimbola Emmanuela Fashola and they
have children.
He was called to the Nigerian Bar as a solicitor and
advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in
November 1988 after completing the professional training programme at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos which he undertook between 1987
and 1988. His legal career of over one and a half decades, commenced in the law
Firm of Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe and Belgore, where he cut his legal teeth as
a litigator over such wide-ranging areas of specialization as, intellectual
property (registration of trade marks), commercial law, covering general
contracts, company activities, mergers, acquisitions, right issues, ownership
of shares and equity of corporations, as well as land disputes, criminal law
and chieftaincy matters, in all of which he has come to acquire appreciable
expertise and vast experience.
Fashola, a Notary Public of the Supreme Court of Nigeria,
has been variously honoured with awards and certificates of merit including the
Distinguished Alumnus Award conferred on him by the University of Benin Alumni
Association in recognition of contributions to the Alumnus association and
humanity. He is also a recipient of Lagos State public service club Platinum
Award for outstanding contribution towards development. As well as Alliance for
Democracy " Igbogbo Bayeku Local Government Award" in recognition of
activities towards the success of the party.
Babatunde Fashola is also a Patron of the Law Students
Association of the University of Benin and he is the second law graduate from
the University of Benin and the first member of the Nigerian Law School
graduating class of 1988 to be conferred with the professional rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He is also the First ever Chief
of Staff to be so honoured. He is a member of theNigerian Bar Association, the International Bar Association
and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.
Political career
Babatunde Fashola served the State in various capacities,
including:
·
Secretary of the
Lands Sub-Committee of the Transitional Work Groups. 1999.
·
Member of the
panel of Enquiry into allocation of houses on the Mobolaji Johnson Housing
Scheme at Lekki, 2000.
·
Member of the
State Tenders Board- 2002- 2006.
·
Member of Lagos
State Executive Council-2002-2006.
·
Member of the
State Security Council-2002-2006
·
Member of the
State Treasury Board-2002-2006
·
Chairman Ad-Hoc
Committee on the Review of Asset distribution among Local Government.
He was Chief of Staff to his
predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Fashola had during his tenure as Chief of Staff also dubbed as the Honourable
Commissioner to the Governor's office. He was the first person to hold both offices
simultaneously.
Babatunde Fashola commenced a four-year tenure as the
Executive Governor of Lagos State in Nigeria on
May 29, 2007. In June 2007, Babatunde Fashola appointed former Inspector
General of Police Musiliu Smith head of the Lagos State Security
council, a body charged with taking a holistic look at the anatomy of crime in
the state.[4] The Babatunde Fashola Good Governance
Group (G3) movement is a good example of Fashola's commitment to reaching out
to the people using various media channels.
Taxation
One of the main source of Lagos State government' funds
are received as tax payers' money. Recently, a controversial proposal to charge consumption tax on eateries had been enforced.[6] The matter was taken to court, but the
ruling was announced in the government's favor.[7]
Babatunde Fashola vowed to rehabilitate the state's
public schools, long being neglected with time. Among the schools being
habilitated included the governor's alma mater, Birch Freeman High School,
which is located at a busy metropolis of Surulere.
The Eko Mega City Project
The biggest task Babatunde Fashola faces in office is his
visionary project to transform Lagos into a mega city,[8] the first of its kind in Lagosian
history. Although initialized under the former governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in
June 2002,[9] the mega project task accelerated
under Fashola's governorship. Both private and public sectors are involved in
fulfilling the project.[9][10]
The crucial part of the mega city project is the
rehabilitation of Lagos' infrastructures and districts. Formerly taken care of
by the federal government, they were immediately neglected, as Abuja was
declared Nigeria's new capital since 1991.[9] According to Lagos Rail Mass Transit, proposed light
railways will be consisted of the outskirt blue-line and inner red-line
destinations.[11] As part of the project, the Badagry
Expressway, which links Lagos directly to the south-eastern border of Benin Republic, is
currently being rehabilitated by various contractors,[12] with BRT and railway networks being established.[13]
Another ambition is to recover lands at Victoria Island,
being lost to erosion for decades.[14] This artificial terrain is the
location of the proposed Eko Atlantic City. This is
also to support housing project that would accommodate up to 25 million
Lagosians by 2015, a population growth from 15 million that could turn Lagos
into the world's third largest city.[15]
In October 2009, Babatunde Fashola posthumously dedicated
a garden personally, in honour of the memory of late professor Ayodele Awojobi at Onike Roundabout, Yaba, Lagos, with
a statue of the famous academic erected at the centre.Artists of repute such as
Oladejo Victor Akinlonu has commended the Governor on a job well done on the
various value enhancement and beautification of Lagos state been a pioneer in
the beautification of the state since the 80's Oladejo enjoined artists to work
with the Governor.Oladejo's works such as the eyo masquerade and the Bust of
Sir Alexander Molade Okoya Thomas where commissioned by the Governor.[16]
Haiti earthquake fund-raising
As soon as Haiti was
struck by a magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, Babatunde
Fashola launched an appeal to raise up to one million U.S. dollars. The funds
raised were used to assist the victims of the Haiti quake. As this was in
place, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr. Adeyemi Ikuforiji,
said Nigerians should be prepared in events of natural disasters.
Political limbo
By December 2009, there had been rumours and speculation
by news media that Babatunde Fashola was subjected to a possible impeachment
from within, primarily because of disagreements with the former governor.
Ironically, a similar situation played itself out between Tinubu and Femi Pedro, Tinubu's former
Deputy Governor, in the run-up to the gubernatorial elections in 2007. It is
believed that there was a dispute over Fashola's 2.1 billion Naira worth of
commission with the former governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu,[18] although both Fashola and the Lagos State House of Assembly had earlier denied such plot ever took
place.[19] [20]
But in late January 2010, the Lagos State House of
Assembly launched an investigation into possible mishandling of tax payers'
money by Fashola, mainly on the ongoing mega city project.[21]The accusations
range from importing of palm trees from Niger, for gardening projects within a rain
forest state, to improper usage of contract money involving one of Lagos
State's contractors.[22]The group carrying
out the investigation was known as the "True Face of Lagos". The
final reports were due to be submitted on February 15, 2010,[21][23] but the True Face of Lagos was later
abolished. There were attempts to re-launch the probes through a petition,[24] but they were again being turned down
by the court.[25]
THE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) finally ended months
of speculation over the second term ambition of the Lagos State Governor
Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), when it endorsed him as the party’s sole
candidate for the 2011 governorship election.On Wednesday, at the party’s
secretariat, in Ikeja Lagos, Fashola’s predecessor, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu
who people perceived to be at the centre of the uncertainty over the political
future of Fashola announced the decision of the party.
Before thousands of the party supporters, Tinubu, who
flew into Lagos from Abuja because of the emergency stakeholders’ meeting
raised Fashola’s hand and said: “Today, by the power conferred on me by the
ACN, in consultation and in agreement with all our party leaders throughout the
state and at the national level, I am announcing to you, the final endorsement
of Raji Babatunde Fashola for the 2011 election.” He was reelected on 26 April 2011 by a
massive landslide victory.
Tags
Politics