₦airaland Forum

Never knew he was a governor in Lagos state

It looks like people are surprised that Lagos had a governor that was not an indigene.

There was a time that military governors were usually indigenes of the state that they governed, but some people accused them of being partial and so it was decided that neutral people should be appointed. Therefore, subsequent military governors were usually not indigenes of the state that they governed. It was also believed that this would help to create a more cohesive country.

So, for example, Navy Captain Adekunle Lawal was governor of Imo State from 1977-1978 and Brigadier Sunday Ajibade Adenihun was governor of Imo State from 1978 - 1979.

Godblessbiafraa:
Ndubuisi Kanu, former Lagos State governor



Duly elected and loved by the good people of Lagos State

asin eh. The most popular governor in the history of the SW.

StacyO:
Ambode was a prodigal son.


He chose the right path and his ogas at the top tried everything possible to make him an errand boy all to no avail.


Any governor elected in Lagos,must run one or two errands. Get little to nothing in return and sacrifice the larger portion of the meat for the big gods at the top.
Take a look at Sanwolu.


I bet it's the same thing being done to Osibanjo.

But,Ambode knew what integrity meant and decided to part ways with em.
Tinubu isn't left out cause in every 10%,7% goes to him while roughly 1% goes to ambode. The rest end up being used for infrastructure.

Ambode is a betrayer in the secret cult.

You said it all. They are trying everything possible to make ambode irrelevant.. If you talk some people will fight you... They worship one man.

[quote author=mountmoriah post=98096386][/quote]we built Lagos!!!

thatigboman:
i should my parents what i know? Lagos is no man's land, former colony of britain, former fct, developed by igbos and white man when your great grand parents were farming cassava in osogbo

Biafra is no man's Land because Nigeria Conquered it.

So an Igboman was leader of NADECO, yet tinubu e-rodents are busy pushing the narrative that Tinubu is NADECO and NADECO is Tinubu

There are so many people on this thread that are ignorant of the most basic things that happened in Nigeria's history.

Godblessbiafraa:
Ndubuisi Kanu, former Lagos State governor



Duly elected and loved by the good people of Lagos State

.He was appointed not elected.

IamAtikulate:
So an Igboman was leader of NADECO, yet tinubu e-rodents are busy pushing the narrative that Tinubu is NADECO and NADECO is Tinubu

Most of them started following politics from 1999. More than 16 Igbos were signatories to the formation of Nadeco including our own Chukwuemeka Ezeife. Ezeife as civilian governor single handedly won Anambra, an important Igbo state, for Abiola.

When Abiola was denied, presidency he stood by him till the end. Most youths from the west were really shielded from the happenings in their country unfortunately. They are always looking for a king who will speak and act on their behalf. Imagine some of them saying that the entire Igboland stood with Abacha while they fought and won democracy with super human ability.

If Humphery Nwosu an Igbo man did not brave all odds and declare the election results, by law Abiola won't have been said to have won the election. The man risked his life for what was just, but today he is among the Igbos who do not want Abiola to rule. Very childish set of people.

naptu2:
There are so many people on this thread that are ignorant of the most basic things that happened in Nigeria's history.

The level of ignorance is really nauseating.

humilitypays:
Lagos Oni Baaje oh



Tinubu online hoodlums will not like this and I want to use this opportunity to tell Nigerian Police to shoot at sight any APC member seen at that burial except Sanwo-Olu

Stop this please,this is not the right place to start clowning around.

Oga give the family the money of the burial pls he can't be buried twice

IamAtikulate:
So an Igboman was leader of NADECO, yet tinubu e-rodents are busy pushing the narrative that Tinubu is NADECO and NADECO is Tinubu

the coward tinubu from osun that ran through cotonou to uk to start driving taxi there? The cocaine- stained yellow teeth tinubu that ran back after abacha died, with less than 10,000 naira on him and being chased by FBI for drug related convictions in US that he jumped bail. Now, lagos richest landlord.
Tinubu should go to US, let's see something.

Way to go, God bless Lagos State

Eko o ni baje....

naptu2:
It looks like people are surprised that Lagos had a governor that was not an indigene.

There was a time that military governors were usually indigenes of the state that they governed, but some people accused them of being partial and so it was decided that neutral people should be appointed. Therefore, subsequent military governors were usually not indigenes of the state that they governed. It was also believed that this would help to create a more cohesive country.

So, for example, Navy Captain Adekunle Lawal was governor of Imo State from 1977-1978 and Brigadier Sunday Ajibade Adenihun was governor of Imo State from 1978 - 1979.

Bros. There's this governor or military admistrator I remember who governed Lagos state: Buba Marwa.

If I can remember correctly he performed just as good as Lateef Jakande.

Can't really remember his rant in the army.

joseph1832:
Bros. There's this governor or military admistrator I remember who governed Lagos state: Buba Marwa.

If I can remember correctly he performed just as good as Lateef Jakande.

Can't really remember his rant in the army.

Colonel Mohammed Buba Marwa. He became a Brigadier General just before he left office (just like Rasaki).

I'll give a better response about him in the next post, but your post reminded me of this.

naptu2:
Lagos State has always been blessed with very good governors. In my view, the best are:

Mobolaji Johnson (Itoikin Bridge, planning the Ring Road system [including Eko and 3rd Mainland bridges], Badagry Expressway, etc)

Lateef Jakande (LTV, Lekki Expressway, Lasu, Low Cost Housing Estates, etc)

Raji Rasaki (Adiyan Waterworks, completion of 3rd Mainland Bridge [Babangida ordered his secretary not to allow Rasaki into his office again, because Rasaki was always disturbing him about the 3rd Mainland Bridge], Lagos Horizon Newspaper, Opebi-Oregun Link Bridge, etc)

Mohammed Buba Marwa - Eko FM, LASUTH, Direct Labour Agency [which patched the roads that were left in a state of disrepair by Mr. No Bitumen ], Marwa Gardens, Eko FM, Operation Sweep


Bola Tinubu (Lasambus, BRT, Kai, Office of The Public Defender, Lagos Emergency Points, Millenium Schools, Lasuth, LASTMA, reconstruction of roads that were left in a state of disrepair by Mr. No Bitumen and patched by Governor Marwa, etc).

Raji Fashola (Okota-Itire Link Bridge, Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge, Lasu-Iba Road, Lasmi Cabs, Traffic Radio, LRT, Lagos HOMS, expension and modernisation of the Lekki Expressway, Lagos State Security Trust Fund, etc)


Governors Otedola, Akhigbe (Ikeja flyovers), Mudashiru (rehabilitation of Jakande schools), Kanu, Lawal and Ukiwe also did well. I won't rate them as the best, but I'll say they did very well.

The lone exception is Colonel Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Mr. No Bitumen) who did absolutely nothing. He sat and watched as Lagos roads became filled with ginormous craters, hills and valleys. Awolowo Road was an eyesore at this time.

However, if you tell some people that Governor Johnson did a lot, they will direct your attention to Eko Court and the armed robbery edict. If you tell them that Governor Rasaki was an action governor, they will remind you of Maroko and Ilado. If you tell them that Marwa was very popular, they will tell you that he served Abacha, that Operation Sweep killed many innocent people and they will ask you where he got the money with which he started his airline (some will even tell you that he was one of the people that delivered the parcel bomb to Dele Giwa's house and they will also remind you about Bagauda Kaltho's death). If you tell them that Tinubu transformed Lagos from the huge refuse dumps and bad roads of the 1990s to a clean place with smooth roads, they will tell you that Tinubu owns the whole of Lagos. If you tell them that Fashola brought back sanity to Oshodi and continued the progress started by Tinubu, they will tell you that Fashola is elitist.

But the argument that I find most fascinating and which was revived upper Sunday, is the debate about the tenure of Lateef Kayode Jakande (LKJ).

I believe that Baba Kekere is one of the best governors that Lagos has ever had (you'll see why in a minute), but I also acknowledge his flaws. However, it's very difficult for most people to assess him objectively. They either love him dearly or hate him passionately.


LKJ implemented the progressive/welfarist manifesto of the UPN to the letter. The LSTC was still running at the time that Jakande was governor and he converted some of the LSTC buses (including some of the air conditioned buses) into Scholars Bus, buses that were specifically designated to convey primary and secondary school children to and from school for free.

He utilised the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) to build low cost houses/flats, which low and medium income people could buy via a mortgage scheme (they paid back in instalments over a 10-25 year period).

Jakande endeared himself to the people by using his private car, a Toyota Crown (or was it a Cressida?) as his official car, rather than one of the long wheel base mercedes limousines that were common at the time. (He used that same car as his official car when he became Minister of Works in the Abacha Government, but his motorcade looked funny to me because the official Peugoet 505 Evolution that was meant to be his official car was often driven behind the Toyota).

Governor Jakande revived the Lagos Metroline plan which had been abandoned by the previous military government. The system had been originally planned by United Nations experts that were advising the Federal Government in the 1960s, but successive governments were not serious about it. Governor Jakande was very serious about it and the right of way had already been demarcated by the time he was removed from office.

He established the Lagos Television (LTV), the only state tv station (the previous state and regional tv stations had been taken over by the Federal Military Government in the mid-1970s). The NPN controlled Federal Government quickly established a youth oriented tv station on the exact same frequency (NTA2 Channel 5) and LTV was eventually forced to move to Channel 8 (it was forced to move again in the 1990s, when the Federal Government reserved the VHF frequency band for only Federal Government owned stations. It eventually settled on Channel 35).

He also established Lasu, a multi-campus university that was modelled after the University of California multi-campus system.

But, the most controversial policy of the government (and the policy that was the subject of Sunday's debate) was the education policy.

The Federal Military Government had taken over private primary and secondary schools in the 1970s. Part of the reason for the take over was the fear that most of these schools were, in one way or another, controlled by foreign organisations and people, such as foreign missionaries and that it was dangerous to leave the education of Nigerian children in the hands of foreigners. These primary and secondary schools were handed over to the states by the Federal Government (the Federal Military Government also took over regional/state owned universities and still owns and manages those universities today).

Governor Jakande decided that every child must attend school, that they (and their parents) must spend little or nothing to get an education and that this must be done on budget (that is, the government must also not overspend in order to achieve this). So the government created numerous schools (I don't think any government in the history of Lagos has created as many schools as Jakande did).

The scholars buses ferried children to and from school free of charge and the government also reached agreements with publishers to supply books to the schools at no cost to the students.

I took some of those books from one of those students at that time and below are pictures of one of those books.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/10485552_101209415112779724628382974985295233809545n_jpegf25c7149db0ded952da615210e0b0c92

www.nairaland.com/attachments/10485553_1054885415112786091294413277182517401698560o_jpeg9a86eea7fd3015de841be594b17c80e7

You can see that it has the Seal of the Lagos State Government on it. This notice is stamped on some of the pages of the book - "Property of the Lagos State Government. Not for sale" (the notice on the pages of another book reads - "Property of the Lagos State Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Not for sale" ). The name of the particular school was also stamped on the books and it was a huge offence to sell those books.

One of my favourite parts of the policy and one that was hated by many students, is the part that was known as Center. Basically, students from schools in a particular area or neighbourhood would congregate at a centre in which they would be taught woodwork, home economics and other hands on subjects.

So, how can anyone have a problem with this policy?

1) Multiple schools: - Remember that most of these schools were seized from their original owners, most of whom were european missionaries. The missionaries believed in total, all-round education. They believed that it was important to educate the mind, body and soul. So most of those schools had large football fields, cricket pitches, basketball and tennis courts, chapels and mosques and even swimming pools. They also had farms for agricultural science and facilities for music, arts and drama.

Jakande was determined to get as many people as possible into school, so he built new classroom blocks on those sports facilities. Several schools were built in the same compound. You had "Government College, School 1", "Government College, School 2", "Government College, School 3" (sounds like a nollywood movie, doesn't it?) and so on and so forth. Many of the schools (classroom blocks) were built so close to each other that they were poorly ventilated. If you go round Lagos, you'd see a lot of these schools that were established between 1980 and 1982.

Someone complained, "What kind of schools were those? They had no laboratories, no sports facilities, no libraries, just blocks of badly built classrooms".

The original owners and ex-students of these schools were also very upset that their school compounds were being broken up in this manner (a visit to Igbobi College or Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School will give you an idea of what happened. The Aunty Ayo School system was divided into 3 schools!).

2) The buildings: - The quality of the new buildings was also another source of concern. I watched a documentary on Jakande's birthday, in which the project coordinator explained what happened. Jakande told her that he wanted X number of classrooms built at Y amount. She went, did her study and came back and told him that it was impossible. He replied that he had faith in her and he knew that she could do it and restated that he wanted X number of classrooms built at Y amount. That she should find out where she can make savings. So she went back and made some adjustments. Rather than using glass window panes, they used wood. They made other similar adjustments and were able to build X number of schools for Y amount.

This was one of the things that infuriated people the most. One of my friends on Sunday complained that, "I can never like that guy. I don't know why people are trying to whitewash and launder his image. That guy built chicken sheds in my school and called them classrooms!"

Many of those classroom blocks were very basic. Some had no coat of paint, some had wooden windows, no fans, no electricity, etc.

Governor Mudashiru, who took over from Jakande, had to spend a lot of money to upgrade some of the classroom blocks.

3) Interview: - Like I said earlier, the missionairies and the colonial government believed in total education. They believed that they should not only educate the mind, but that they should also develop the body, social skills, behaviour and spiritual needs of the child. So there were sports activities, plays, musical performances, etc.

Thus, prospective students were interviewed and investigated to determine their suitability, not only academically (which would have been determined by the entrance examinations), but also in terms of character.

Jakande's policy dictated that school districts were divided into catchment areas. Principals of secondary schools had to accept students from specified primary schools in their catchment areas (so long as the student passed the G2 primary school leaving certificate exam [one of the easiest exams you could ever take). It was also very difficult for the principals to expel these students, except the student failed promotion exams twice.

The result was that many unruly students were admitted into these schools. Discipline broke down. It became quite normal to read stories in the newspapers about students beating up teachers and even principals. This was also one of the reasons why the old Principals Cup Competition was suspended. Extreme violence often accompanied these football matches. Secondary school students went to school and football matches with axes (known as UTC), cutlasses and other dangerous weapons.

4) Carrying capacity: - The policy led to a dramatic increase in school enrollment and this put a huge strain on facilities (despite the rapid increase in schools and classrooms). Most schools, pre-1979, had a student-class ratio of 25 or 30 students per class. This changed during the Jakande era and it was not unusual to see classrooms with 60 to 100 students.

5) Shift system and boarding facilities: - Jakande's aim was to provide education to as many people as possible, so it was very strange that he abolished the shift system.

Pre-1979, people who were unable to get an education when they were younger and those who could not make it into the regular morning session because of space constraints, could enroll in the evening school system. Most schools had both a morning and an evening session (usually using the same school buildings, but sometimes using separate buildings). Jakande abolished that system and the morning session became the only session. For example, the facilities that were used for St Gregory's College's evening session became the Government College Victoria Island (GoCoVi). The shift system was initially created by the civillian and military governments of the 1960s, when the launched "universal education" policies. The facilities overstretched the existing facilities, so they had to introduce a shift system.

Jakande also abolished the boarding school system. The government planned to demolish the hostels and build classroom blocks where the hostels previously stood.



Now, certain families have a tradition of attending the legacy schools in Lagos. The legacy schools include:

CMS Grammar School, Methodist Boys High School, Methodist Girls High School, Anwar-Ul Islam Model College (formerly Ahmadiyya College and before that, it was known as Saka Tinubu), Anwar-Ul Islam Girls High School (formerly Ahmadiyya Girls College), St Gregory's College, Holy Child College, Baptist Academy, Kings College, Queens College, St Finbarr's College, Our Lady Of Apostles Secondary School, Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School, Aunty Ayo International School, etc. (All of these schools, except Kings and Queens College, were taken over by the State Government. Aunty Ayo was divided into 3 and 2 of the schools were taken over by the State, while one remained private).

I know a family which has had at least one member in a particular school every decade since the 1920s. I know another family in which the tradition is so strong that the children are brought back to Lagos, from wherever they are in the world, to attend a particular school (or its sister school). These families were very angry at the way that Jakande was "destroying" "their" schools. The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Okogie, launched scathing attacks against Jakande in the newspapers. He also instituted several lawsuits against the Lagos State Government. The families made several attempts to stop the LASG's attempt to "destroy" their schools. The Old Boys of Igbobi College stopped funding the school at a point, because they were depressed by what was happening to it.

It became an insult to be referred to as a Jakande boy or Jakande girl (they were synonymous with the word "thug" ) or for someone to say that you attended a Jakande school.


However, like my other friend would point out, this policy enabled many people who would probably have been uneducated and a problem to society, to get an education, get a job, feed their family/be independent and contribute to Nigeria's development. Cricket pitches, football fields, etc are a small price to pay in exchange for that.

naptu2:
Good God! Was there anything like Lagos State during the First Republic?? Can't you read?

Spare us the sham indignation

That is exactly the point

Why are you listing Yaradua with the others

Just admit you were wrong and move on.

Even in a Common entrance examination question to pick the odd one out it is obviously Yaradua he has no business in the company of a list of Governors of Lagos State. NONE

joseph1832:
Bros. There's this governor or military admistrator I remember who governed Lagos state: Buba Marwa.

If I can remember correctly he performed just as good as Lateef Jakande.

Can't really remember his rant in the army.

Colonel Olagunsoye Oyinlola is the worst governor of Lagos that I've ever seen in my life and so Governor Marwa was like a breath of fresh air.


Lagos roads became absolutely terrible during Oyinlola's tenure, but every time people asked him about the roads his answer was always, "There is no bitumen", so I called him "Mr No Bitumen".

Marwa came and ensured that the Lagos Works Agency patched all the roads that had been destroyed during Oyinlola's tenure. It wasn't perfect, but it was far better than what Oyinlola left.

His public relations was topnotch. There was a time that there was a rumour that there was "killer beans" in Lagos. Governor Marwa drove to a roadside Akara seller, bought akara and ate it in the full view of everybody.


He called into the popular Ray Power programme Mini Jojo and gisted with the presenters (even though he didn't understand Yoruba).

Lagos had been gripped by terrible armed robbers since 1990. The robbers got automatic weapons from the wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and swept into Lagos from Benin Republic and held the city to ransome. Marwa established Operation Sweep to tackle the problem.


He started the Eko FM station and was very popular. His wife, Munirat Marwa, was also very popular.

aribisala0:
Spare us the sham indignation

That is exactly the point

Why are you listing Yaradua with the others

Just admit you were wrong and move on.

Even in a Common entrance examination question to pick the odd one out it is obviously Yaradua he has no business in the company of a list of Governors of Lagos State. NONE

It is now obvious that you cannot read. I wrote very clearly that Lagos State was established in 1967 and you are asking me about Lagos State in the First Republic, is comprehension so difficult for you??

I clearly situated Alhaji Yar'Adua and Major Mobolaji Johnson before I wrote a list of Lagos State governors, is seeing also difficult for you?


Look, please don't waste my time. It is obvious that you did not take the time to read and understand before rushing to write rubbish and now you are trying to massage your ego. I am not interested.

I will not read any further posts from you because even a primary school child can understand what I wrote and my time is too precious to waste on you.

Illiterate..that was the military era where any officer can be appointed to take charge of. Region...the same thing happens today when u see an Hausa man being the CP of an igbo state...or military officer from the north incharge of a base or military settlement in the east or south south....

Godblessbiafraa:
Igbo man has ruled Lagos, that makes Lagos State a no man's land

naptu2:
It is now obvious that you cannot read. I wrote very clearly that Lagos State was established in 1967 and you are asking me about Lagos State in the First Republic, is comprehension so difficult for you??

I clearly situated Alhaji Yar'Adua and Major Mobolaji Johnson before I wrote a list of Lagos State governors, is seeing also difficult for you?


Look, please don't waste my time. It is obvious that you did not take the time to read and understand before rushing to write rubbish and now you are trying to massage your ego. I am not interested.

I will not read any further posts from you because even a primary school child can understand what I wrote and my time is too precious to waste on you.

Stop ranting

This thread is about the death of a former Lagos State Governor


What has it got to do with Yar adua?

naptu2:
Colonel Olagunsoye Oyinlola is the worst governor of Lagos that I've ever seen in my life and so Governor Marwa was like a breath of fresh air.

Lagos roads became absolutely terrible during Oyinlola's tenure, but every time people asked him about the roads his answer was always, "There is no bitumen", so I called him "Mr No Bitumen".

Marwa came and ensured that the Lagos Works Agency patched all the roads that had been destroyed during Oyinlola's tenure. It wasn't perfect, but it was far better than what Oyinlola left.

His public relations was topnotch. There was a time that there was a rumour that there was "killer beans" in Lagos. Governor Marwa drove to a roadside Akara seller, bought akara and ate it in the full view of everybody.


He called into the popular Ray Power programme Mini Jojo and gisted with the presenters (even though he didn't understand Yoruba).

Lagos had been gripped by terrible armed robbers since 1990. The robbers got automatic weapons from the wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and swept into Lagos from Benin Republic and held the city to ransome. Marwa established Operation Sweep to tackle the problem.

He started the Eko FM station and was very popular. His wife, Munirat Marwa, was also very popular.

Marwa is what we call "street" like he was very street. He has street credibility according to 9ice.

I remember something about bread. Where he open a loaf of bread at a media briefing and distributed it according to the people represented here.

He ate his own share of the bread publicly. He wasn't even ashamed or anything of the sort. Your post about him eating Akara in public made me remember this.

All in all who will you say is the best to have governed Lagos state? In my opinion I give it to Fashola.

Affordable men clothing payment on delivery within Lagos and Nationwide dispatch

thatigboman:
is lagos yorubaland? Former fct

No, it is OSU land. You don't see it inside Biafra

humilitypays:
Lagos Oni Baaje oh



Tinubu online hoodlums will not like this and I want to use this opportunity to tell Nigerian Police to shoot at sight any APC member seen at that burial except Sanwo-Olu

Koni baje no ni

joseph1832:
Marwa is what we call "street" like he was very street. He has street credibility according to 9ice.

I remember something about bread. Where he open a loaf of bread at a media briefing and distributed it according to the people represented here.

He ate his own share of the bread publicly. He wasn't even ashamed or anything of the sort. Your post about him eating Akara in public made me remember this.

All in all who will you say is the best to have governed Lagos state? In my opinion I give it to Fashola.

For me it's between those 6, but I really can't say because they governed at very different times and circumstances, but it's between Mobolaji Johnson, Lateef Jakande, Raji Rasaki, Buba Marwa, Bola Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola.

tishbite41:
we built Lagos!!!

that is good

Nice, but I wish they helped him survive the disease(Covid 19). May his soul Rest In Peace

naptu2:
For me it's between those 6, but I really can say because they governed at very different times and circumstances, but it's between Mobolaji Johnson, Lateef Jakande, Raji Rasaki, Buba Marwa, Bola Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola.

Bros. Pardon me. Did Raji Rasaki governed Benue state? There's a street named after him there. Very close to Enugu Round about in Otukpo town.