Barring any unforeseen circumstances the 10th Assembly will be proclaimed on Tuesday 6th June 2023 , on these premise lots of retrospection are been done by major actors in the state legislative chamber, many of them have been weighing the strength of constituting the coming assembly, without some colleagues whose quota if summed up, made the hallowed chamber worth being described as one beyond the common standard of excellence.
Aside the remnant of a few ranking members, foremost amongst whom we have the incumbent Speaker Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa representing Agege constituency 1 who had been around since 2003, in the 10th Assembly he will be holding forte for his constituents for a sixth term.
Hon. Abiodun Tobun will be representing Epe constituency 1 for the fourth term, followed by Hon. Mojeed Fatai Ibeju Lekki constituency 1 and Hon Gbolahan Yishawu of Eti Osa 2, who also is making his fourth term appearance in the Lagos legislature, they all having been there since 2011.
Speaking at the induction parley held at the Marriot Hotel GRA Ikeja last month, ahead of the proclamation of the 10th assembly, as against the perception of most ranking lawmaker and Speaker Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, Hon. AbiodunTobun reportedly declared intention to vy for same Speakership position in the new Assembly that will berth soon.
Many other less ranking lawmakers were reminiscing over the 9th Assembly and it’s glory, they gave a scorecard of some of their colleagues who were not privileged to stage a come back in the tenth Assembly.
Some were of a view that it will take some time before the required stability could be regained in the 10th Assembly as major players that made the 9th Assembly thick, will no longer be around while others trust the leadership acumen of the Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa to guide them through to stability.
Foremost amongst the legislators not returning were the Deputy Speaker now Senator-Elect Wasiu Eshinlokun- Sanni Lagos Island 1, the Majority Leader Hon. Sanai Agunbiade Ikorodu 1, Hon. Rotimi Olowo Shomolu 1,Hon. Rotimi Abiru Shomolu 2, Hon Moshood Oshun now an elected member of the Federal House of Representatives in Lagos Mainland and host of other less ranking members carried away by the political Tsunami.
Hon Princess Mojisola Meranda
(Chief Whip) Apapa 1 was of the view that all is well once Obasa superintends over the house.
I will give it to the leadership and coordination of the house as well as management of men, because it is not an easy task, it is a very tedious job but I will give it to the Speaker Rt.Hon. Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa for being able to coordinate forty members of different backgrounds, different thinking, different religion, different tribe over the ninth Assembly.
Reflecting on the 9th Assembly already confined in historical memories, Hon. Lanre Afinni representing Lagos Island 2, a second term lawmaker re-elected to make the tenth Assembly, cited the impact and foreseeable void that may be in the new house, while hopeful for a quick resurge.
Hon. Lanre Afinni Lagos Island 2
I did not see this coming before the party primaries for the tenth Assembly, I did not see it that we are not going to have some of our members coming back.
Before I became a member I struggled too so I understand by hindsight the reason why I all houses of Assemblies they want all their members coming back, because they have gone through a lot of trainings and you can’t trade experience for anything.
In 2019, when we came in we were just 11 new entrants in the ninth Assembly so the 29 old members actually helped in putting us through.
They were like the memory of the institution for us so they helped us not just with legislative proceeding alone even politics, the way procedures are done, the code of conduct, different things we learn a lot from them. We are in a seminar now learning that is what we will still miss from our members not returning.
Like in the tenth Assembly we won’t have a chartered accountant, though we have a member that is an accountant but not chartered, whereas we had one in the ninth Assembly being Honourable Saka Solaja who chaired the committee on public accounts and has the technicalities of checking the books and reports of the auditor general, you need somebody that is actually well groomed there.
Even one of the facilitators cited the fact that checking the website of the assembly he noticed that most of our committee chairmen are chosen based on area of competence, not just sentiment.
Like me for example chairing the house committee on science and technology now, I have a background in IT, I actually studied computer science in University of Lagos, I also had a master in information system from Newyork University, so it’s like being a round peg in a round hole and even the ministry that I oversight, they say before they have never had a committee chairman like me that has the grasp of what the ministry is doing and what they are trying to achieve.
So I think we will actually miss some round pegs in some round holes.
I believe with a lot of training and the support from our support staff,the civil servants I’m sure within a year the House of Assembly will catch up and would get things running as usual.
Sometimes we listen to some of the old ones talk before we even make our own contributions, sometime you see a bill or a motion on paper and the way you are thinking about it.
You do some research on it but when you get to floor and see senior colleagues talking about it from another direction, you might have to do a quick research and say okay this people are making sense, that I didn’t think about it this way before.
So it is not about them calling to train you, it is about you just watching it and that is not only on the floor of the house. There are other things that happens outside, like how you are expected to carry yourself while going on an oversight function those kind of things you learn on the job.
At times one tries to be humble but there are situation that demands a display of prestige that the institution you represent behooves.
There are places you need to go to maybe in full regalia for you to be accorded the needed respect. I learnt all this things from senior colleagues. It is however, good that we are having a mixture of the old and the young, the experienced and the inexperienced because I believed that having a diverse team is the best team.
You can’t have a team peopled by men only and be expecting to make laws for women, we can’t have a team of old people and we expect them to make laws for the young.
The coming diversity is good but I just hope that we can train and retrain, Learn and relearn, I think the tenth Assembly will be good for it at the end of the day.
Hon Ajani Owolabi Lagos Mainland 1
Initially when we came in 2019 there were a few members people myself looked at and said yes these are people we can pick as mentors first and foremost the Rt Hon Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa, then of blessed memory Hon. Tunde Buraimoh, he was one of the first member that I had the opportunity to engage and it was sad that we lost him so early. We still miss his inputs not just on the floor but in the house generally speaking more than just what happens on the floor of the assembly, the parliament extends to how we deal with each other, talk to each other so one of our previous members Baba Bisi is another person I will miss too, he always said it that we forty are children of one father, all of us having different mothers like what obtains a polygamous house. There will always be fights but as long as we remember that we are one family, an injury to one is an injury to all, that there is never a cause or consequence, it is like each person coming from their own area having a particular thing they must take back or express as dividend of democracy back to their particular constituencies and in the heat of that we can clash on the floor when somebody denies a report going through or somebody questions a motion somebody put up, a motion that of course he is very passionate about in their constituency and once it is shut down that can cause some grievances, but thankfully because of the kind of leadership that we had in the ninth Assembly he was a very ingratiating one in which we all learnt supremely how to be Honourable members.
Ninth Assembly was really a baptism by fire for many honourables that entered because those who were there previously told us they said look you people are facing things like COVID, EndSars which just came one after the order, within our first six months of been a members that all this things started so it really helped us to mature very quickly.
Many of us found our voices on the floor of the assembly very quickly. Initially I thought I won’t talk for the first six months. I was scared but it got to a point where you realized that your input is incredibly important and you must put that input in. I will be honest in the tenth Assembly I am seeing a lot of vibrant politicians, and many of them are coming from a wave of experience from other places.
My first introduction into politics this way was the ninth Assembly before I was a party man yes but never a n active member or didn’t have any post. So some of them have been local government chairmen and quite vast politically speaking so I am quite confident that even the new members that haven’t really had politics in the same way as myself, the likes of Hon Lara Odumegbon, she is very active and vocal and it is good to see that coming from a female Honourable.
It is very good to see that kind of passion and drive from a new member and I think with the tenth Assembly they will actually blend a lot easier than many of us in the ninth Assembly did.
I think some of us from the ninth are still really trying to find our bearings but I believe with this tenth Assembly because there is such a large turn over of members as well, it is almost half and half so the way we will work in the tenth Assembly will be different.
When we entered in the ninth Assembly there was maybe ten or eleven of us then so we had to be really patient to see how things worked but you can see now in the tenth Assembly it is a good mix between the new and old members and the numbers are equal so perhaps before if you had ten new members and thirty old members, the new members will be timid and unable to talk because they will be wondering oh! These people had such a wealth of experience why don’t leave them and let them talk. I thank God for the likes of Hon Olowo Rotimi, late Tunde Buraimoh, Hon Yishawu, Hon Mojeed Fatai, Hon Adebisi Yusuff, the Majority Leader Hon. Sanai Agunbiade and Hon Desmond Elliot. Hon Agunbiade will come and meet me and say Honourable I have seen your submission on the floor keep talking, keep doing what you are doing and that spurred me on and I will be doing the same thing in the tenth Assembly when I see them do good, I will go and congratulate them and say that is very good keep that up and that is what we need to do in order for the house to tick, to be vibrant, everybody needs to be ticking and vibrant. So it is good that I had those kind of trainings from those who are no longer here so that I can now pass it on to some of those tenth Assembly members I can rapport with. Of course I don’t know it all I am just a second term member too, I would grow and learn more if God does it and I do a third , fourth who knows that is not the bone of contention now is how to make sure the tenth Assembly forges and tick the way it should do and keep Lagos State the best in the whole of Africa.
New members don’t fear, keep talking, keep representing ask questions when you don’t know, seek help from senior ranking members that is why they are there and they will always be ready to help. I found that out myself, you may feel that person does not have your time but if you go and meet them on a matter that is politics based you will find out that every politician has time for that kind of things. I urge them not to distance themselves from the new members and just do their best to be in tune with what Lagos State want for it’s development.
Hon Kehinde Joseph Alimosho constituency 2
I am going to miss a lot of my good friends who are not going to be part of tenth Assembly although some got promoted to the National Assembly, while some voluntarily did not venture having decided to face their personal business going further, some even contested and did stand the election rigour but lost out. I will miss their contributions at the plenary and parliamentary parley, like the Majority Leader Hon Sanai Agunbiade whom I call ‘Parliament’ he knows the job very well, his positive contributions to debates at the plenary is something we are going to miss and most of the order of the house he knows it very well. He tries to put things in shape and he is the one in charge of the plenary after getting the approval from the Rt. Hon. Speaker. We have someone like Abiru who has a lot of experience his contributions at the parliamentary which are mostly beneficial to all he will be seriously missed. I and Honourable Ogundimu used to sit beside each other , the contributions that as a first termer I am not conversant with or don’t understand I used to call on him for guidance on how to go about the presentation. Since he is always ready to assist, Hon. Olowo is so superb most especially in the aspects that has to do with the state finances, we will miss his plenary contributions also Hon Victor Akande whom we fondly referred to as Lacuna or the Law, he also played a great role. He help us have a robust debate that often enhances our legislation. I will miss Hon. Raheem Kazeem, Hon Jude Idimogu, even though he is a non Yoruba person he is very friendly and made very good and robust contributions in the house, Hon Saka Solaja a chartered accountant from Ikorodu who knows his onions, he knows where to go and all those moves put the executives on their toes. The main reason why you use to see development in terms of infrastructural and developmental projects that you used to see and they are the ones that are creating all those enabling environment for the executive to do the necessary things. So talking about a house above the common standard of excellence those are there pulling the strings and also Hon. Bisi Yusuff (Baba Laakaye), who believes he deserves to go and rest having made immense contributions to government, I will miss Hon. Jimoh Wahab’s copious quotations of renowned scholars to buttress his arguments taking our memories back to while in higher institutions. Also our striker Hon. Folajimi Mohammed will also be greatly missed. Hon Lanre Oshun and our Deputy Speaker now a Senator Elect Wasiu Eshinlokun-Sanni these are experienced legislators whose qualities are immeasurable and certainly they will make their marks at the National Assembly in a short while. Hon Rauf Age Sulaimon a gentle but thorough legislator, who has proved his mettle even while on oversight functions at the committee level.
The tenth Assembly looks promising given the presence of some ranking members like the Speaker Rt Hon. Mudashiru Obasa and others. The new hands as well do has a lot of egg heads with whom likely challenges will be surmounted.
Hon Sanni Ganiyu Okanlawon Kosofe 1
Truly the attrition rate of experienced, tested and capable hands may be a course for worries. One cannot underestimate or wish away the impact of an hard nosed debaters and high flying parliamentarians in the likes of Hon S.O.B Agunbiade, the highly cerebral legislator who combines intellect with fecund ideas in solving knotty issues.
The likes of Hon Rotimi Abiru, the barometer and the eagle eye of the house who would painstakingly and meticulously, vet and analyse reports, motions and bills that comes before the House in order to have an error free and robust legislation.
The quiet, intelligent, laconic but potent voice . That’s Honourable Ogundimu for you.
Hon. Rotimi Olowo whom I fondly called Olowo Busobuso is about the most witty hard-nosed debater. Highly analytical, experienced and would do everything to protect the institution called parliament . He is a delight , a well sought out for and value addition to all committees
My classmate in Yabatech, a thorough bred accountant and retired civil servant who will not allow any debate that has to do with figures, numbers or public service administration go without being addressed. That’s Hon Nurudeen Solaja.
Another eagle eyed lawyer and legislator who must see a gap in every debate on the floor of the house. This apparently earned him the sobriquet ( Lacuna) would be surely missed. That’s Hon. Akande for you.
Hon. Hakeem Sokunle is another delight to work with.
The wisecrack, highly animated, hilarious, humorous legislator but a lot of times sardonic. The alawada of the house.
The ogbuefi himself, the representative of IGBO clan and other constituents of Isolo who hardly would talk without introducing a song, that’s Hon. Jude Idumogu for you.
Hon Makinde is another cool, calm and collected personality who is very finicky and takes his time to address issues.
Hon. Oshun the four star General hardly talks but whenever he talks he makes a lot of sense . His opinion his always topnotch.
You can also find another cool , calm , sociable and intelligent legislator in Hon. Fatai Oluwa.
The potent voice of the womenfolk, girl child and advocate for gender equality. My darling pretty, brilliant, elegant, sister, the Mama Amuwo herself whose gait, style, carriage and class is out of this world.
My dear gentleman friend Hon. Rauf Age would be sorely missed. Soft-spoken and analytical with captivating mien.
The man who brought the application of native intelligence and Lakai (wisdom) to bare in lawmaking and representation . That’s baba Bisi himself Honourable Bisi Yusuff .
The Ibeju lekki representative in the house is no other but Hon Kazeem Raheem . He is no doubt a bold and likeable strong voice in the house.
Jimmy Muhammed, the son of our Minister of Information Alh Lai Muhammed is no doubt a legislator who knows his onions in the art and science of lawmaking and representation.
Our distinguished Senator elect for Lagos Central, my dear brother and fellow Lagosian Hon. Wasiu Eshinlokun Sanni is best described as a thoroughbred grassroot politician, accomplished Public administrator,a brilliant lawmaker and an extraordinary representative. Little wonder his people gave him a double promotion from State House of Assembly to the Senate. No doubt we shall miss their quality lawmaking imputs and experience in tackling some somewhat issues regarded as hard nuts
I’ll miss Sherifat Mojisola Omokehinde Alli-Macaulay dearly.
She is a very good , loving sister.
I like her mien, disposition and her heart of kindness and generosity.
I’ll also miss the experience of Honourables Olowo and Abiru
Aside these, I’ll miss sorely my dear brother and colleague late Hon. Olatunde Taofeeq Braimoh.
He was my mentor and coach in the house. One would always find everything about him a delight.
John Dingell Jnr of Michigan serves 59 yrs in the House Representative .
Joe Biden the incumbent president of United States of America serves 36 years in the Senate.
This implies that the older you serve in the parliament the more knowledgeable and the better one becomes.
The attrition rate of our legislators is seemingly high in this clime hence the churning out of legislation lacking vitality and lacklustre performances in most of our parliaments .I’m of the fervent opinion that would legislators are allowed to serve ample time in the legislature to allow for robust legislation and impactful representation.
Hon. Temitope Adewale Ifako Ijaiye 1
I have seen as a first timer in the house how things are done it is normal in a democratic process, for some to win and some to lose we have twenty new members coming and we have twenty members that have been there since so I think it is balanced, we have a Speaker who have been able to impact knowledge in we the first timers, he has been able to teach us legislative procedures and I am sure that new members are well equipped enough to understand the proceeding and they will understand fast and catch up with us so I don’t see any vacuum in terms of legislative duties in the house.