Mobolaji Johnson Opens Up On The Genesis Of Lagos State
In August 2008, Lagos Friday Telegraph, a city bi-monthly newspaper drove down memory lane. Mobolaji Johnson, Lagos State’s first governor, was asked to tell current Lagosians about the early days when Lagos had to start off on the journey of excellence that has led to where we are today in Lagos. Many exciting revelations came to light.
The year was 1967 and ex-governor Mobolaji Johnson recollects how the administrative take off point for Lagos State was particularly challenging. Creating the state was tough to begin with. Administering it was similarly no easy matter. Being the federal capital as well as the nation’s socioeconomic nerve center, a robust and extensive infrastructural base was a basic necessity for the appropriate take off of Lagos State.
“It was a long battle to get Lagos State created,” says Johnson. “If you can remember, there was a time when Lagos was part of the West, so we had to ensure that Lagos State was established but then don’t forget that Lagos used to have its own administration under the Ministry of Lagos Affairs which was run then by a minister who happened at that time to be the father of Nigeria’s present President, Musa Yar’Adua.”
Furthermore, even after the state was created, part of what is presently Lagos State still belonged to the West. Consequently, recognizing that the West had been in the political and administrative game much longer, the administrative team in the newly created Lagos State wisely regarded the Western State as a big brother to Lagos, so to speak.
Taking off was difficult because numerous structural hindrances and administrative bottlenecks needed to be removed with pretty little time to do it. So, the Lagos State government tactically set up a team to negotiate with the Federal Government and draw a neat line between what constituted the schedule of responsibility handled by the Ministry for Lagos Affairs and what was subsequently devolved to Lagos State.
The Lagos state administration had the West as well to contend with. A committee was formed between Lagos State and the Federal government with Alhaji Shehu Shagari as committee president. Just as they looked into the functions of the Federal Government that could be transferred to Lagos State, they further did the same thing with regards to the old Western region. Governor Johnson of Lagos State went with a high powered delegation to jaw-jaw with Governor Adebayo, his colleague in the West. So, Lagos formed another committee with the West headed by Bateye and the SMG, Howson-Wright, who represented Lagos.
With reference to infrastructure, Mobolaji Johnson recognized that, to have a homogenous state, it was necessary to bring all the divisions making up the entire state together. As a minimum, all the outlying divisions had to be made as near as possible to Lagos. A decision was thus taken in principle to bring Lagos, Badagry, Epe and Ikorodu closer.
This led to the construction of the first bridge linking the Epe side to Lagos. However, it was observed that people still needed to go through Sagamu. This was the point at which Julius Berger, a big construction company, was brought in to build the bridge to link Itoikin and Ikorodu. In addition to the building of the bridge, modern housing estates were swiftly constructed in exclusive suburbs between Ikorodu and Epe.
In response to a special invitation by the American government, Governor Mobolaji Johnson visited the United States in 1969. One of the after effects of the governor’s American visit was his urgent demand that many important road construction models in Lagos must be improved upon at all necessary cost for state of the art structural finish.
Mobolaji Johnson’s close friendship with a certain Mr. Carter who headed the United States Information Service (USIS) office in Lagos at that time carried major responsibility for the official invitation to visit Washington DC. During Johnson’s visit to Mr. Carter’s family in Philadelphia, the governor was fascinated by some of the roads linking Washington to Philadelphia.
“Oh my God,” Governor Mobolaji Johnson thought with supreme appreciation in his heart, “these are precisely how inter-state roads ought to be.” The next thing was a rapidly connected phone call to alert Mr. Ogundiya, the Lagos State Director of Works. The Director was instructed to immediately halt the ongoing construction work on the old Badagry road. It took another year or two before the completely revised set of road designs became ready. The road construction halted in 1969 was resumed in 1972 and the work itself finished before 1974.
By the standard of the mid-seventies in Nigeria and Africa, the Lagos-Badagry Expressway was a civil engineering masterpiece. It was one of the Johnson Administration’s major infrastructural projects and, when the Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon had opportunity to see what the Lagos State government had accomplished, he was genuinely impressed.
The Head of State eventually took upon himself the honour of opening the state of the art Lagos/Badagry expressway. This is the expressway has now gone down historically as Nigeria’s first ultra modern highway. It was built with the Lagos State Tax Payers’ money. Glowing with pride, governor Johnson declared that his aim was to use the road’s construction as an example to practically educate people of Lagos about the virtue of paying their taxes.
Another landmark achievement of the Johnson era in Lagos is the Rowe Park sporting complex in the Ebutte Metta area of the mainland. Conceived initially as a consequence of the governor’s fond memories of his growing up years when he and his peers used to play at the same arena as young people, Johnson believed that the ground deserved to be upgraded to become a socio-cultural focal point for the youth. Thus, the machinery of government was put in motion to modernize the park to become a standard sporting arena where young people could easily discover, develop and exercise their natural sporting talent maximally for self improvement and overall societal advantage.
A swimming pool was constructed as well as standard basketball courts. The Park also had an indoor arena for all sorts of sports, including table tennis. The Lagos State government constituted a committee to oversee the Park’s progress and maintenance. Governor Johnson maintains that, being a sports man himself, he was deeply motivated to create both the opportunity and the facilities for the youth in Lagos State to develop their sporting abilities rather than witness the wastage of the God-given potential. That was why Rowe Park was built.
Based on the popular and correct notion that health is wealth, the Johnson Administration went ahead to build a modern hostel in Ikoyi for nurses on the poplar Awolowo Road. It was felt that nurses were the ones who actually looked after patients after doctors may have performed an operation. Nurses take intimate care of patients, so Mobolaji Johnson and his administrative team built the Nurses’ Hostel and they constructed the Doctors’ Flats as well, thereby achieving a poetic symmetry and balance.
Governor Mobolaji Johnson says he can still remember the first Doctors’ strike which occurred around 1971. The young medical doctors had gone on strike claiming that they were being over worked and that they were also being grossly under paid. They moreover complained about lack of appropriate accommodation. So, the Lagos state government reacted correctly by building the Nurses’ Hostel and the Doctors’ Flats on the Marina.
It was in that same era as well that the Falomo Shopping Centre was erected to serve as a public retail business convenience. Due to continuous traffic jam, every body living in Ikoyi at that time always needed to go all the way to Kingsway Stores to shop and Victoria Island was similarly coming up. So, the government decided to link Victoria Island and Ikoyi with the Falomo Bridge. Consequently a compulsory space acquisition exercise went into effect even though it was a battle royal to get people out of the place before it could be redesigned into what is known until today as the Falomo Shopping Centre.
Ex-governor Mobolaji Johnson says he always feels a sense of pride and gratitude towards the top civil servants of that time in Lagos. Some of them were F.C. O. Coker who was the treasurer for many years and later became the Finance Secretary, late Idowu Agoro, a judicial man, and late Adeyemi Bero who was the governor’s principal secretary. They were the ones with whom the ex-governor started the administration of Lagos State.
Seven ministries were created initially to run the affairs of the state and the governor appointed seven commissioners accordingly. However, civil servants absorbed in the state’s civil service from the old western region didn’t show up until twelve months later. Yet, Governor Mobolaji Johnson was quite comfortable running the show with his own very seasoned civil servants who gave him all the support he needed so that all he had to do was supply the required leadership.
When the administration started, the governor made it impossible for any sectional head to award any contract valued in excess of N100, 000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) and any job costing more than N100, 000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) had to come to the Central Tenders Board because it was believed that anyone intending to bribe their way through should then need to bribe the whole of the board and it can’t be easy for anyone to do that. Any time the board was going to discuss any ministry, it is on the day of the board meeting that the ministry would know that they had been invited, so to go and lobby ministers before a sitting of the tenders’ board wasn’t easy.
It was however discovered that things were not moving as fast as the governor wanted and some people even displayed open hatred towards him. Eventually, the highest disbursable amount was increased to N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) for each ministry. A strict warning was however issued to the effect that if anybody ate what they shouldn’t eat and the bone got dangerously stuck in the individual’s throat, the governor will not give the culprit any “Eba” to push down the bone. Rather he will squeeze the throat and the bone will kill whoever is concerned.
For his warnings to be effective, the governor had to live by example. He traveled around a lot but he showed his subordinates a good example with how he used, for example, estacode. This is the allowance that government officials are allowed to take when they travel and the governor always traveled with the same amount of money and when he comes back, anything not spent is retired accordingly.
Mobolaji Johnson says it’s difficult to pinpoint what precisely is wrong with civil servants and the civil service. It is obvious, however, that the spirit of the civil service was damaged by the purge exercise carried out by the Murtala Mohammed and Obasanjo regime when they claimed they were re-organizing the civil service and many people were just sacked over the radio.
We mustn’t forget that civil service jobs used to be the most secure. In the past, the average civil servant knew precisely when his or her promotion was due. They always knew how far they could go and if they didn’t make haste they were promoted. But things have not been the same since that time. So, Johnson thinks that the purge is one of the factors that adversely affected the civil service. Civil servants now subscribe to the notion of making hay while the sun shines, which means that individuals should make and keep as much money as they can when they find themselves on a seat that gives them disbursing powers vis-à-vis public funds.
Whether such practices actually go on now is unknown to the ex-governor because, according to him, after leaving government house, he has continuously known virtually nothing about government activities even in Lagos State. Still, at a recent interactive meeting somebody asked a question in connection with what’s wrong with Nigeria and a female participant said she thought the problem is about education, and that from now they must begin to educate children from the grass root not from secondary school. At that point, the ex-governor interjected and declared that education should not just start at school but should start from the home.
He made reference to how his mum and dad instructed him in Yoruba language during his childhood that no matter what he becomes “ranti omo eni ti iwo nse” which translates to, “remember whose son you are and never do anything that will tarnish the image of the family.” Johnson explains that he always used to ask himself that how would his father feel hearing about his son putting his hand into the till? So he issued the same challenge to people that they should remember their background and education must start at home before children even go to school.
Ex-governor Johnson thinks that civil servants of today can be motivated to perform better only if those at the helm of affairs consciously return back to standard practices that worked marvelously in the past. “It may be said that things have changed,” he continued, “but it is equally true that the basic things should never change, no matter what. And, the most basic thing is that the civil servant is a servant of the people.”
He admits that the world has changed so much technologically. All the same, the level of funds available to people in government today is much more than what was available to run government in former times. It is therefore necessary to put checks and balances in place, beginning from the level of the accountant General and the Auditor General. It would be interesting to verify how often they audit and confirm that financial guidelines are strictly adhered to. This is the reason why it’s very necessary to return to the basics. After all, when traveling and one misses his way, the best option is for the traveler to go back to where he knows, then, retracing his steps from there won’t be difficult.
The ex-governor maintains that in those days there were certain procedures that used to be enforced unfailingly to ensure express accountability. He thinks it’s not impossible to gravitate back to those basics today and impose things on present office holders so that whenever corrupt persons are found out the system must punish them accordingly. He remembers that during his administrative tenure, it was just a piece of information circulating in the grapevine that one of his commissioners was involved in corruption, but the governor acted promptly and dealt with the erring commissioner who was eventually retired even though he was one of those the governor loved very much. Upon investigation, the issues surrounding the commissioner were far too circumstantial for the governor’s liking and the commissioner was asked to go.
Mobolaji Johnson doesn’t believe that civil servants should be written off and replaced with ‘competent’ persons picked from the private sector. In fact, a blanket condemnation by which all civil servants are seen as bad will be very incorrect as far as the ex-governor is concerned. It would be more fruitful to investigate and reveal factors making them bad at their work. It will subsequently be possible to correct them and return them to how the service was originally.
In the ex-governor’s opinion, even the private sector is also made up of human beings. Questions should be asked on how they do their business and are successful. Is it a question of greater accountability or a question of big brother is watching you? Governor Johnson believes that the civil service is not that bad, there are still dedicated people there. It is the question of addressing the ills.
For instance, whenever any culprits are found out they should be punished openly. The public should be made to know that such persons are being punished and that it is not a question of window dressing. When some people are caught who have done something wrong, they must be punished so that other people coming from behind will not go and repeat the same thing. As for now, not enough is being done in this direction. People simply go scot-free.
Newspapers as well as other arms of the mass media must add their voices. They must help governments keep such things on the front burners. Newspapers should also resuscitate old and celebrated cases of official corruption. Mobolaji Johnson says Newspapers should utilize media power to bring back to current consciousness some of the issues that have been forgotten, especially past malpractices. Newspapers should remind the public of some of the terrible infractions that occurred in public life and then bring them back, let the people know that culprits cannot get away with murder.
Journalists are in a particularly strategic position to help the government. What is happening unfortunately is that some of the bent public servants of past years are actually luxuriating in their ill-gotten gains and today nobody is talking about how they got the money. So it is important for everybody to contribute their own quota to ensure that things get better.
As a quiet observer of the current political situation in Lagos, Mobolaji Johnson confesses that he is impressed by the combination of what the Tinubu and Fashola administrations have been able to put in. In fact he says that, going around Lagos a little while ago, he couldn’t help but wonder inwardly that, “My God, isn’t this the same Lagos that I once governed?” For instance, the population is always increasing so rapidly that whatever the level of infrastructure created, hardly will the infrastructure catch up with population growth.
Mobolaji Johnson confesses that he doesn’t know many areas in Lagos State anymore. He consequently has to rely on his driver who is an indigene to take him round and show him some places, places like Egbe Titun, Ikotun, and other new places that have sprung up over the years and decades. But the people always expect government to provide service and giving the same type of service that the public was getting during the Mobolaji Johnson era in government is simply not easy at all today in Lagos.
Mobolaji Johnson declares that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu did his best for Lagos State and that their peculiar type of politics was played out as well. Consequently, now that Babatunde Raji Fashola is in charge, it is plain to see that he has taste and is trying to beautify Lagos and that things are getting back to the standard of Lagos in the early times, so it means Fashola is dedicated.
It is often said that change is constant. However, especially at societal level, Mobolaji Johnson believes that managing change is a function of visionary leadership. “Give people the right type of leadership,” he says, “and they will follow.” In Johnson’s opinion, Nigerians are not difficult to govern. They just need to be under the right type of leadership.
Johnson clearly remembers the type of things he did when he was in government and he carried the people along with him. People trusted him and believed in him. Once he was able to make people believe in him, they naturally came along with him and his government. On the issue of building satellite towns as a method of managing change and checkmating excessive population explosion, Johnson compared the approach to the satellite towns his government created in those days but which are now part of the main cities.
Therefore, he believes that such concepts can best be treated as fresh ideas even though ideas are not permanent, but must be constantly expanding. So, concerning population explosion he believes that where people stay can’t be controlled although government can make the facilities available. For example, low cost housing is a straight forward solution. A virgin land can be taken and built up along with basic infrastructure like pipe borne water and electricity. Yet all of these require elaborate planning.
Talking about Babatunde Fashola (SAN), the current Lagos state governor, Mobolaji Johnson advised that the present governor should remain focused and let nothing distract his attention. It is also important that the governor go back to the basics. He then spoke about the golden era, a subtle reference to the days when he himself was at the helm of affairs at government house. He said Fashola should return to the factors that made Lagos a great State and then try and follow them. For instance, the civil service should be restored and given the right type of leadership that is incorruptible and cannot be influenced negatively. It is by the power of focus that this can be achieved.
As a focused leader, people will call him names but when the governor of a prosperous state like Lagos stays focused, he puts his goals constantly before him and he goes for them fearlessly. At last, Mobolaji Johnson confessed that he thinks Fashola is focused on what he is doing and that he would get there eventually. It is going to be difficult because there are too many distractions in Lagos and at times one may even be confused.
When a person is on that seat, he’ll keep wondering where to start from day after day because, as he is solving one complicated problem, he’ll see other things happening at the same point but, as long as he maintains his focus, he’ll discover that with God’s help, he’ll yet get there. So, Johnson thinks we all can look forward to great improvements throughout Fashola’s first four years and maybe another four more years may be good for Lagos.
In his own subtle and inimitable manner, ex-governor Mobolaji Johnson has been living life quietly ever since his retirement. He has however been involved with some companies and he is a Director of some of them. At Femi Johnson he is the chairman of the board. The ex-governor is equally involved with Julius Berger where he has been the chairman for twelve years.
His acquisition of two solid properties is a material plus that he readily attributes to divine guidance. Explaining his standard personal financial method, Governor Johnson says what he does is to simply collect his rent and live his life on the proceeds, while trying at the same time not to over-stress his tenants. His estate agent as a matter of fact is under strict orders to never collect two years rent in advance for him. He lives a serene and quiet life and the overwhelming emotion in his heart is gratitude in the knowledge that God has been kind to him.
For relaxation, Mobolaji Johnson says he used to play golf until he had a stroke about six years ago, as a result of which he no longer plays the game as often as he used to play it in times past. Lagos’s first governor is a keen music lover and also loves to travel and participate in lectures and diverse intellectual discourse.