Fashola, Others Pay Tribute At 10th Fidau For K.O. Tinubu

Tributes poured forth on Sunday for the late Patriarch of the Tinubu Family, Alhaji Kafaru Oluwole Tinubu, as relatives, friends and associates, including the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), were in Victoria Island to offer the 10th Anniversary Fidau Prayers for the repose of his soul.

The occasion, which witnessed the groundbreaking ceremony of the proposed Kafaru Oluwole Tinubu Memorial Mosque, was also attended by the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, members of the State Executive Council, including Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris and his Science and Technology counterpart, Adebiyi Mabadeje, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, General Ike Nwachukwu (retd), traditional rulers and the Chief Imam of Lagos, among other dignitaries from all walks of life across the country.

In his tribute at the occasion, Governor Fashola described the late K.O. Tinubu as a great man who served humanity selflessly adding that he was “part of the goodness that God gave to Lagos and Nigeria.

“Many whose lives he touched, including me, will bear testimony to the humane, compassionate and God-fearing character of this legendary Commissioner of Police from Kakawa area of Lagos who defended people’s rights as much vigour as he upheld discipline and enforced the law.”

The Governor, who related several incidents and events in the lifetime of the late K.O. Tinubu to emphasize his generosity and selflessness, said the deceased gave free legal service to people, especially the indigent and down trodden, pointing out that even when his law firm was financially distressed, he used his own money to defend such cases.

“One of his famous clients was the late Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji. We fought market cases and, of course, K.O. always led me to court and after announcing himself he would say ‘My learned friend, Mr. Fashola, will try this case’, and he would sit down and watch me do it,” the Governor said.

According to Governor Fashola, another famous case which was entrusted to him by Alhaji K.O. Tinubu was the defence and trials of the cases of Anwal Islam, an assignment he described as imbuing him with a huge sense of responsibility.

“For me it was a huge sense of responsibility to be entrusted with the assets of the Anwar-ul – Islam, a mission in pursuit of Islamic, educational and Muslim values; because reading all of the files, how the mission was founded, the role that great Islamic scholars played, how the first school was built, I was engaging in the course of history that took place ten years before I was born. It was a big experience for me,” he said.

On the propensity for free legal service to clients, Governor Fashola who noted that he was warned earlier by one of the late legal luminary’s sons that his cases were not for money-making, declared, “K.O. had a lot of cases, land cases, Anwar-ul-Islam cases, market women’s cases and I don’t think any one of them ever paid a kobo. I don’t remember any case I tried and we wrote a bill. It was always free.”

Praying for the continued peaceful repose of the soul of Alhaji K.O. Tinubu, Governor Fashola, who noted that the late former Police boss took him as his biological son, donated towards the building of the Kafaru Oluwole Tinubu Memorial Mosque.

In his own tribute, former Governor of Lagos State and National Leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, described Alhaji K.O. Tinubu as passionate, saying he was most passionate about Lagos and its development as well as about him (Asiwaju) as Governor and the quality of service he rendered to the people of Lagos.

“He rose above self to create a better society. The story of his public service career reads like a book of civic virtue and high purpose. He walked a path that we all must do well to follow and emulate,” Asiwaju said adding that the late K.O. Tinubu was a man who loved to serve.

Expressing  dismay that the patriotism that drove men like the late K.O. Tinubu to invest their lives in making Nigeria work “seems almost quaint and misplaced,” Asiwaju Tinubu declared: “Today and in our present circumstance, we have a succession of myopic leaders who have failed to make Nigeria work for all but themselves.

“Let us use this sombre occasion to rededicate ourselves to building a new Nigeria. However, it can only happen by emulating the life of the man we have come to honour and of the lives of others like him who, in their places of vocation, their homes and wherever they found themselves, lived according to a lofty purpose and sought a higher goal. Let us stand for the premise that this nation is better than it’s past and present, that this nation finds her true self in the future that we shall begin to create. Only in this way do we honour the life and legacy of Alhaji Kafaru Oluwole Tinubu.”

Others who paid tribute included widow of the deceased, Hajia Bintu Fatimah Tinubu, His Royal majesty, the Oba of Lagos, Oba Riliwanu Babatunde Akiolu 1, who was represented at the occasion by one of his Chiefs, Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba Erediauwa  and retired Inspector General of Police, Etim Inyang, among numerous other associates, friends and family members.

Highlight of the occasion was the ground-breaking ceremony to flag off the building of the Kafaru Oluwole Tinubu Memorial Mosque which was performed by Governor Fashola accompanied by the children and widow of the deceased, clerics, Asiwaju Tinubu, Alhaji Dangote, Dr. Fayemi and other dignitaries.