Tribute To Sir Michael Agbolade Otedola

By Sola Ogunmosunle

The curtain was recently drawn on the life of one of the illustrious sons of Lagos State. A man whose philanthropy is legendary just as his devotion to serving humanity and God was unwavering. A quintessential gentleman, quiet and unassuming and despite his short stint as Governor of Lagos, he was still able to leave his bold footprints on the Lagos sand of times.

Sir Michael Agbolade Otedola, the Governor of Lagos State for just less than two years between January 1992 and 18 November 1993, bid the rest of the world farewell on Monday, 5 May. His demise was not short of encomia from far and near! He was a politician who played politics devoid of any bitterness.  As his name implies, fate played a critical role in his ascension to greatness.  He mounted the saddle as governor of Lagos State against mountainous odds, and discharged his mandate equitably with remarkable dignity. His indelible record of service remains intact. The “Centre of Excellence” that we proudly proclaim today is a product of his vision for Lagos State when he was invited among other governors to choose a sobriquet for the state. His humility and dedication was clearly manifested in his very first day in office when at his swearing-in he declared; ‘’I accept the great mandate today as a servant not as a master. I come with a mission to heal and rebuild. I come to make Lagos a place where all Nigerians will rediscover their common destiny.”

Even in death, the story of the development of Lagos to a model mega city cannot be told without a mention of the ninth Governor of Lagos State and the second elected Executive Governor of the State, Sir Michael Otedola. Some of the projects he executed as governor are still visible and have definitely outlived the man who did them.

In the realisation that Lagos State is the most populous and leading state in the federation, Sir Otedola, on assuming office, was determined to turn Lagos State to “a land that flows with milk and honey”. The policy thrust of his administration was shaped by his faith in the creative capabilities and unbounded energies of the people especially the masses. Thus, his first hundred days in office have shown him as a man who brought resourcefulness, experience and dynamism to the task of solving problems that linger and hinder the progress of the people of the state.

Today, the legacy of Sir Otedola in Lagos are programmes and projects that are masses focused, especially in the housing and transportation sector, even though some of the projects were completed by successive administrations due to the truncated transition programme in 1993. His jubilee housing scheme which gave birth to the popular Abraham Adesanya Estate in Ajah, Jubilee Estate, Ikorodu, Epe and the one located along the Lagos/Ibadan expressway at the tip of the bridge now known as ‘Otedola Bridge’ was a bold step at solving the problem of housing deficit in Lagos. So also were the Jubilee Rail Programme and the Jubilee Bus Scheme conceptualized to be a sort of panacea to the chaotic mass transit in the city Lagos.

Sir Michael Otedola was also able to leave his mark in the Lagos State Public Service. He was the initiator of the Centralized Staff Bus System that has been improved upon by his successors and today move thousands of Lagos civil servants to and fro their various abodes to the State Secretariat in Alausa, Ikeja. He also completed the State Auditorium, now named after the first civil servant in Lagos State, the late Mr. Adeyemi Bero. The auditorium now sits over a thousand people and usually plays host to majority of state functions and just as it is available for the use of the public and private sector.

Born 16 July, 1926 into a Muslim family at Odoragunsin in the Epe Area of Lagos state, Sir Michael Otedola was a role model to his mates even as a young man. He left Epe very early in life for Lagos city centre in pursuit of education. Due to his brilliance, he won a scholarship to study Journalism at the Regent Street Polytechnic in London and graduated in 1958. He began his career as a teacher and later worked as a reporter with St. Pancras Chronicle. He also worked as a reporter, and later sub-editor, at The Guardian and The Times of London, England.

Otedola returned to Nigeria in 1959 and took up appointment as Information Officer with the Western Nigeria government. While working with the government he was appointed the Editor of the Western Nigeria Illustrated. He moved on to public relations in 1961, working for Western Nigeria Television/Western Broadcasting Service (1961-1964) and Mobil Oil Group of Companies (1964-1977). He continued as a consultant to Mobil after leaving the company.

It was in the course of General Ibrahim Babangida’s long transition programme that the late Otedola was elected governor of Lagos State in 1992. He served from 1992 to 1993 on the platform of the National Republican Convention (NRC) one of the two political parties formed by the Babangida government. He left office when General Sani Abacha took over power from the Interim National Government of Chief Ernest Shonekan on 17 November, 1993. Upon leaving public office, Otedola continued his career as a writer and consultant as well as holding positions on the boards of various companies. A renowned philanthropist, Otedola was honoured in February 2010 by ThisDay newspaper with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

With his humble beginning always in his consciousness, Sir Otedola, since 1985,  committed his resources to the Michael Otedola University Scholarship Scheme for indigent students of  Epe Division in particular and Lagos State in general.  Since inception, over a thousand have benefited from the scheme. Equally, he donated generously to community development projects and to various religious causes.

Because Sir Michael Agbolade Otedola was human, he also had some failings. But obviously, his good nature  made it up for him and he will surely be missed particularly by his family and friends, his Epe Community, the people of Lagos State and the rest of the world.

Adieu.

•Sola wrote from Lagos.