Hamzat’s From Epe, Gen. Ajiborisa Insists

Kazeem Ugbodaga

The controversy surrounding the indigeneship of the Lagos State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Kadri Hamzat, is still raging as the race for the 2015 governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC, of the state gathers steam.

Joining the fray is the first Military Administrator of Osun State, Major-General Leo Segun Ajiborisha (retd) who has insisted that Hamzat, one of the APC governorship aspirants, hails from Epe, Lagos State, western Nigeria.

Ajiborisha, who hails from Epe in Lagos, said Hamzat came from the same Ajiborisha family well known in Epe and that those saying he is not from Epe should come out with their proof.

Ajiborisha in an interview said Hamzat is his cousin and comes from the same family as him, adding that the fact that Olatunji Hamzat is an oba in Ewekoro, Ogun State, did not make him an indigene of that state as his roots is Epe.

“In politics, there are all kinds of campaigns of calumny going on among politicians. He who has alleged that Dr. Obafemi Hamzat or his father is not from Epe, should prove it. He that alleges must prove it. That is what our constitution says.

“My own great grandfather is Chief Aina Ajiborisha. His own father is the one that gave birth to all of them. His name is Ajiworo Ajiborisha. You should know that everybody in Lagos came from one place or the other except Akarigbere.

“The Akarigbere came with Oba Ado from Benin. But when they came to Lagos, they met some land owners, who are Idejos. We are talking about Elegushi, Oniru, Ojora, Ajiran, Ojomu and others. Because of trade, other people entered Lagos. Also, because of their spiritual prowess, they were summoned into the cabinet of Oba of Lagos,” he said.

According to him, Chief Ajiworo Ajiborisha with some of his children came into the cabinet of the oba, adding “so, there was my great grandfather, Chief Aina Ajiborisha and then the great grandfather of Oba Olatunji Hamzat. They were in Lagos until the problem of King Kosoko started. They were serving King Kosoko very well. In fact, they were the spiritualists of King Kosoko.

“First of all, they moved to Badagry. They fought some wars in Ewekoro and its environs. They came back to Lagos. They wanted to enter through Ijebu Ode to Epe. But they eventually entered through Lagos. Oba Olatunji Hamzat was born by Chief Soyeyinbo Hamzat Ajiborisha. One of his wives was called Mama Mobanke Ajiborisha,” he said.

He explained that Chief Soyeyinbo had six children – four daughter and two sons – while Oba Olatunji Hamzat was the last child, adding that Chief Soyeyinbo was always close to Oke Balogun in Epe while his own great grandfather went to Ibon to prevent British troops from coming through the riverine area.

Segun dislosed that Oba Hamzat lost his father when he was 12 and that after his father’s death, he moved to meet his father’s elder brother, Chief Sobola Ajiborisha as all of them were bearing Ajiborisha.

“He was staying with one of our respectable Muslims and politicians, Chief Mufutau Badmus. He was very rich. He sent Oba Olatunji Hamzat to Koranic School and registered him in Native Authority School. Chief Badmus decided to remove Ajiborisha from his name because as a devout Muslim, he could not send a child bearing Ajiborisha to school.

“He said Oba Olatunji would only bear Hamzat. That is how he stopped bearing Ajiborisha officially. Amudat Kehinde Hamzat is the name of Dr. Obafemi Hamzat’s mother. Her name would have been Amudat Kehinde Ajiborisha if the surname was not dropped.

“Hamzat is not the first person in our family to change his name. For instance, the head of my family changed his name to Ajibo-Oluwa because they do not want to be associated with idolatry in the same way Chief Badmus changed Oba Olatunji Hamzat,” he explained.

On the issue of religious sentiment being attached to Lagos governorship issue, Segun said the issue of making religion the foremost pre-requisite is totally alien in civilised democracy.

He said it is only a factor of manipulation by some elite to tilt the pendulum towards their own aspirations and not in any way the yearning of religious faithful, advising political party leadership to embrace meritocracy and ability to perform as yardstick for choosing candidates jostling for public offices.

“This is the only way mediocrity and the ‘business as usual’ syndrome in our national polity and other strata of life can be reduced to a zero-tolerance level. This is the expectation of the teeming population of electorate in Nigeria. Distribution of rice, beans, milk, sugar and may be N5, 000 to canvass for votes must be seen by the electorate as submission to total impoverishment of their life and children yet unborn,” he stated.