Indigene should be next Speaker of Lagos House of Assembly, says Maj Gen Olanrewaju 

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

A call has gone to deciders of political office in Nigeria’s economic nerve centre, Lagos State, to ensure that indigene should be the next Speaker of the state House of Assembly.

The DEFENDER reports that both the governor and deputy governor, who are respectively number one and two in the hierarchy of leadership in the state, are non-indigenes from Ogun State.

To balance the opportunities, former Minister of Communications and a Prince of Lagos State, Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju (Rtd), said the position of number three,  that is the Speaker, should go to indigene as the Lagos State House of Assembly is set to pick its leaders.

In a statement he personally signed on Friday, General Olabrewaju said, “The choice of the next speaker of the lagos State House of Assembly has to be an indigene. The current speaker, Mr Obasa, has been in the news lately that he is interested in returning to the House of Assembly and continuing as the Speaker.

“He is at liberty, of course, to exercise his right to contest, but the interest of the indigenous people of Lagos must be respected. An indigene from Lagos State should occupy the speaker’s seat of Lagos State House of Assembly. Speaker Obasa should be interested in equity and balance to not contest the position of the speaker. This is just my plea to our respected brother, Speaker Emeritus,” he posited.

Olanrewaju, who is also a former General Officer Commanding, Third Armoured Division of the Nigerian Army, continued by allying with positions of Chairman of Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), Papa Tajudeen Olusi and Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu,  on the need to have indigene emerge as next Speaker of the state Assembly.

“From what I gleaned from the media, the position of Papa Olusi about the need for indigenes to take the centre stage is a good assessment in the affairs of the Assembly. With the best of intentions, the Lagos State House of Assembly should promote the highest interests and best ideals of the five Divisions of the State in their business.

“The issue of indigeneship in control of activities in the Lagos State House of Assembly has always been wished away since the beginning of the democratic dispensation. They are always deprived of the majority and denied perspective participation. Omoeko Pataki, of which I’m a trustee, would be keen to observe the process of business in the assembly and encourage the members to promote the best possible ideals of our indigenous IBILE people of Lagos State, particularly in the employment into the civil and public services, empowerment and promotions to the senior cadres in government.

“It is evident that our newly sworn President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a prominent politician and leader in Lagos State politics and state administration. If, with his current disposition and his intervention is necessary, he must be conversant with the agitation of the indigenes for the position of the Speaker. The balance of opportunities should begin to swing as a matter of necessity and duty to favour the indigenes of the state.

“I would want to observe a sea change, which will redefine the rules of marginalisation that underline almost every facet of employment in the public and civil service in the State. The general opinion held is that an indigene had been experiencing a long-standing history of obstacles to get to the top of his position.

“For example, the recently concluded tests and interviews on new magistrate appointments left a bitter taste in the mouth. The indigenes that did very well were not considered for engagement, and those appointed, apart from some of them being non indigenes, did not perform better than the best indigenous choices.

“This has been the pattern most of the time. It is not certain if Governor Sanwoolu was aware of what the scene looked like at the Ministry of Justice. This is not a blame game, but there is a need for a dynamic transformation in the state government, by paying attention to demands of the indigenes for peace and development,” General Tajudeen Olanrewaju RTD, DSS, psc(+), ndc, the former Minister of Communications
Trustee, Omo Eko Pataki, said in the statement copy of which was made available to The DEFENDER Friday night.