FASHOLA X-RAYED: Most revealing biography of a destiny child 

Today’s column was inspired by Chief Lawson Omokhodian, one year my senior at the University of Lagos’ Mass Communication Department.  After reading the biography of Babatunde Fashola which I co-wrote with my late friend Dimgba Igwe, Chief Omokhodion was so excited that he sent me a message expressing how much he enjoyed reading this book, adding that my writing partnership with Dimgba Igwe was so beautiful and “profound”.

“Dear Mike,” he wrote.  “Three months after receiving the copy of Fashola’s political biography, I conquered laziness and completed reading it. Waoh!!!  You had a profound writing partnership with the late Dimgba Igwe. His death was a great loss.

The book on Fashola is a pulsating rendition of the life of a reluctant politician who became the poster boy of Lagos politics. Your book gave me a deep insight into the thinking spectrum of Bola Tinubu, and it brought real to me that what I imagined of him was true.

As for BRF, I was totally educated about the taciturn lefty whose penchant for few words surprisingly aligned with Tinubu’s quiet disposition. I am glad their father/son relationship was not irretrievably damaged.

I learnt a new word in the book: obstreperous; a good addition to my vocabulary. I never encountered a factual error in the book as I read and found out that you say ‘worming yourself into one’s heart’ and not ‘warming…’ We continue to learn. The book is a product of superb journalistic brilliance.

Congratulations, and we are ready for the second part to complete another 10 years of Fashola’s endless political conquests. I pray you find another Dimgba, and may his soul continue to rest in peace. Amen. I am sure this book will be a bestseller. Best wishes, Mike.”—Lawson A. Omokhodion, author of “POWERED BY POVERTY—A Story of Adversity, Ambition, Diligence and Triumph.”

Like Omokhodion, Professor Paul D. Ocheje, Fashola’s law teacher at the University of Benin also found the biography “compelling.”  He wrote: “Fashola’s story needs to be told.  Starting with a life that can be described as one that tended towards juvenile delinquency, there are oodles of inspiration emanating from his self-transformation in adulthood into a highly disciplined, focused, and inspired achiever and leader of men.  His unconventional approach to politics and public administration, leading, in turn, to an unprecedented record of public goods delivery in Lagos, will provide study material from which politicians, policy-makers, scholars, public administrators, and just about anyone interested in understanding what moving Nigeria forward might involve, would benefit immensely in the years to come.  And he has only just begun.  This book pries open the window, ever so subtly and gently, into the mind of Fashola, and into his surround—what has shaped his character, his thinking, and what drives his relentless quest to deliver.”—Professor Paul D. Ocheje, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor

WHAT THE BLURB SAYS:

In this biography, Mike Awoyinfa and his late friend Dimgba Igwe bring their human angle features and investigative journalism skills to bear in this untold story of Babatunde Raji Fashola, a child of destiny whose parents met in England, fell in love but the love affair turned sour when the mother discovered she was pregnant.  The father wanted the pregnancy aborted but the mother returned to Nigeria to deliver the future governor of Lagos State and the Federal Minister of Power, Works and Housing under the Buhari administration.

The story follows Fashola from his difficult childhood, escaping classes to play football which sets him back academically, to the epiphany of his father taking him to a mechanic workshop and telling him: “No more school, this is where you belong now.”  It was a wakeup call, an effective shock treatment which brought a turnaround in the life of Fashola who then sat up.  He graduated in law from the University of Benin and went to work in a law firm where he was a rising star until destiny landed him in government as Chief of Staff to his predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who eventually became President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The behind-the-scene story of how Fashola became governor by brainwave and sheer serendipity is here told.  Plus the rancour his choice generated.  As governor, he surprised everyone with landmark achievements that became the benchmark for leadership all over Nigeria.  This book has gone beyond the biography of Fashola to the biography of Bola Tinubu to the epic story of exemplary leadership and a stormy succession saga of a “Made-in-Nigeria” destiny child who lived and attained the Nigerian Dream.

QUOTES FROM THE BOOK

As a struggling student in London, Ademola Fashola did not have the courage and the means to cope with the heavy burden of two women pregnant for him at the same time.  So, he tried to persuade Olufunke to get rid of her pregnancy.  But Olufunke would have none of that, fuming at every notion.  In the circumstance, Ademola refused to take responsibility…Ademola Fashola did not see his son until 1967 when he came back home from London by which time Babatunde was four years old.  It was at a point Nigeria was thrown into political crisis, when the Eastern region declared itself the Republic of Biafra and a Civil War ensued.  Having been hinted in London that the baby has the Fashola family sixth-finger birthmark, he accepted being the father.

Babatunde Fashola soon acquired a nickname he was probably not aware of.  Secretly, his brothers and sister called him Hitler because of his stern looks and bullying tactics…It was Femi, the youngest of the lot that christened him with the name.

“His childhood was all about football.  He loved playing football from morning till night.  He got addicted to playing football.  He would not read.  He would run from school to go and play football.  It was ball, ball, ball.  I told myself: ‘Oh my God!  I am in trouble.  This boy wants to end as a footballer.’”—Fashola’s mum Mrs. Olufunke Agunbiade 

“Meeting Lee Kuan Yew was a defining moment for me.  To see the Singapore story and still be able to touch the man who did it was a transformative experience for me.  It was a wake-up call for me.  It made me realize that these things are not impossible…I was leaving Singapore with an angry determination to develop Lagos.”–Babatunde Raji Fashola

“Fashola is no politician.  Mentally, I call him ‘The Mechanic’.  He approaches things in a very clinical and mechanized fashion.  In other words, he diagnoses the problem and then goes at it like a skilled mechanic.”—Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka

“I have been vindicated from what Fashola has achieved.  It’s just that now that Fashola has excelled, they wouldn’t give me credit for choosing him in the first place when everybody kicked against his choice.  I laid the foundation for all his achievements.  I am very proud of him for what he has achieved.  Even when people say he has outperformed me, I feel successful.  I feel very, very proud.  The joy of every parent is that your son should do better than you did.”—President Bola Tinubu