The Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Hon. Tunde Balogun, clocked 70 at the weekend. He spoke with Deputy Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU about his life, foray into politics, reconciliation, membership registration and other issues.
How do you feel celebrating 70?
Of course, I feel a sense of personal fulfillment at the age of 70. And I thank God for his protection and mercy over me. It has been a long journey, with all the vissicitudes of life. I thank God for being alive today to celebrate 70 years on earth.
Twenty four hours ago, I got the news of passing on of a friend of mine, who was 70 last January. He went to celebrate his birthday with his wife in Dubai. He never came back. He died. He was infected by Covid-19. He went just like that.
I want to celebrate my own. I want to give thanks to God. I want to thank God again for his mercies and protection and the favours. When I say favours, there are some unmerited favours God gave. I must thank God for all these.
Also, God has not only given me these 70 years of grace in the world, he has also given me very good health good health and I have worked towards having good health. I thank God. I am was going there religiously every Saturday and Sunday for over 35 years; since 1983. It has paid off. Apart from that, I am relatively a disciplined man. There were certain things I had to forgo. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. And I exercise very well. I tried swimming once in a while. My wife is a very good swimmer. In relation to my wife, I am a novice. I give give thanks to God for what He has done for me and my family.
How was growing up in Lagos….
I was born into a family of Balogun Igbalaye. My father was the Asiwaju of Lagos for 30 years since 1964 to 1992. My father was Abdulwahab Iyanda Balogun. Igbalaye they called him. That was his nickname. He went to CMS Grammar School. He lived all his life in Lagos. He was born in Lagos. My grandfather and great grand father were born at Ajia Ijesa Compound at Epetedo in Lagos. My mother is from the Bada Family of Lagos Island too. It is called Agbo Ile Saba. It is on Evans Street on the Island. I am a real Lagosian.
Of course, my father was a very hardworking man. He was a businessman and very enterprising, very industrious. He was an importer and exporter of goods. He led a great life in Lagos. At a time when it was a big deal to ride reiley bicycle, my daddy was using the best of cars. He was richly blessed. He was wealthy. I thank God for that.
He was able to educate us. He educated me and my sisters and brothers to the level that everyone of us could go. I have a brother and a sister who are medical doctors. Of course, that my brother, in 1992, became the Asiwaju of Lagos too after my dad passed on. That was Dr. Muniru Igbalaye. He had a clinic, Igbalaye Clinic.
My mum was a very calm woman. Very cool and patient. That must have rubbed off on me because my greatest weapon in politics has been patience. I tried to exhibit that much as possible in dealing with people.
My dad, may be, because of his generation, was a man of many women. He was prepared for that. He enjoyed himself to the last. He was very religious too. After doing his business and making money, he had to serve God. He did that. He belonged to a lot if social clubs in Lagos here; Island Club and a few other clubs.
How did you enter politics?
I will give you a story about how I joined politics. After my education; I left the University in 1976. In 1977, I did the National Youth Corps and I started working in UTC. Of course, I had things that could make me comfortable. At that time, my dad was still alive. He was there for me. I started my business after doing the job at UTC Nigeria Limited. I started a business of my own. I was dealing with some banks; selling banking equipment like note counting machines, fire proof cabinet and things that were banking-related. I was doing well. My business was doing well.
At a point, I saw that in Lagos, we had only 15 local governments then. I saw one of my acquaintances. He said he was a councillor representing our ward in my local government. I went to the university. I did a lot of public spirited works. I have been serving as a philanthropist, more or less, at that time. And I saw that in Lagos, compared with other states, we had 15 local governments. I felt we should develop our local government more and our environment more by having more local governments, in which I could participate. I started writing articles to newspapers. I met some friends who were politicians and we were all talking together on how to improve our environment. So, the need to improve my environment actually brought me into politics. I felt I could do more for my party.
At that time, I had been living in Apapa for years. I got to Apapa with my dad in 1967. And I saw that Apapa environment was becoming downgraded. I thought something had to be done. I could not close my eyes to such development. So, I felt I should be part of the decision making so that I could affect and effect decisions for people. So, I started to agitate the creation of Apapa local government. I wrote a lot of articles in newspapers. After some time, some leaders with me in Apapa came together to demand for the creation of Apapa local government. Before then, Apapa, with all its wealth, with all its business potentials; the presence of two important ports in this country; was under Eti-Osa local government. You can imagine Apapa being under Eti-Osa local government. We had to agitate. That agitation made me to be involved politics.
After some time, a committee was formed. It had its sittings. The chairman was Chief Arthur Mbanefo. They had a sitting in the Lagos State House if Assembly. I had to be there to defend our position that Apapa should have a local government. The committee agreed that Apapa had the potential to be a good local government. There and then, they approved it. That was how our local governments became 20 when they created another five local governments, including Apapa. Since then, there have been no going back in politics.
How were you appointed as Commissioner for Home Affairs and what were your achievements?
That brings me to another story entirely. And it should be a lesson to the younger generation. It has been my dream. I am a Lagosian. I lived all my life in Lagos until I went to the university. My father, Asiwaju Wahab Iyanda Balogun, was part of those who struggled for the creation of Lagos State. He was party of the group that included Chief I.S. Adewale, the boy is good; Baba Gbadamosi. They worked together for the creation of Lagos State that everybody is enjoying today. It was created from the West.
With that, it had been my dream all along to have an opportunity to serve my state. The opportunity arrived when I joined the progressive forces in AD. I got introduced to the governor of Lagos State at that time, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. At a point, when I got introduced to him, I would have lost the chance to be appointed a commissioner, if not for the kind of spirit, the kind of values I imbibed from the teaching of my parents; the spirit of contentment.
I was introduced to Asiwaju by Senator Muniru Muse of blessed memory. We were working together when he became the chairman of Apapa Local Government. After some time, he saw the way I was working and helping the community in Apapa. I met Asiwaju. Asiwaju asked for my profile. He saw my profile and he was impressed. He decided to make me a commissioner.
At a point of being made that commissioner, after I had crossed the hurdle of the Lagis State House of Assembly, on the appointed day to get the letter of appointment from Asiwaju, az I was sitting in ante room, a friend, a junior brother actually came to me. He was sincere. He advised me. First of all, he asked me the ministry I was going to. I said I was earmarked for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. He said ahhh, that is a tough one; that’s a desert. You are going to Sahara Desert. He said I should tell Asiwaju to give me a better ministry.
I sat down. He was doing that sincerely and genuinely. But, thinking about my upbringing and my family background, I had been taught not only to be tolerant, but also to be contented. He said I shoukd open up the argument with Asiwaju when he called me inside and that I should ask him to give me a better place.
I sat down. I started taking to myself. ‘Tunde, this man has decided to appoint you as a commissioner out of about 20 million people. This is the first time you are going into a government establishment. You have never be there before. No matter how dry, no matter how desolate, no matter how remote, it is not your place to dictate to your boss. You have not been in government before.’ All these were going through my mind when I was waiting for Asiwaju to call on me. I said no way. No matter the ministry, I wanted to serve. I was not looking for a fat ministry. I wanted to serve my state.
So, with that in mind, Asiwaju called me inside. He gave my letter to me. I received it with gratitude and enthusiasm, that I will contribute my quota to the development of Lagos State. Had I listened to that guy, had I opened up an argument with Asiwaju to give me a better place, I might not have become a commissioner in my life. It was a big day for me. It was a realisation of the fact that I got the lessons from my parents; to be contented with whatever you have.
How did you conduct the affairs of your ministry and what were your achievements as a commissioner?
I have to give thanks to God for the modest achievements I was able to make. I got to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. I was there for six months. Asiwaju changed me from that ministry to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Culture. Getting to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Culture, I had to make sure I changed things. I repositioned the ministry. Senator Obanikoro was the commissiober there. He was my predecessor. When I got there, I had to change a lit if things. I had to make things work. We had some responsibilities in that ministry about religious affairs, going into pilgrimage, to Jerusalem, to Saudi Arabia. Check from the records. I was in that ministry for about eight and half years. We had enviable achievements. It was fantastic. I will tell you one. Because of the little and model contributions I could made in that ministry, the organiser of pilgrimage in Nigeria, the National Hajj Commission, came to Lagos to give us an award. It had never been given to any state before. It remains the only one ever. They commended us. They gave me a honour. Check the record. You will see it I give thanks to God. I wasn’t extraordinary. But, I had to put a lot of things in place, including having human relations with people on pilgrimage together. Some of them could create problems. We had to calm them down and asked religious leaders to talk to them about the reasons they are on pilgrimage. The award was a big glory to Lagos. I was fulfilled.
I got a lot of inspirational lessons. My working with Asiwaju, my working with Fashola changed my life a lot. Asiwaju has extraordinary qualities. He is a remarkable individual. He is a very objective man. He was governor, but he allowed his commissioners to go on debate with him. He wanted to know why something was wrong, why something was right. He allows his commissioners to do that. The current vice president, Prof. Osinbajo, was always arguing with his governor. Asiwaju allowed that. That’s real democracy. That’s how to be a democrat. Osinbajo was always arguing whenever he felt strongly about a point. And Asiwaju would give him the opportunity to make his point. If he was right, Asiwaju would take to that. Very few governors would do that. Many governors believed they were lords in their kingdom. Asiwaju had vision. It is evident now, seeing what Lagos has become. He had a mission to really make the state great. These are things we are seeing now. Generally, he raised the bar of governance, which others are building on now.
What is the challenge of administering a big party like APC in Lagos?
First of all, you must have vision and mission. Let’s start from this secretariat. This compound has changed. This office has changed. Come back at night, you see how this place is lit up. It is through the use of solar. It is an innovation. Come to our reception, you see the difference. Since you have been coming here, has this secretariat not changed? The party is being run effectively. We are improving here.
Coming back to managing people. I have told you my greatest weapon here is patience. You meet all sorts of characters in politics. You have people who are cool headed. You have people who are hot. You have people who have short fuss. You must be calm. You must be patient. Otherwise, you won’t be able to solve the problems. I don’t ignore calls, except in the middle of the night. I was in charge of Lagos State Fire Service. I learnt from that. I could save lives and people in emergency situations by answering calls. I thank God. Through that, I have saved a lot of lives and property.
How inclusive is your style of administration as party chairman?
How inclusive? It is clear. I work with people the way want our administration to succeed. The Secretary of our party knows what I do at any time. I know what he does too. I don’t hide anything from him and all the members of our executive committee. Neither does he hide from me. The secretary is the closest to me in thus administration. And of course, most of our works here are mainly part time. It is not a full time job really. It is part time. There are few officers who stay here permanently. Some may not see that way. Some may not feel comfortable not staying here or not having office here permanently. That is what it is. We are working together as a team. The state working comnittee is united. It comes up with ideas and decisions as the need arises. We have the executive committee. I thank Gid. We are working well and doing well.
How are you reconciling few aggrieved elements in your party?
Of course, we are doing a lot of reconciliation. Along the line, we had one of our members who wanted to leave the party. We thank him for understanding and allowing good sense to prevail. Hon. Yepe Abudulateef Abdulakeem was annoyed. He wanted to go. I gave reasons why he had to stay. He us a fantastic guy. Brilliant fellow. Knowledgeable. He has wisdom. Thank God. And I thank him too for listening to my argument, valid and solid. So, we are working to have more people. We are enlarging our coast. Apart from people joining us, we are reconciling our members. It is a continuous thing.
Why is the party unable to resolve the crisis in the House of Assembly?
Which House of Assembly? Of course, we are resolving crisis. We are working with the Speaker. He is listening well and showing magnanimity. In a short time, things will take a positive shape. We need to avoid a situation where the press is making an issue out of it. They sometimes heat up the polity. We are careful. There is independence of the three arms of government. At the same time, there is need for flexibility. We need to maintain a balance among the legislature, executive and judiciary.
In politics, people cannot be thinking alike. There will be a divergence of views. They have to be harmonised. We have 40 people in the House of Assembly and you want them to behave the same way?
Why did the elected chairmen of APC at the state level allowed themselves to be converted into caretaker chairmen by an unelected national caretaker committee?
It is a decision that is left in the national headquarters of our party. And I think with time, all the conflicts will be resolved. We have the constitution. APC has the constitution which will be interpreted at the right time. We dont have to exchange blows to ensure that things are done rightly. At the right time, we will sit down, engage ourselves and resolve the issues.