The Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, on Thursday said he had directed all governorship aspirants in the state not to contest the 2019 election against the incumbent governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, and his deputy, Dr. Oluranti Adebule.
The monarch provided justification for his directive, which he said, was founded on Ambode’s unprecedented performance in government under two years even when other states of the federation were experiencing intractable economic meltdown.
The monarch disclosed this at the 21st convocation of Lagos State University (LASU) at the institution’s auditorium, Ojo, insisting that there was no vacancy in Ikeja House in 2019.
The convocation was attended by LASU Chancellor, Justice Adesola Oguntade; Chairman of LASU Governing Council, Prof. Adebayo Ninalowo; Vice-Chancellor of LASU, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun; and members of the State Executive Council among others.
Former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Peter Okebukola, foremost industrialist, Sir Adebutu Kessington and the richest black woman in the world, Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, were presented honourary awards.
But speaking at the convocation, Akiolu explained his preference for Ambode in 2019, revealing how one of the governorship candidates in the 2015 contest recently ran into him, greeted him and alleged that the monarch truncated his governorship aspiration.
He said: “Few days ago, one of the aspirants greeted me. After greeting, he alleged that I halted his ambition. No one should come out in 2019 and declare his ambition.
“The only way to avoid not wasting their money is to support Ambode and his deputy to rule Lagos for the next six years. That was why about nine months to the 2015 governorship election, I said Ambode would be the next governor whether they vote or not.
“But all of them doubted me. I often pray before and after leaving the bed. That is one of few things I learnt from the late father of Prof. Peter Oke-Bukola, who served as my cadet officer then. Even though he was much older than I am, he was very humble.
“The prayer has helped me a lot. The state of Nigeria indicates the type of police it gets. As a police officer, I served for 32 years. That is why I can confidently say I never collected money from anyone before performing my duties as a law enforcement officer.”
While addressing the gathering, Ambode revealed plans by his administration to build a 6,000-bed hostel within LASU main campus, Ojo in partnership with the private sector to improve on the learning experience in the institution.
The governor promised that the state government would continue “to invest in infrastructure in tertiary institutions in the state including LASU to make them emerge as great citadels of learning and pride of all”.
Ambode charged them to build on the ranking of the institution as the best state university in Nigeria to become one of the best five universities in the country by 2020.
He, therefore, urged the management of the institution “to work assiduously to make LASU emerge as the preferred university of choice by 2025. I made a commitment at the 20th convocation that we would invest massively here.
“I also promised that we would upgrade its status to that obtainable anywhere around the world provided all stakeholders can ensure that peace reigns on campus. One of the results of that is the accreditation of this institution’s School of Dentistry; the only state university to have an accredited School of Dentistry.
“We will continue to invest in physical and social infrastructure in this university. We have many projects nearing completion and these legacy projects when completed will no doubt change the entire overview of the landscape of the university. One of these projects is a PPP arrangement to deliver a 6,000-bed hostel for LASU.”
(Thisday)
