Lagos State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Kadri Hamzat has finally broken his silence, saying he is contesting for the governorship seat of Lagos to succeed his boss, Babatunde Fashola in 2015 in order to sustain the lofty
legacy of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state.
The commissioner also dismissed claims that he is not an indigene of Lagos State, saying categorically that he is a Lagosian because his father, Olatunji Hamzat, is an Epe indigene, with proofs to back it up.
•Hamzat
Hamzat, in an interview on Tuesday in his office, said: “I intend to contest under our party and I understand that our party, APC, has a lot and enormous number of talented people and that is the truth; there are a lot of people that have been in government and have the skills.
“At the right time, all of us will present our case and I am sure the party will do the right thing and get a candidate that will defeat the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, hands down,” he said.
Hamzat said he had been fortunate to be in government since 2005, serving as Commissioner in the Ministry of Science and Technology and now Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, the positions that had exposed him adequately to governance.
“I have been fortunate to be part of both governments, that is during Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s tenure and now. I have also been fortunate to be a member of key instrument of government like the State Tenders Board, STB, since 2005. The board is responsible for awarding and scrutinising contracts, so if Ministry of Health, Ministry of Works, Environment, for instance, want to carry out a project, they will come to the State’s Tenders Board and defend the project.
Hamzat said he would be thorough and professional in the discharge of his duty to Lagosians if given the mandate to represent APC in the forthcoming governorship election, adding that the PDP was no match for his party.
Using an analogy, the commissioner said: “we must allow a system whereby you don’t give the job of a carpenter to a plumber, it doesn’t matter how good that plumber is, that is not his area and he is not a carpenter and will not be able to do a carpenter’s work. He is a plumber, he will do a good plumbing job, but will not be able to do carpentry job and that is the reality.”
He said those aspiring to occupy positions of authority should not think of themselves, but the future of their children’s children so that the nation could be better for all, adding that this was what made the Americans far ahead of Nigeria as their leaders do not engage in selfish aggrandisement.
On his indigeneship, Hamzat said he’s a Lagosian by birth, tracing his paternal root to the Ajiborisa family of Epe. He insisted that he is not from Ogun State as being claimed in some quarters.
“My father was a commissioner in Lagos State in 1979. The reality is that everything that that family has done is in Lagos and my dad played his politics in Lagos. The truth is this, I don’t think there is any politician who does not know my dad in Lagos. The reality is that there are lots of politicians in Ogun State who do not know my dad. Of course, he was at a time the Vice Chairman of AD in the southwest, so a lot of people may also know him.
“When his own father died, he was aged nine, that was when he lived in Epe all his life. In fact he went to primary school in Epe. If my dad happens says he is from Lagos, nobody can dispute it. The present Olu of Epe went to the same primary school with him.
“The reality is that when my father became a king, he took the title of Ajiborisa 1. Their name is Ajiborisa but because of religion, some of them said they don’t want to be Ajiborisa. His own name is Hamzat, but the family name is Ajiborisa and thankfully today, there are people that are alive. There is Ajiborisa family in Epe, we are from the same root. Because it is time now for people to understand, we are from the same root and the good thing is that there are eminent Nigerians that are in that family, Gen. Ajiborisa, the first Administrator of Osun State is alive and you can go and interview him, we are from the same root,” he explained.
According to Hamzat, “what happened was that my own great grandfather, there are four of them, was a herbalist as I was made to understand. He went to that village in Ogun State to cure some diseases there. They gave him land in that village and he stayed there. His root was actually from Epe and that is the reality.”
The commissioner further explained that there is also the maternal right in Lagos as his mother is from Iga Igbe, Lagos Island, saying that in 1861 when Oba Kosoko actually went to Epe, his own maternal great grandfather happened to be one of the people that followed him.
“So they went to Epe, that is Eko Epe where their family settled. They have Egbe Cult in Epe which is made up of four families, the Okanu family, so my maternal grandfather is Okanu. That is where my dad saw my mom and they got married. So, how can people just dispute that? The reality is that the truth must be told. Since Akinsemoyin, every king in Lagos has come from the maternal side, that is the truth. The reality for me is that I have my legs and my arms in Lagos,” he stated.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
go and prostrate to the man the called himself oracle baba oju he will grant it or the king who has already pronounce his own candidate.
ReplyDeletethank GOD for Fashola.
Jimi agbaje for 2014.
OJS
We no get CHRISTIAN wey fit Govern Lagos? IS Lagos now considered a Muslim state? Corrrect me if i am wrong.....since d time of Lateef Jakande, a great man and a Muslim, there has been no Christian Governor of Lagos. The problem with the world today is that there is no balance. A demographic start to make political spots their birthright. Our Muslim brothers should try to let a good Christian Lagosian serve for a change.....That is wisdom, whether u think so or not!
ReplyDelete