By Sunday Ani
The Deputy Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mojisola Lasbat Meranda, has described the leadership style of the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa as excellent and worthy of emulation.
She said this at the unveiling of a book, ‘The man called Obasa’ authored by a member of the House, Adedamola Richard Kasunmu, in honour of the Speaker, who clocked 51 at the weekend.
A statement by Kasunmu’s media office noted that Obasa had contributed immensely to the development of Lagos State through legislations that have continued to stand the test of time, and put the state on a greater pedestal.
“He is a wonderful man. A mentor and lover of new ideas, a friend and father to all. He started the annual town hall meetings, which we do simultaneously across the 40 constituencies, compiling the thoughts and ideas of the constituents just to help Lagos State.
“The Yoruba Language preservation law is really working for us and it is now being replicated in other states. The Neighbourhood Safety Corps, which was initiated by the Speaker, has been replicated in the form of Amotekun in the entire Southwestern states and other parts of the country,” Meranda said.
In her remarks, former deputy speaker, Mrs. Funmilayo Tejuosho, said Obasa’s path to a more impactful lifestyle started in 2003 when he was first elected as a member of the parliament at the state level, stressing that ever since then, Obasa had not disappointed the people of the state, instead his love for Lagos earned him the position of Speaker for the third consecutive times.
“Mr. Speaker has made us proud as legislators. He has always fought the good fight for good governance. He is a very serious minded person, very intelligent and sincere.
“How else do we let him know that he is highly regarded? How else do we let him know that he is doing extraordinarily well, if not to put it in print and blow our own trumpet saying that we are very proud of him?” she asked.
Kasunmu said he was motivated to write the book to honour Obasa, whom he called an exemplary leader, a committed democrat and an astute legislator.
He said plans were underway to organise a symposium, where issues affecting the legislative arm of government in Nigeria would be discussed and solutions proffered.
“It might interest you to know that under Obasa, the Lagos State House of Assembly has become an exemplary model of a transformative and leading legislature in the country.
“Therefore, the symposium would address many of the challenges confronting the Nigerian legislative Houses,” he said.