By Sunday Ani
Chairman, Odi-Olowo Ojuwoye Local Council Development Area in Lagos State, Razak Ajala in this interview, spoke on the secrets of his success in politics among other issues.
Politics, in this clime, can be quite lucrative, but at the same time very dangerous, even to the point of losing one’s life in the process; did you consider all of these before dabbling into it?
Definitely, as human, you will think about such risks. Yes, I might have been born and raised in a very dangerous environment but that doesn’t insulate me from death. However, my friend, prayer warrior, and wife, is always there for me. She is my backbone. This death issue you talked about was one of the reasons used against me as to why she could not date me. They said politics is dangerous, which can result to death. But, let me say this, politics isn’t dirty. It is the practitioners that are dirty. Politics is about service, pure and simple. It is that urge to serve that brought me here through politics to the point that we are empowering hundreds of people.
What was your parents’ reaction when you informed them you wanted to become a politician?
My parents, particularly my father, was happy because he was also a politician. He was happy that one out of his 11 children is following his footsteps. All my siblings have been of great support to me.
Would you say your conviction to join politics has paid off?
Of course, I told you once I believe in a cause, I give my all to it. God has used me through this politics to impact my community.
I was the first politician at my level as a councillor to buy 100 WAEC and GCE forms for brilliant but indigent students in my community in the year 2000. I did it at the time my fellow councillors kicked against it because of the financial implications that they knew I didn’t have. I was still living with my parents when I did it. I organised tutorial classes for them apart from purchasing the forms for them. Now, those students at that time have grown to become professionals. One of them is in NNPC. One of them works with the British embassy. I still relate with them till this moment.
That is basically my joy and fulfillment.
Tell us some of the things people still don’t know about you despite the fact that you are a public figure?
I can attend 10, 12 programmes in a day. Once I make a commitment to coming, I will definitely come. Besides, I know that I cannot spend more than 10 to 15 minutes there. I will show up because coming there is basically to honour whoever may have invited me.
I am a family man proper. When I say family man, it isn’t in the context of nuclear family. I mean, if God in His infinite mercy brought me to this position, I believe that I should be able to use the same position to attend to the needs of the people within and around me. The within is basically my nuclear and extended family, and the around me is friends, associates, and the people who came out in their numbers to give me the mandate as councillor, vice chairman, and now chairman. Hence, my political philosophy is common pool for common benefits.
The third one is the fact that if I believe in a course, I give it my all, like how I met my wife. I love my wife very dearly. In order of importance, my wife comes first.
Talking about your wife, how did you meet her?
I met her in the house of a brother, a former secretary to Mushin Local Government Area. As she walked into the office, I told the guys I sat with that I was going to approach her but I was told that she would not accept me, given where I came from, Akala; a notorious area in Mushin. To most people in Lagos, the Akala area is used to generally describe Mushin, meaning that nothing good can come out of Mushin. Also, in comparison, my wife’s background and mine are far apart. This was a young man still living under the roof of his father in an eight by 14 inches room with about 14 people cohabiting compared to my wife who had a room to herself and her mother, not her father now, who can point to one or two houses to her name. So, it was hard for anybody to comprehend how a lady with such a rich background would succumb to a poor boy from Akala. As stated earlier, if I believe in a cause, I give it my all. When I contested for the House of Assembly in 2007, I only had two plots of land. And, I sold them, despite the fact that I knew I could lose the election. I followed her home, and as she approached her gate, she told her gate man to shut the gate against me. I didn’t give up. I profiled her to a point that I knew her movement from her home to her mother’s shop. We became friends for 11 years before she eventually accepted me.
Why did it take that long?
You are dealing with a case of wooing a lady, who even when she had the conviction to accept you, could not because the people around her believed that Razak shouldn’t be her destination of choice. I travelled as far as Offa, Kwara State, to look for her. One of the things that endeared her to me was her family. Here was a family that trained other people’s children like theirs. They trained them up to the university level. If it’s about intellect, she is actually brilliant. I see in my wife a religious and reserved woman. I saw that we both have strong family values. These, among several other factors actually endeared her to me.
Akala is notorious neighborhood, do you regret that your root is traceable to that area?
No, and never; as a matter of fact, that is where my strength lies politically. That is where my strength economically lies. That is where my strength academically lies. If you are born and raised in our area, you have the opportunity to be brilliant. You have what the people living in a better area do not have. You have street smartness.
You recently empowered the people of Mushin with N250 million, what is this empowerment programme all about?
The empowerment is a reflection of my background. If not for God and His grace, I won’t be where I am today. I am from humble background and, because I have tasted what it is not to have, I resolved that whatever it takes to put smiles on my people’s faces, I will do it with my people, especially the ordinary people around. The empowerment is divided into groups. For the youths, we are doing sports fiesta. For students, we are doing quiz and debate competitions. For the women, we have grant. For the SMEs, we have their own. For the vulnerable among us, we have sales of subsidised chickens. With N2,500, you will get chickens here. With N25,000, you will get rams here, especially for the Ileya festival. I know what it means for your neighbours to be eating turkey, and you are not able to afford chicken. I know how children feel when their peers are eating and they are not. That is part of what informs the empowerment programme, and that is what governance is all about.
What was your dream for the future growing up in Akala?
My dream was to become a politician. I started nursing the ambition right from secondary school. I was good at government as a subject. And when it came to current affairs issues, especially political issue, I was very vocal such that my teacher nicknamed me ‘Sarumi the governor’ and that was because of the passion with which I was defending Dapo Sarumi against the late Femi Agbalajobi at that time. I have always been politically active right from my youth. I remember when the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo came to Mushin for political rally, as a primary school student; I went there and even lost my food cooler.
Before dabbling into politics, have you ever worked elsewhere?
Yes, I worked as a labourer with the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA). We packed rice from the ship.
At what age was that?
This should be when I was about 15 years old. After working at the port, I went to the now popular Chevron in Lekki. I also worked at Tejuosho Market. I carried bags for shoppers. All I have gone through informed virtually all the programmes we have here in Mushin.