A few days back, City People Magazine hosted the new Information Commissioner in Lagos state, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan at the City People Event Centre at Gbagada. At the event, KOK told guests, made up of schoolmates and colleagues in the media the story of his life and how he ended up in Journalism. Below are excerpts of his speech at the event.
“The journey of today started many years ago. I must say that my father is responsible for what is happening today. As one of his kids, he made sure that I read all the newspapers. He would buy all of them Punch, Tribune, New-Nigeria, Triumph etc. As soon as he finishes reading, I must also read and we would talk about what we’ve read even as a small kid.
So I fell in love with the media quite early, and then I started reading books of his choice. So even when I was a small boy, I had read so many books on his shelves, got used to so many authors, and their biographies. I became very sensitive towards Politics and Public Affairs so much that people that were with me right from secondary school, Class 2 to be precise, can testify to it. I started running a weekly column, a regular commentary on National Affairs. I was critical about what politics has done to us, and it was not surprising that when they were going to have 1978 Ali Must Go, the students of the University of Ife came to our school, St. Johns in Ile-Ife and drafted us into that struggle. They used us as cover so that the Police will not shoot. So that was my introduction to the struggle and I was just like age 13. It was exciting to me because I enjoyed having to face Police with guns. I think its been a long way. At the University of Ife, I felt I was becoming too lackadaisical and I needed to open my mouth. So one day, I went and asked them at the Students Union committee, which position is vacant that nobody has yet contested for? They said Vice President and I said give me the form, meanwhile, they just paid us our annual bursary money, so I used the money to print posters and cards. Then we started campaigning. The idea was that, in Ife you have to campaign room by room. You’ll start with the ladies and then you go to the men, so that process taught me Elocution. I learnt to control my temper, I learnt to control my anger, I learnt to relate with people. Sometimes I would enter into a room and they will ask me to get out. So what you see today is a product of so many years engagements over the years.
So many struggles, but I thank my God that throughout that struggle I was always enjoying myself. I didn’t see it as work, I just saw it as part of fun and the following year, I recontested again and I became PRO of the Students Union, and of course the major landmark was when students were killed in OAU, we went out and shut down the whole state in those days.
Today, looking at my present status, I think my past contributed to it. I have spent so much of my time on media and politics, so I feel very comfortable in these areas. For me, having served as Chief Press Secretary, I knew that I could give my best if I have a position like this, so I must tell you that being appointed today it’s a Compliment and also a Challenge. A compliment because it’s an appreciation of the skills that I have acquired over the years, my expertise and my experience. It is a challenge because I need to justify all those credentials, and I think my job has been made easy because I have a Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode the Governor of Lagos State who is so hyperactive, the energetic manner in which he has engaged, created and achieved so much makes it easy for me to put together what he has achieved and continue to disseminate the message to 22 million people of Lagos state. Whether you are talking of economy, you are talking of the roads, you are talking of the health facility, you want to talk of energy, all the greatest landmark in Nigeria on energy is going to happen this year when we fully launch our Embeded Power Project. It’s a great project that would put an end to the inadequacy of power supply/electricity in Lagos. Already we know and we can see what his excellency has done in terms of roads, taking development to the nooks and crannies of the state. When you are able to tar a road, you wake up the commerce of that area in less than one year. All the residential houses would become commercial, banks will come, people turning their premises to shops. Constructing roads is not just for infrastructure, it is to create a commercial centre for that area, and the idea basically is this: the more you open up an area, the fewer people need to migrate from one area to the other, and that will lessen congestion and also traffic.
It is a very good strategy. Just few days ago, we launched another set of 181 roads. Add 181 to 114 within a space of 3 years, I do not think any government within the federation can beat that record ever. Or you want to talk about Security? So if somebody has done this, my job is to disseminate it to 22 million Lagosians, using all the available channels, ensuring that simultaneously. There is no person that is not receiving the message of the achievements of this administration. How well I’m able to do this, would determine how many people will pay their taxes to Lagos State, my job is to ensure people believe in this government. So the task is much, but with God on our side, we will achieve it. You will all agree with me that today, social media has taken over. Facebook has 23 million users and out of these users, 12 percent are based in Lagos. Equivalent to 2.9 million people of Lagos are active on Facebook every day, so my job is to make sure that these 2.9 million people are hardened supporters and receivers of the messages of Lagos State on all the social media platform that is available. It’s the task that we must do and God will help us to do it.
I know today if you watch LTV, you are looking at the station that has the most current and authoritative news about Lagos State. Our task is to sharpen that loose edge and make sure that any time you want to know what is breaking in Lagos, you will tune to LTV. That is where we are going, that at the end of the day, we are able to build a mutual relationship between the government and the people, that at the end, our gain is that the election of 2019 will be a walkover for his Excellency, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode.
