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LAGOS Lawmaker, Hon. ARO MOSHOOD
Politically, Ikorodu is a very vibrant town. It is replete with some of the most dynamic and high profile politicians Lagos State can possibly boast of. Presently, there are a handful of politicians from Ikorodu who are making waves and also making strong political statements that resonate with the people of Ikorodu. One of such politicians is Honourable Aro Moshood Abiodun, popularly called AMA by his legion of Ikorodu supporters. He is the Lawmaker representing Ikorodu Constituency II. Mention the name AMA to anyone who is conversant with Ikorodu politics and you would be told you just mentioned the name of a man who is hugely loved and respected by his people largely because of good deeds. His philanthropy and empowerment programmes specifically designed for the people speak for him. Long before AMA joined politics, he had shown an incredible desire to help improve the well being of those around him. He supported parents by helping to pay their children’s school fees, he supported market women by giving them money to beef up their capital and even helped those who desired to travel outside the country procure their traveling tickets.
Two weeks ago, City People’s Senior Editor, WALE LAWAL (08037209290) and NIFEMI KAZEEM, were guests of this very hardworking and fiercely focused legislator. He talked about his humble beginning and the many hurdles he had to cross before winning the Lagos Assembly election that earned him the mandate to represent the good people Ikorodu Constituency II. Here re excerpts of the interview.
A lot of people would be surprised to find that you are very young looking legislator, share with us a bvit about your background and your journey into politics..
Well thank you. My name is Honourable Aro Moshood, I am representing the good people of Ikorodu constituency II. I was born and brought up in Ijede LCDA, Ikorodu Local Government. And I want to firstly return all the glory and adoration to God alone for the journey so far. Before I got into the house, I was a businessman. I was into wood exports. I am the national PRO for all the wood exporters in Nigeria. I had my factory in Lagos before relocating to Ishagamu and also in Jobele in Oyo State. I went to Anwarul Islam Primary School in Ijede. The school is more popularly known as Ahmaddiya. I proceeded to Luwasa High school in Ijede where I finished my secondary education and then headed to the Lagos State University where I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in Accounting. I have also been engaged in different specialised courses to guide me well in Accounting.
Tell us a bit about your undergraduate days, because you look to me like someone who would not just sit down and watch things happen around without making any input?
Well, I have been a bit of a religious person, especially when I was in school. I led a team called Radical for Christ and I was the team leader. We used our lecture hall to bring ourselves together to pray and have concerts. I was also supplying music because I had some music sets then that I would load in car, an Opel then, put the speakers on top and we would drive all over the place. I also participated in some student union activities and that’s why people were like, ah, Aro, you that you are for Christ, you’re also nito activism, that’s where the name Radical for Christ came from. My school days were interesting especially because of the strike we had then. We should’ve spent just about five years but ended spending seven years. It was during the period of the strike that I got the opportunity to be more involved in my mum’s wood business. She was doing the business at the local level then, doing the 2 by 2, 2 by 3, 2 by 6 local saw mill stuff then. She had a barn saw that she used to slice the timbers. That was where I learnt a few things.
Then we had another saw mill beside her where they also do wood exports and I had few friends in that saw mill, I would go over there to join them. So, I found that they operated on a larger scale. They were using containers to take large volume of woods away for exportation. So, when one of the Indian men there saw me and asked who I was and was told my mother owns the saw mill next to them, he called me and asked if I could work for them. He said can your mum allow us to be dropping our wood in your saw mill and you will also be sawing for us? He said your mummy can be doing her business in the day time while you can work for us at night. And I spoke with my mum and she agreed. And that was I started making big money. I was able to make money for her and expand the business. I completely took charge of her business and she chased her manager away and made me the manager because of the money I was making for her business. In fact, I have to use this opportunity to specially thank my mother for what she has done in my life. She made who I am today. She provided for me and gave me all the opportunities I needed to excel. I am so, so grateful to her.
So, how did your journey into politics begin?
In 2007, we had like close to a year strike then. So, we were idle doing nothing. I was already living large in school. I was driving to school in my own car and cruising around town with it. The wood business too had been suspended by President Obasanjo then, so I was not really busy but there was money to throw around. So, when my friends came to me and said, AMA, come and contest for councillorship now, I thought about it and said, why not? I got the ticket on the PDP platform and we started campaigning vigorously. When the elections came and results started coming in, I had won five out of seven polling units. We were already dancing and celebrating. But there was still one polling unit called Aiyetoro, its results had not come in and some people were saying, AMA, hold on oh, they have not brought Aiyetoro’s results. I said forget Aiyetoro, that place tht is on top of water, how many people are there, how many votes will they get from that place? By the time they brought Aiyetoro votes, everywhere scattered! They came with over 400 votes and I was leading with jut over 100 hundred votes. I felt so bad. For more than three days, I cried. People had already started calling me Councilor. I felt so bad I left the community for like six months jut to hide my face from the shame of defeat.
In 2018, the PDP came again. By then, I had become even more successful in my business that I wasn’t even paying attention to politics. They wanted me to contest for House of Assembly. My popularity had also risen within the community then. I became known widely as a philanthropist. I was helping many parents with their children’s education, paying school fees, buying JAMB forms, GCE forms, helping people pay for tickets to travel abroad, helping people support their businesses, and the money was there, so I was just throwing it around and helping people with it. So, because I was also saying to myself that I could do a lot of things better if given the opportunity to be in government, I accepted their offer. I asked them like how much would I need to campaign and ensure I won the election, they said between N150million to N200million. And I said no problem. But are you sure I will win, they said, of course, yes! (Everyone breaks into laughter). So, we began preparations for the elections. I bought a bus and a car. The bus was meant to be conveying people to go and collect their voter’s cards. We put together a very rigorous campaign then. That was when we established the name, AMA, you see AMA, you smile. I started Endowment programmes, I would put them in groups and give them money and ask them to start loaning themselves the money and pass it round to everyone in the group. So, it’s the women that were shouting, see o, he has not won the election, see what he is doing already. I bought school bags and give thousands of children. I supported their businesses. It must also be said that its some of these things that I did then that still came back to help me win my election in 2023.
But the shock came on election day. The party just said they were not ready for the election. They said many of the party candidates did not do any meaningful campaign but only waiting for the party’s money. They said they are not talking about AMA oh, because they are aware of the type of efforts he has made to put together a strong campaign, but that the party is not releasing money to anybody. This was Jimi Agbaje and his people talking. I grabbed him by the cloth and the security guys held me back. He said, AMA, what’s wrong with you? I said, do you have any idea how much money I have spent on campaigning for this election that you’re now saying the party is not ready for? I told him the money you want to give me is not even up to what I have spent. And you could’ve informed me before now that the election won’t hold instead of allowing me waste of money. Jimi Agbaje said, AMA, you are still young, what do you know about politics? I was shattered. I cried bitterly. The N1million he gave me, I just started sharing it on the road to people, policemen, people who recognised me in the car, I started giving out the money to them. They were all excited, hailing me, calling my name, but they didn’t know what I was going through at that time. Even my team who were with me in the car thought I was mad the way I was giving out money angrily. I shared all the money before I returned to Ikorodu. I wept that night. In Imota, thy have ward A and B, I won the whole of the ward B. In ward A, thy were not aowed to conduct election until around 12 o’clock. In Ijede, in Gbogbo I got lots of votes too.
I was really pained. But God told he has only used the election to prepare me. The Pastor said I shouldn’t worry, that the next time, the people will come and beg you to contest.
So, did you find your way back into politics and ended up in APC?
Well, then, I had made up my mind I would not do politics again. But APC would call me for events and I would join them. Then, people started saying I had joined APC because I wasn’t doing anything with the PDP. One of the APC chairmanship candidates then is like a senior brother to me and during the campaigns, I did souvenirs for him and that fueled more the speculation that I had joined APC. And I also gave him. Now, Ikorodu constituency II is on a rotation arrangement as far as these elections are concerned. My mum is from Imota. So, in 2018, 2019, I contested from Imota as an indigene of Imota under PDP. Now, in 2023, it was the turn of Ijede. But the man I contested with in 2019 now said he wants to contest again and it’s the turn of Ijede. The kings, the elders, all of them said, but its our turn now. They now told them, its your turn but its not what you will be saying with mouth, go and bring your candidate and they were like fifteen that came out. They told them, look, you have lost the election already, out of these people, who will you take to Gbogbo that they will recognise? They said none. Who will you take to Imota that they will recognise, they said none. They said then, you’re not ready. One of them now said, you better go and meet AMA, he is the only one you will take to Gbogbo, or Imota, or Ijede and people will say, yes, we know him, he has done something. So, that was how the chiefs came to persuade me, then the leaders of the party too came and I was like, okay, let me give it a try, perhaps this has the hand of God in it. And this is where that trial brought me.
