Sunday, 13th December 2020 was a historic day for the members and guests at the Awards organised by the Lagos Chapter of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN). The classy event took place at the prestigious Oriental Hotels, Victoria Island, Lagos. The royal father of the day was His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife. He came as usual with his entourage.
He was glamourously dressed in his white regalia and his grand entry was one of the highlights of the event. During the event, the Ooni was asked to present some awards to the officials of the Lagos State Government. He was also asked to present a Special award to the governor of the state, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and he was highly delighted for the honour. He was happy because it was a perfect moment to present the governor a plaque because of their past encounter before he became the Ooni of Ife.
Ooni of Ife said that the moment would have been a perfect moment to reveal how their paths crossed about 11 years ago, though he still went ahead with the story. Below is his revelation about his relationship with the current governor of Lagos State.
“I’m very excited tonight. But let me tell you a small story. I met His Excellency, the governor of Lagos state around 2009/2008; I met him at the lowest moment of my life. And that’s the truth and I even considered suicide as an option then. I’m very serious about it. It was very, very tough for me. I never knew I was going to survive it. I had a project in Yaba, and that project was already completed. I bought the land innocently, on Adebisi, off Panti street, Yaba but the land was heterogeneous because every metre has a different soil profile, so you can’t do a soil test on that land. It’s not possible.
So I finished the development of 9 storeys of 10 building and Lagos State came and told me to pull everything down because the building was all marked for demolition. And they shut that site for one year six months. Bank loans were running into billions and that was around 2009. And I’m very serious, suicide was an option for me then. Because every time it’s the dawn of a new day, I would pray to God that, what would I do today, how will survive it but when I met him (Babajide Sanwo Olu), we became very close. He understood everything I was going through and was actually the person preaching to me, that there’s still life; that I am a young man and ever since that time we became extremely close. For the rest of my life, I will never forget him. And to the glory of God, I came out of that problem even stronger. And ever since that time we have had that relationship going. I never knew I would be Ooni of Ife, he never knew he would be governor of Lagos State. We were even thinking of doing real estate business deals together. Later, when I became the Ooni of Ife, he became the Managing Director of LSDPC. Today, this is what I can use to say a big thank you to him. I know he would have loved to be here but because of what is going on, but he would be fine. We are praying for him in the spirit. Everything would be fine with him; he’s a governor we all love. I’m his no1 fan. So on this note, on behalf of the governor of Lagos State, I want to say thank you. Whenever you see him, please tell him that this would have been a perfect opportunity to say thank you to him for what he did for me. For the rest of my life, I would ever be grateful. Even my unborn children, I will tell them the story.
One of my sons came to great me and he was just greeting honourable Commissioner for Planning and I said you are greeting Honourable Commissioner of Physical Planning just like that? You these boys, you don’t know anything. These people can make and mar you. So for me to be in the midst of you, I’m reiterating it, this would have been a great opportunity for me to present him the award and have a photo with him. Although, I would still crop that picture. I would remove the recipient and put the governor there because technology would do that for me. So as I’m seeing you, I’m seeing Mr Governor. Help me say a big thank you to him. Every official of Lagos State present here, everyday I wake up I pray for you and everything you desire in this world would come to pass. So on this note, I present this beautiful award to the no1 citizen of Lagos State who has been a great supporter and a pillar for me during the lowest moment of my life. I will never forget him”. The monarch, a former real estate player, also expressed joy at the collaboration between the government and the private sector, a cordial relationship he said could only lead to progress for the people.
-ISAAC ABIMBADE
