Ebun Sessou & Dolapo Majekodunmi

Mr. Taiwo Kolawole is the Chairman of Ibile Microfinance Bank Limited. Before 2016 when he assumed the chairmanship of the bank, he had served as a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly where he rose to the position of Deputy Speaker. In this interview, he speaks on his life as an Ajegunle boy, his problem with English Language and how he became what he is today.

•Taiwo Kolawole

You was growing up like?

My mother, the late Alhaja Simbiat Ajayi, and my father, the late Alhaji Tiamiyu Kolawole, were wonderful people. I grew up in Ajegunle although I was born in Lagos Island. We moved to Ajegunle when my mother built a house at Amukoko, Lagos in 1973. I lived all my adolescent life in Ajegunle and I remain an ‘Amukoko boy’.

Growing up wasn’t rosy. I cannot forget those days when I would trek from Amukoko to Lagos Island for to attend school and assist my mother with her petty trading. My mother was a meat seller at Sangrose Market.

Unfortunately, after I had spent five years in primary school, it was difficult to pass common entrance examination into secondary school because I was not good in English Language although I was a genius in mathematics.

I was interested in mathematics because of the story my teacher told us in Primary 1 about one of her former pupils who brought her to school in his car.

She told us that the man was an accountant and the follow up question was, ‘What must one do to become an accountant? And he said, ‘You must know mathematics’. And that was how I liked mathematics because I thought I would be an accountant. I wanted to be rich like the man who brought my teacher to school in his car. And that was how I became a genius in mathematics. Unfortunately I couldn’t express myself in English. I couldn’t even write a sentence correctly when I was in Primary 6. It was so difficult for me to pass common entrance examination to the extent that my mother had to take my twin brother and I to Oshogbo to retake the examination.

Someone introduced her to a school then, Ifeoluwa Children Boarding School, Oshogbo. There, we were asked to write a test before we could be put in a class.

I scored 98 per cent in mathematics and 10 per cent in English Language but when you add the two scores together, I had already crossed the midpoint.

I was so bad in English to the extent that I had to think on improving by speaking English on daily basis.

I couldn’t forget my common entrance examination then. I applied for admission into St. Charles Grammar School, Oshogbo and, because of my mathematics’ background, I crossed the average mark. I was given admission and, no matter the problem I had in English, my mathematics’ background was taking me higher. When I was given a letter for oral interview, I feared that I was not going to be admitted. It was a group interview and those who had to be interviewed earlier leaked some of the questions and answers to us and I did well in the question and answer segment but I could not read English. It was very funny. English really punished me and I lost several years in the process of moving from one place to another because of it. I had my secondary school leaving examination in Oshogbo. I always came out tops in mathematics.

At St. Charles Grammar School, when I was in Form 4 as an applied science student, my teacher was mad at me because I couldn’t solve a mathematical problem. I was afraid to express myself. That was the turning point for me. I decided to move to the art class. At the end of the day, I had F9 in English Language after sitting for School Certificate Examination, A1 in mathematics and credit in five other subjects.

I decided to enrol in extra mural class because of English Language. I was attending the extra mural class and also assisting my mother. I wasted two years just to sit for another examination and pass English Language.

One day, my elder brother called me and asked for my result and I told him I had P8 in English and he said I could study statistics at the Federal Polytechnic Bida. I did not know what statistics was all about but I was happy that, at least, I had a course to read in higher institution. My mother was the only educated person among her siblings and she promised to give us education. She was determined to give us education. My twin brother did not bother to continue his education.

After obtaining my Ordinary National Diploma in Bida, I was admitted by direct entry to study in University of Ilorin. That was another story entirely. My mother gave me money to buy the direct entry form but I squandered it in Lagos. Then, I went back to Bida someone helped me to buy the form to study at University of Ilorin. And as time went on, I was able to overcome my English Language problem. After graduating from Ilorin, I served in Abuja and proceeded to do master’s immediately thereafter. Three years ago, I applied for PhD and I was told I did not have credit in English Language and I had to write GCE. I was in a class three years ago. At the GCE class, a girl who knew my status screamed. Everybody was afraid and they wondered what I was doing in a GCE class. I told them I was doing it for a purpose. God has given me the grace to achieve what I wanted in life.

Expectation

My expectation was to build a three-bedroom flat, have a family and own a car. And the first thing I had was the three-bedroom flat. You do not have access to your destiny but God knows all things. At times, when I look at the scars on my leg, I feel sorry for myself. I wonder how I earth I became a footballer when it was God’s purpose for me to be a legislator. If I knew I was going to be a lawmaker, I wouldn’t have joined those who were playing football in Ajegunle. As an Ajegunle boy, you must know how to play football. I was a striker and I scored many goals for my team. But, God really tailored me such that I was not lucky as a footballer. I was marginalized as a footballer; so, I left and I thank God that He made me leave football so as to make me a better person. Some of my colleagues who we were playing together with then are now impoverished. Those days, football was not a lucrative business.

Life after school

Several times I was called to lecture at the Polytechnic Ibadan but I couldn’t take the job because I was running two courses in Ibadan and Lagos. God does not want to be an academician and that is why I could not also lecture at Yaba College of Technology. Then I went to contest for election. I was one of the few people elected on January 9, 1999 as a lawmaker in Lagos State where I became Majority Leader and later Deputy Speaker. There, I developed confidence in talking to people. I also knew the different between grammatical structure and communication. It was at the assembly that I lost the simplest election in my life.

Mother’s role…

My mother was the greatest woman I had ever known in my life. She was not educated but she knew that taking cholesterol was bad. She was eating guinea fowl because she knew it has no cholesterol. She was good in calculation. She loved education to the extent that she was irritated whenever she saw anyone who was not going to school. Therefore, she was my major encourager. When I got admission and that was no money, my mother sold all her clothes just to get money to finance my education. So, I decided that I will never relent in giving the best education to my children. My mother was my goddess and when she died I felt bad because I believed she was not going to die.

You have been singing the praise of your mum, what role did your dad played in your life?

I was not close to my dad. He married many wives and had no time for some of his children, including me. But later in life, I had no choice than to be close to him. He used to discuss politics and that also helped me in politics.

As the Chairman of Ibile Micro-finance Bank, how has the journey been?

I received a letter to attend an event. I was there when I felt I should greet Governor Akinwunmi Ambode. Surprisingly, he waved at me and told me to see him later. He told me that he wanted me to be the Chairman of the Ibile Micro-finance Bank. I do not have banking background but I was a statistician. He wanted me to be the CEO and Chairman of the bank but CBN refused. I wrote a qualified exam to be able to own a micro-finance bank and passed. So, I am moving from being a statistician to a banker and I am happy to be challenged. I have learnt that you have to be sustainable as a businessman but if you have business that is not sustainable, then the business has no future. At Ibile Microfinance Bank, sustainability is our yardstick because you must be able to pay your expenses. It was after I assumed this office that I realized that the reason for banks inability to give loan is that they do not want to put ‘Portfolio at Risk’ and ‘Reserve for loan Losses’. It is only microfinance banks that give loan to the less privileged. But, if you fail to do those things, it will affect you.

When was Ibile Microfinance Bank established?

I assumed office two years ago but full operations of the bank started a year ago. We serve low income earners and that is why our loan starts from N500, 000 and, before we can give more than that amount, you must have been transacting business with us. There are people who have collected N5m. We have cash points where people can access the bank and not necessarily come to the bank headquarters for any service whatsoever. We are also the banker to the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, LSETF. We operate on Operation Self Sufficiency, OSS. We have the advantages of leveraging on many things because of our background. We have internet banking and most of the services and facilities that commercial banks have, we also have.

Tell us about your time in Lagos State House of Assembly…

I spent the most meaningful part of my adolescent life in the Assembly. I spent 16 years. I started from the scratch and it was a turbulent period. When Senator Olurunnimbe Mamora became Speaker, we were his boys. And I was coming all the way from Ajegunle. Mamora was the pioneer Speaker. It was the time democracy was starting off in Lagos. But, there was a period of five months which we used to study and do research. We were elected in January and assumed office in June 1999. We visited prominent people including the late Pa Abraham Adesanya in Ijebu Igbo. Mamora was meticulous and we were lucky to have him as a leader in the assembly. We were taught to always prepare for sitting. I trained myself to the level of being missed whenever I was not at the sitting. Other lawmakers were always looking forward to hear my contribution on the floor of the House. I had developed myself to a state where it was impossible not to address or speak on any issue. I did not only pass through the House but the House also passed through me.