Dr. Rotimi Olulana (Ph.D), a big time investor in the real estate sector, has been in politics for quite some time.  He was Labour Party’s Gubernatorial Candidate in Lagos State until few weeks  before the last April election when he  stepped down for Governor Babatunde Fashola, SAN,  Dr. Olulana spoke to BASHIR ADEFAKA  about his horrible climb to the top and why stepped down for the Lagos State governor. Excerpts:

How would you describe your background and growing up in life?

I am from a very good background from a very low key environment.

What makes that environment a low key ?

Dr. Rotimi Olulana

Well, when I say low key, that’s to tell you that I’m from the rural part of Lagos State.  I’m from Ojo town where I was born on 1st October, 1959 which happened to be the preparatory year for Nigeria’s independence.  And I was a year old when Nigeria was born.

Now, on my growing up, I went to St. Michael Primary School, Ojo.  From there I went to the Nigerian Premier College, Yaba.  I also attended some schools which I did not finish because of sickness and so on.  I didn’t mention all that in my CV, Curriculum Vitae.  But I attended University of Lagos and I was being a correspondent student till when I obtained my Ph.D.

I read management in all strata: I read Business Administration, I have my Masters in Public Administration and I have my Ph.D in Real Estate Management.  So I have been down to art.  I had worked with various companies and particularly I started as a clerk.  I think I started working many years back.

I could recollect immediately I finished secondary school, I worked with my uncle in his construction firm.  That uncle of mine was the Chief Whip of Lagos State House of Assembly during the administration of Alhaji Lateef Jakande and I was the Badagry Central Constituency’s organising secretary for Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in those days.

I left UPN in 1980 for the NPN, National Party of Nigeria and I became the secretary of NPN in Ojo Local Government.  From there I graduated politically to become a member of the state executive council of NPN in Lagos State under Chief Babs Akerele, who was a lawyer.  He’s late now.

May his soul rest in peace.  He was a good leader. He led us very well and, in fact, we learned a lot of politics from him.  He was a very honest and committed leader.  So, that was how I started politics at the age of 19, but while growing up I began to hate politics because of the money-bags.

How did your parents influence the choice of your career and success in life?

Oh, let me thank the Almighty God first because He’s the only one that should receive the glory. He has made it impossible for enemies to put an end to my life.  This is because I grew up…(observing a sober pause).  That your question has touched a very hard point of my life because if I should look back, I never believed I would live up till today.

Educationally I had a lot of obstacles.  Let me mention one: Each time we were about to do examination, there would be crisis. Please don’t remind me because I went through hell.

Another terrible thing in my life was the politics of those days; the enmity was strong to the extent that political leaders would give instructions to teachers even at the primary level not to allow certain children to pass through their schools.

Because they believed that parents of those children were not supporters of their party and I happened to be one of the victims of that practice as it were.  It was like that up till other levels of education.  That’s one of the reasons I wanted to go into government so as to change the impression and make people understand that politics doesn’t have to be of bitterness and that politics should not be a do-or-die affair.

Politics should not be a one-man show.  No!  I had gone through hell in the course of my growing up in life and particularly during my education.  But I thank God today, my children are becoming graduates one by one. My first child is now a graduate, my second child is about to graduate now this year and so also others.

But while all those  were happening to you, what step did your parents take?

I give glory to God and I know my parents tried their best.  My mother suffered a lot to raise me.  She suffered a lot to take me to so many places.  Each time I wanted to do examination, it was attack.  Each time I wanted to move from one thing to another, it was another terrible attack.  Ait was so strange that you couldn’t even know the kind of illness or how to describe it.

All I remember was that, I would be having stomach pains and all I would be seeing was as if the whole world wanted to collapse on me.  It was like when they say multimillion people were coming to choke me up.  Even in the school, it happened to me.  In fact, I don’t want to remember that experience.  You have really touched the most painful side of my life experience.

But how did you manage peer pressure in the course of all those experiences that you did not go the other way but the way of?

Up till moment I don’t know.  I only know that God Almighty made me scale through. I only discovered that thereafter, people begin to love me. I remember the first day I went for interview for a job, the man asked me three questions and immediately I answered those questions he said, “You are the best for this job!”  And he just gave me the job.  Not quite three months they made me the head of the place.

I was shocked and that has been happening to me up till today. You won’t believe that I got to a stage in my life that I didn’t even know I was the head of the place where I was made General Manager of a very big company.  It was a plastic industry company at that time.

I rose  to set up my own business and today I am a very successful captain of industry.

Why did you step down for Governor Fashola and what was your party reaction to that?

Thank you very much.  It’s a good question.  The national executive council of my party was approached.  Before I obtained the governorship ticket of the Labour Party, I had already made it clear to both the state and the national executive councils that, I was picking this ticket because of my interest in the development of Lagos State.

The incumbent governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, was doing the will of the people of Lagos State, but it appeared that his party was not ready to present him as candidate in the April election and based on that, I declared my interest to contest.

So I informed them significantly before I picked the ticket of Labour Party that if Fashola succeeded in getting the ticket, then I would step down and give him total support.  And the state and national executive councils of my party accepted because they all believe in what I believe.  They all reasoned with me and then we collectively agreed on that position.

Not only that, remember that our party, Labour Party, is the party of the masses; it’s the party of labour force of the state and of the country.  The interest of this party cannot be overemphasized because Labour Party emanated from labour union and if Labour Party rules, people enjoy.

Take for example what Labour Party is currently doing in Ondo State under the administration of Governor Olusegun Mimiko.  People enjoy under the government of Labour Party in that state because labour is always the mouthpiece of the masses, the market women and so on.

Profile:

Name:        Dr. Rotimi Olulana.
Date of birth:        October 1, 1959.
Place of birth:        Lagos State.
Present position:    Politician.
Strength of character:    Truthfulness and Godliness.