Reminiscences with Chief Reuben Olorunfunmi Basorun

Chief Reuben Olorunfunmi Basorun, the first secretary to the Lagos State Government and 81-year-old lawyer, banker, accountant and chartered secretary, spoke with Daily Trust on Sunday on his days as one of the pioneer members of staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the time he spent with the first civilian governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, among other memories.

How was growing up like?

That is history. I will tell you that for the whole day. I was born in this Igbogbo community; and you know that in every community you have your own village. My own village here is called Agunfoye Gegenla. I was born on Saturday, October 15, 1938.

I lost my dad too early in November 1944, so I was with my mother. I had a step father who, by Yoruba customs, took over my mother as wife. Both of them took me up. My stepfather lived in Agege, so I had to be taken there to start primary school in 1946. I had started here in 1944 but I was discountenanced. So I started primary one in 1946 in Agege.

There was another movement from Agege to Lagos. So I was brought back to Igbogbo in 1948, September. I did my primary school at Igbogbo, up to Standard Five in 1952. I was again back in Lagos at Tinubu Methodist School, where I completed my primary education in 1953.

In 1954, I was in Eko Boys’ High School. I left Eko Boys’ in November 13, 1958.

I joined the Central Bank of Nigeria in January 5, 1959 as a clerk. I rose through the ranks to become a deputy director before I retired in October 2, 1979.

Why did you retire so early?

I had to retire that time because Alhaji Jakande had become governor and he appointed me secretary to his government. We were there together for four years and three months before Major-General Muhammadu Buhari came in incidentally as military president.

When we were sacked in December 31, 1983, I became a pensioner and businessman. Before then, I had qualified as a banker in 1967 and chartered secretary in 1968. I graduated from the Business Administration Department, University of Lagos in 1975. After my appointment as secretary to the government, I got involved in politics, so I read Law and was called to the Bar on December 15, 1993.

As an orphan, I did a lot of menial jobs to get on because my parents were not rich. I sold ogi at Ebute-Metta. I was a labourer at many construction sites in the 1950s during holidays, and such other things when I was in secondary school.

Ever since I joined politics from the Jakande era, I have remained there, belonging to different groups. The group which the late Musa Yar’adua founded before he was incarcerated was my last group before 1999. That group, known as Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), supported the presidency of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. So we were all in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

When Obasanjo completed his tenure in 2007 and the late Umaru Yar’adua was elected, I felt I should come back home. So, I joined the party in Lagos in June 12, 2007. I have remained in the group. During the Obasanjo regime, I served as chairman of the Board of Savannah Sugar Company, Numan. Under this dispensation, two years ago, Buhari appointed me a Board member, National Directorate of Employment.

All along, I have been living in this place. I am the head of my church now. I became head in 2003 when the head of the Cherubim and Seraphim Gospel Church, Oke Ayo Igbala Irapa, died. A branch of it is what we have here in my house. But the head office is at Orile Iganmu.

I have been living a quiet life and politicking. Then in Lagos State, we have what we call Governors’ Advisory Council. I have been a member since 2009.

What are the remarkable memories of your primary school days?         

I started in Agege District Central School in 1946. I left there for Methodist School, Igbogbo in 1948. I had to leave Igbogbo because Igbogbo was only up to Standard Two. So to read Standard Three I had to go to Methodist Primary School, Ikorodu, then at Ita Elewa. After getting to Standard Five, my mother, who was in Lagos, requested that I should be brought to Lagos. In Lagos, I attended Tinubu Methodist School, where I finished my Standard Six. We called it Standard Six in 1953. It was from there that I went to Eko Boys’ High School.

In my primary school you could see me moving up and down, a small boy here at Igbogbo. I was quarrelsome; that was why my mother requested that I should come in 1952 when I was in Standard Five. Apart from that, being brought up in a Christian home was enjoyable for me. I was born into, and brought up in Methodist Church. Before I became 21, I moved to Cherubim and Seraphim on my own in August 1959. In fact, last year I celebrated my diamond jubilee in Cherubim and Seraphim.

After losing my dad, it was not easy at all. My mother was a petty trader, selling fish and other things in the market at Ebute-Metta. Before going to school, I would carry my mother’s basket to the market. Then I would trek from Ebute-Metta to Eko Boys’ High School at Mushin because there was no money for transport.

Were you the only child of your father before he died?

Through my stepfather, the man to whom my mother was bequeathed, I had a sister. She would be 70 next year.

For a long time, while my mother was bequeathed to my stepfather, I was the only child. My stepfather lost interest in me because he married another woman. At a point, I remember, in 1956, my grandmother took over and was responsible for my education for a long time until I left secondary school. It was becoming increasingly difficult for my mother to cope, but my grandmother was a bit comfortable, so she did it.

Was it after secondary school that you joined the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)?

Yes, immediately. In those days, it was easy, I had offer of four jobs. The Central Bank came to interview us in the school – those who would come out in minimum of grade two, with credits in English and Mathematics. The CBN was not in existence then; we started it.

Our class teacher chose four of us, but many people applied. And we were the four who got the appointments. We just wrote; there was no interview, nothing. Others are Albert Babatunde Laiyemo, Mansuru Adetoro of blessed memory, who became the director that signed the currency at Central Bank. Another one was Gbolahan Jinadu, who rose to be a High Court judge in Lagos. He was an acting chief judge before he retired. He is also of blessed memory. So it is only Laiyemo and myself that are alive now, and we are proud pensioners of the CBN.

Did you specialise in accounting when you were employed in the CBN?

Not at all; it was Mathematics and English that took me in. But when I got in, I engaged in private studies and became an associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, London, in 1967. That was eight years after I joined. I also did a course as a chartered secretary and became an associate of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries in 1968. Then, in 1977 I was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.

Immediately I finished chartered programmes, I enrolled in evening classes in the University of Lagos, where I did Business Administration. And in chartered secretary-ship and chartered banking, we did a lot of accounts. Before I moved to Part Two in the University of Lagos, Part One was plenty of accounting. So I had a thorough knowledge of accounting. In fact, in those days, once you became a chartered secretary, many people regarded you as an accountant.

But Mathematics had a lot of influence; once you were good in it, you would be fine on matters that bothered on figures.

What was Igbogbo community like when you were growing up?

It was a small town. And before I became secretary to the government, the man discovered me through my activities in this town. When I was young and working in the Central Bank, my weekends were spent serving as secretary for many organisations – social club, community development association, market association etc. In fact, I founded the market association, cooperative and so on. Through these activities, Alhaji Jakande discovered me and brought me into politics when he won election.

As a youth growing in politics, apart from Chief Awolowo, Senator Ayo Fasanmi was my mentor, up till today. He would be 95 in September, but he is still very strong. He built courage and consistency into some of us. And when you are in politics, you must have focus. You must believe in something you would pursue all along, which would be your guiding code.

What was the CBN like when you started work there?

We were trained. The CBN started with the white people. The governor, Roy Fenton, was from the Bank of England. The deputy governor was Mr. W. Keep from Australia and our general manager was RCK Giddy. The currency officer was also a white man; I have forgotten his name.

They gave us training for six months, after which we wrote an exam. As at the time we started in January 5, 1959, we were 50. Going by my identity card, I happened to be number 44. But on the pension roll, I am number 214.

After the training on the rudiments of marketing, with which we would take up the CBN, we learnt a lot of during the training. The six-month training was all we needed to take up the CBN. There was no Central Bank building at Tinubu, we were using the Ministry of Finance at the same building.

The building was ready and we moved in there in July 1, 1959. That was the day we changed Nigerian currency from West African currency. One of our founding fathers at the CBN, Alhaji AOG Otiti, died recently. He rose to become deputy governor. There was one Mathew Adejoro who rose to be the general manager before he moved to another institution. He is in Ilesha; I spoke to him two weeks ago. He was one of our supervisors. All of us took part in the test. One of the two gentlemen I mentioned came first, but we passed because we were still young. When we wrote the exam, those people were writing as professionals. They were from banks. We were writing as freshers, but we still got some marks beyond 50 per cent.

At that time, the Central Bank was strict on those who did not make credit in English and Mathematics. The minimum was Grade 2, so when their results came, they were asked to go. The four of us I mentioned stayed and sought through our career, except Jinadu, who veered to read Law and eventually became a Federal High Court judge.

The government of Alhaji Lateef Jakande, under whose regime you served, remains a reference point in the state, up till today. People are still able to point at what that government achieved. How were you able to achieve so much with little resources?

Before we came into government, we spent some time to plan. We had a 14-plan programme. When we resumed duty, we had the state Executive Council meeting every Thursday, where the 14-point programme was transformed into government programme. And we were following them step by step – free education at all levels, free health care, integrated rural development. There was another one I can’t remember now.

But ancillary to all these major ones, there was also the idea of housing. We had an idea of building low-cost houses. What Jakande did was to use his constitutional power to acquire places like Iponrin, which was cleared and distributed to elites.  They all had certificates of occupancy. He cancelled all the certificates of occupancy and said we were going to build houses there.

He went to the golf course in Ikoyi, acquired part of it and built a school. The school was part of the golf course. He did the same thing in many places. Those of us representing him in local places also went ahead to look at vacant places and put signposts, signifying that the lands belonged to the Lagos State Government.

The secondary school we have here at Igbogbo was a vacant land. In fact, the owner quarreled with us. It is a very big school. There is also the Ansarudden Primary School. Before that time, we had Methodist Primary School and United African Methodist Primary School. When he asked me what name we should give to that school, I said, ‘Let us give it a Muslim name.’ That was what we did all over. It is a bit different from what is happening now. At that time, the party meant a lot. There was party discipline. Having been appointed as a member of the Executive Council, you were fully responsible, not just to the Council but to the party.  If the party summoned me, for example, I must leave whatever I was doing. But this is not what we are seeing now.

That was probably the secret of Jakande’s success. But as the arrowhead, he borrowed from Chief Awolowo’s discipline. He was disciplined. If he said anything he would leave it like that. I am not saying those there now are not honest, or they are not disciplined, but the approach he gave issues was that we had come to serve you.

The elite protested against the acquisition of the gold course, but he made sure he put the school there. Jakande is over 90 now, but the school is still there for the children in Ikoyi. There was no secondary in that place at all.

That place was taken over for overriding public interest. The land use act supported that. We used it a lot to get a lot of things done. The housing estates in Ipaja, Amuwo-Odofin, Iponrin are still there for the people.

How would you describe the military intervention that truncated that regime?

The military felt the civilians were not doing well, so they sent us packing on December 31, 1983. Even Jakande was incarcerated for a long time, even though he was on leave when the coup took place. While they came looking for him, they met him treating files in Lagos House at Marina. He was queried on many things. In Jakande’s approach, if you made a submission to him, whether you were a civil servant or commissioner, he would give you reasons he said either yes or no. And he would do it in writing. He could write up to 15 pages to explain why it would not be approved.

In fact, when some issues came through the Special Investigation Panel and the matter was taken over, by the time they read the files they were satisfied that the man took the right decision, contrary to the information passed across. So I believe that whoever is handling government matters must do it in writing. You don’t just say no or yes; you must give reasons in writing because of tomorrow.

As a former secretary to the Lagos State Government, how would you describe the civil service?

Civil servants are very loyal, even till today. It is what you tell them to do that they would do. But please, don’t give a civil servant something to do and close your eyes. If you are moving from this place to the gate and you want a civil servant to organise it, tell him how and what he is going to do. Don’t just tell him to move to the gate. He is a human being. Between here and the gate he would bring in a lot of other extraneous factors that would deviate from your good intention or that of the government. In most cases, we were very obedient to whatever was the party’s decision to the governed. So the civil servants are very good people if you don’t spoil them by colluding with them to steal public money. They are the best people to work with.

Were there programmes you couldn’t achieve because of the military intervention?

Of course, there was a major one I was doing. In September 1983 I left as SSG and became commissioner for education. Jakande gave me two assignments; one, to go and ensure the establishment of the Lagos State University. The law had been passed, so what I only succeeded in doing was to appoint the vice chancellor. I was the head of the Governing Council of the university.

We were to convert some buildings belonging to Methodist High School, Ojo as the premises for the university to take off. We were about doing that when the military struck. The second one that confronted us was that we built some schools without doors and windows. You would have read when people said we built poultry sheds because the floors were not even in order. We decided that we would put windows and cement the floors. We had given out contracts for about 12,000 classrooms before the military came. When they came, they just discarded it and started building very expensive high-rising structures.

We had to go the way we went initially because we met three shifts, and to take one shift, we had to get additional classrooms. Before going to the government we had already drawn the plan and everything, but to get the land, then putting schools without windows, without all that people expected, we just had functional classrooms. Immediately we were finishing the first time, we decided in the second time that we were going to upgrade all the schools, put windows, put floors and all that. That was truncated, and in the place of it they put up something else.

So the children were not coming to school at the same time?

Yes, we were running three shifts, but we stopped it within six months of resumption of office. We reduced it to one shift, and it was free education. Also, free health was possible because we gave instruction that anybody coming to the hospital must be given free treatment. There was a research which Chief Obafemi Awolowo led. The day he was lecturing us on both education and health, he said they did a research on what it would cost to educate one person. He said they found that 90 per cent of it was already being borne by government. Why should we not give up the remaining 10 per cent?

It was the same thing with health. You said somebody should buy a card and pay for drugs, what about the infrastructure? What about the salary of the nurses? What about salaries of the doctors, which were not small. He said, ‘By the time you put those together again, it is already forming 80 per cent, why not give up the remaining 20 per cent to the populace? But if you say it today they would say, ‘we will empty the government purse.’ We won’t empty any government purse. It is still possible, but it all depends on planning ahead, which is a bane of current governments. When you don’t plan ahead, you continue to have contingent problems. The thing would be accumulating. And it has accumulated to a point where if you are blaming current governments you are just wasting your time. The problems have accumulated over the years.

You talk about insecurity under Buhari, but this has accumulated. We are talking of unemployment now, did we have strategic planning for employment when we were building universities, technical colleges and colleges of education and polytechnics. Even if somebody comes now and has the best of brains and wants to meet the gap, he can only meet the gap of what is happening. Even if he goes beyond what is happening, what about what accumulated over the years? I am not being pessimistic, but let us start planning ahead. Not planning ahead is perpetually punishing our people.

When the government of Alhaji Jakande declared free education, were there more enrollments?

There were more enrollments and the government was able to cope.

Despite the little resources?

There was no waste of money. I remember that anytime we were doing the budget, if there was any area anybody inserted in the budget, something that would amount to waste, Governor Jakande would say, ‘Put 10E’, which means, no provision. Entertainment was N100 per month for a commissioner, not N100,000, though that was more than one dollar then. He did several other things. For example, he also said ‘Put 10E’ for cooks and stewards in the Government House. Why should you be in Government House and use cooks? He said, ‘You are Nigerians; cooks and stewards are remnants of colonialism, so they should be removed.” all government houses

Is it then correct to say that a lot of people admire Alhaji Jakande today because of his modest life?

The most interesting thing is that he used his own car and lived in his personal house, where he still lives. I praise him a lot. Though he is aging now, he was a strong man. He would hold meetings from 10am to 8pm, not going to the toilet, not even excusing himself for one minute.

At what point did you join the late Musa Yar’adua group?

It was not immediately. When we were sacked in 1983, everybody went here and there. We were in the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The National Republican Convention (NRC) and the SDP were the two major political parties. We also belonged to what we called, Primrose in Lagos, which was formed by Dapo Sarumi. I was one of the leaders. It was that Primrose that transformed nationally into the PDM. So when the PDP was going to be formed, the PDM was a major stakeholder, so we had to join.

At what point did you leave the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC)?

I resigned from the PDP on May 13. After a month, nobody asked why I left, so I decided to join the Action Congress. I was there till it became the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and then APC. People do not really understand the mastery and strategy of some of our politicians.

I think Bola Ahmed Tinubu is someone that needs to be respected. That time, he insisted we should not form an alliance but merger, so the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), part of the PDP and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) became the APC. When the good ran sour, those who wanted to leave left, one by one. If it had been alliance, they would have pulled out. That is why the APC remains what it is now. I pray that the courage with which founders of the APC who are still there today pursued the governance of this country would be improved upon.

One of the founders, Chief Festus Odumegwu, the former chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), in a very lengthy discussion recently, said he scored Buhari zero. When I read through the piece I discovered that he was parochial and self-serving. If anybody had offended him in this government he should say it instead of taking everybody to the cleaner. He said other Nigerians were ignorant of what was going on. In what way has Buhari failed? He is a human being. Is he a God? I am not defending Buhari now; and if I defend him, he is in my party, but that is not even the issue.

Buhari talked of security, economy and corruption. Under which civilian government have you heard that a governor went to jail? The Rev Jolly Nyame, former governor of Taraba State, was confirmed for a 12-year imprisonment. A whole Orji Kalu has been imprisoned. Joshua Dariye from Plateau is another person.

The economy, on the other hand, is a complex thing. They cannot just say that Buhari has not done anything. He set up an economic team, which has submitted a report. We are waiting. But one thing government has been lacking is strategic planning. There is no plan ahead. A number of things have been accumulated, which successive governments continue to inherit, and it compounds their plans.

The other one is security. We have Boko Haram, but till today, after Saddam Hussein was killed in Iraq, we still have snipers shooting here and there. I believe the menace of Boko Haram would be reduced in the nearest future. If we say we are going to eliminate them entirely, we are not facing the reality. Some people are benefitting from what they are doing, either outside our country or inside.

You lost your dad at a very tender age and you were still able to achieve many things in life, what was the driving force?

The driving force was my mother. I owe my ‘gentility’ to her method of bringing me up. There was no man around, but she did her best, even though she didn’t go to school at all.

What about your wife?

My first wife passed on in 1993. We got married in 1964. I had to wait for seven years to remarry. It was difficult.

How did you meet her?

I had started working before I met her. She was in secondary and also from this community. We met at the local students’ union.

Didn’t you have any girlfriend when you were in secondary school?

I didn’t have interest in any love affair. Anybody interested in my field would not have interest because I was doing Mathematics throughout. My second name was Mathematics. And all my children had to be interested in Mathematics.

Why did you read Law?

Law became necessary when I was getting involved in politics. I had set up a company that produced polythene bags and I found that most of the time I was sitting with artisans, and whatever I would call my intellect was deteriorating. So I decided to go and read Law in 1987. I graduated in 1992 and went to Law School. During the period, a number of things happened. The week I was registering in Law School was when my wife died. That was the year we were also in politics, working for MKO Abiola.