THE INSIDE STORY ; THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RIFT BETWEEN LAGOS SPEAKER AND GOV RAJI FASHOLA

Perception is different from reality, my friend Mumuni Alao, the best selling Editor in Chief of Complete Sports told me thirteen years ago. All too often that statement plays itself out and I remember Mumuni’s famous words though we do not see frequently.
Lagos Speaker Hon Adeyemi Ikuforiji ia a no nonsense, bulky tough looking dude who runs the state legislature with a firm grip knowing as he likes to say his place, his limitations and the place of the legislature in governance which he is trying to drum home to his colleagues.
Earlier that evening, I had asked the Speaker about his no nonsense posture and he had replied,
‘ I am confident in what I do and in my role in government. My background has also played a great role. I see myself as being put there to serve my people. I have been a benefit of government largese; I was trained on scholarship, because I came from a very humble background so I take my job very seriously and I do not fear anybody as long as I am on the right path’.
He is perceived to be Gov Raji Fashola’s #1 enemy, ever ready with a dagger to run through him…that is perception, but the truth is that despite their differences and this is no spin, he has a lot of respect for the Governor and they get along excellently well and this is the reality of the situation.
Last Thursday, I witnessed a humbling, history making event that changed my mind about just how tough and unfriendly the speaker really is. The background to this is the on going strike by resident doctors in Lagos. On that Thursday, I was with the speaker in his office upstairs while negotiations continued between the government team, law makers and the doctors union. At some point, the talks were deadlocked, the doctors wanted one of their dismissed colleague re- instated and they wanted it done in a jiffy, matter of fact, before the end of the session. It was a dicey situation which only the Governor could take a decision on.
A member of the negotiating team called the Speaker’s phone to demand his intervention with the Governor. He was equally frantic to reach the Governor on phone. The phones were jammed for over thirty minutes, when eventually he did and after the exchange of pleasantries he tables his dilemma. The governor thought it over for a minute and said he would like to speak with the doctors if they were close by and the Speaker said, Ok Sir, Hold On, I will take the phone to them.
The Speakers’ office is on the second floor of the State Assembly complex and the conference room where the horse trading was on going was in another wing on the ground floor. He did the unthinkable. He stood up, holding the phone , motioned for us to follow him and he strutted out of his office, with us behind and his security and police men following we all race down the staircase to the conference room were via speaker, the Governor assured the doctors he was favorably disposed towards re instating their dismissed colleague for peace to reign. There after, we walked back to the Speakers office to continue our chat.
The moral of this story? Do not believe all you read about the enmity between politicians. It might just be some bum causing trouble or as they say, heating the polity for some selfish gains.

WHY WE ARE MAKING OTUNBA SUBOMI BALOGUN, CHAIRMAN FCMB FROUP, HUMANITY AWARDS PERSON OF THE YEAR, BY AL HUMPHREY ONYANABO, CHIEF FACILITATOR,

On October 17th 2010, the crème of Nigerian society and captains of industry will gather for the first edition of the Humanity Awards, a novel concept packaged by frontline society journalist and Publisher of the National Weekender, Mr. Al Humphrey Onyanabo at which Otunba Subomi Balogun, chairman FCMB Group will be honoured as Person of the year. Al Humphrey in an interview with our man opens up on the awards and why some people are being so honoured. Read on.

What is the genesis of the Humanity Awards?

A lot of people have told me there are too many awards and each time I tell them what we are doing is unlike what ever other person is doing. We have carved out a distinct niche for our selves and we intend to stay there.

Humanity Awards is not about achievers in business or politicians or entertainers. It is about human beings. It is about recognizing a few good men and women and corporations who are reaching out to others. It’s about applauding outstanding people in our society who are investing their time and resources to uplift the lives of those around them. It’s about honouring people who in their own special ways are helping to make this world a better place for us all.

Is this award meant only for the rich?

You will be disappointed because your money will not get you on our honours list. And to answer your question… No, Humanity Awards is not meant for the rich alone.

To be a truly great nation, the wealthy amongst us must use their riches to provide a ladder of comfort for the poor.. to be their neighbours keeper Humanity is enhanced when people whole heartedly work in unity and cooperate to pull one another up for the common good of all. The advancements in the western world today in science, technology and medicine has been made possible by the benevolence of the rich who have set aside hundreds of millions of dollars for the endowment of foundations and grants for research into all spheres of life, both during their lifetimes and beyond. Men like Rockefeller, Joe Kennedy and Bill Gates are icons whose legacies will resound through countless generations.

What you require to be recognized are your good deeds. People who have been outstanding in public service are being recognised such as teachers, policemen, doctors, pastors etc.. its not about how much have but the quality of your impact on society.

We want to instil the art of doing good, helping the less fortunate as a way of life. We want to encourage the rich amongst us to learn to look out for others and to create a distinct club of Nigerians whose lifestyle of helping others needs immortalization for all time.

The vision of the humanity awards is to institutional doing good into the Nigerian system starting this year by recognizing and celebrating fifty outstanding individuals , corporations and public organisations who are giving selfless survive to their immediate communities, environment and to humanity as a whole.

Otunba Subomi Balogun Is the Humanity Awards person of the year 2010. Why is he being so honoured?

Thanks. A careful study of the private life of this icon, Otunba Subomi Balogun will reveal that he has lived a life of philanthropy and charity. And all these facts are not in the public domain, these acts he has carried out privately on his own. He has singularly, over the last ten years spent over N1.9BILLION to build the Tunwase National Pediatrics Hospital at Ijebu Ode, Ogun State for children. This is what some rich in our society have that they claim to be the richest in Nigeria . He deserves to be so honoured. What’s more he has adopted numerous children and put them in his will as benefactors of his estate.

A couple of months ago I was in a taxi with my wife, we got talking with the driver and he told us a very important story. The topic was on the state of hospitals in Nigeria . He told us that 16 years ago when his son was born at the Ijebu ode General Hospital, he had a critical life threatening condition, they were referred to the Yeye Subomi Childrens Ward which is funded and service by this great man, salaries of the nurses and doctors, drugs and equipments bought by him free for children. According to this driver, his son survived only through the benevolence of this gentleman.

WHO ARE OTHERS WHO WILL BE HONOURED ?

Mr. Femi Otedola is being honoured as a Friend of the Nigerian Masses for helping to stabilize the price of diesel in Nigeria at the risk of his life and the institution of a N2BILLION foundation for indigent students in Epe, Lagos state. Prophet T.B Joshua will also be honoured for service to Humanity. He has touched the lives of various classes of people through his acts of philanthropy and goodwill to the down trodden amongst us.

Senate President, David Mark will be recognised for helping to silently improve the lives of people in Benue state through scholarships and youth empowerment. Mofid Karameh, of Mikano International ltd, will be honoured for service to the Nigeria Police,, Chief O.B. lulu Briggs for helping to elongate the lives of the elderly in his native Abonnema, Gov. Raji Fasola for public school system improvement and poverty alleviation and Gov. Ikedi Ohakim and Mr. Newton Jibunoh for helping to safeguard the environment. And Obong Godswill Akpabio for free and compulsory education at all levels in his state. How can I forget to mention Gov Ibrahim Idris of Kogi State for his over 20 years of being a pathfinder for his Igalla Kinsmen; providing jobs and scholarships to all that find their way to his doorpost. And many others. Also to be honoured are the MTN Foundation, Cadbury plc, Promasidor Ltd, UNESCO, and British Council.

IS IT GOING TO BE A STRICTLY MEN'S AFFAIR?

Off course not, ex First Lady of Nigeria, Her Excellency, Hajia Turai Yar Adua will be leading a bevy of prodigious Nigerian women who will be recognized at Humanity Awards 2010. She will receive the Humanity Special recognition Awards for her campaign against cancer and encouraging other First ladies to do same in their states. And for spear heading the building of the International Cancer centre in Abuja .

Former First Lady of Lagos , Chief Mrs Oluremi Tinubu will be appreciated for setting up the NEW ERA FOUNDATION which encourages indigent students and youths in Lagos state”. Prof Dora Akinyuli will mount the Dias to be honoured for her enduring work at NAFDAC. She will receive the Humanity Legacy Award for proving that one individual can make an institution work and impact the lives of all through checkmating the importation of fake and adulterated drugs into the country. Arch Yemisi Suswam, First Lady of Benue State will be honoured for her work with destitutes and youths while late Alaere Alaibe will receive post humours recognition for her far reaching efforts to educate women in the Niger Delta since 2000 . She will share this honour with another great Nigerian, The late Sir, Mobolaji Bank Anthony who built and equipped Ayinke House at the General Hospital , Lagos for the service of Children.

When will the award presentation hold

By God‘s grace, Humanity Awards 2010 will hold in Lagos on October 17th 2010, from 2.00p.m. We expect a galaxy of stars from the corporate world, the diplomatic community, Society, entertainers and the academia….because it’s an award for humanity where all should be equal, the sitting placements will be mixed so as to give people ample opportunity to interact and get to meet other human beings. We hope it will be a fun filled and interesting evening.

THE DOCTRINE OF STYLE BY Dr. Isaac Akintunji

- Al Humphrey Onyanabo

For 60 minutes I sat in his expansive office at Clearline HMO , Lagos , as he lectured on style. He talked about the grooming habits of successful men. He gave insights into how to buy a good suit, combining fabrics and colours. He let me into what types of shirts and shoes will be best for what. I was dumb founded when he brought out a tailors tape rule to explain how to measure your suit or shirt size. I could have been sitting in a clothiers show room receiving this lecture. Dr. Isaac Akintunji is a style officiando. A perfect gentleman and one of the best dressed men around. he is a medical doctor with over 30 years experience and is also an executive director at Clearline International Limited, the nation’s premier health insurance organisation. Listening to him opened my eyes to every day mistakes men make about their dressing and it transformed my style quotient. It’s a piece every man most not only read but also keep as a reference guide. Enjoy …

Tell us about yourself sir?
My name is Dr. Isaac Akin Akintunji, I was born in 1952 at Ile-oluji in Ondo State . I grew up in that town, went to school in that town, Saint Peters Primary school and Gboluji Anglican Grammar school. I passed out of the school 1969 in Division 1. There was healthy rivalry in school at that time, some of my favorite classmates are Professor Jacob Olupona of the Harvard University in the USA and Mr. Andy Akintoye former managing Director od Gailey & Roberts of Uganda, and many others. I left Ile-oluji to the Federal School of Science in 1970 . I did my A levels in Chemistry, Physics, and Zoology because I intended to study medicine, you will ask me why medicine, one of my great cousins: Dr. Samuel Lawrence Adesuyi was a great doctor in this nation; and he rose to being the Medical Adviser to the Federal Government in the 60s. And in those days when he came to Ile-oluji we would gather around, everybody was proud of him, the young ones would wash his car … I wanted to be like him; he was a motivating factor ; the way he composed himself in those days and to God be the Glory I was admitted into the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos in 1972. I was in the University of Lagos for 5 years, I graduated in March 1977 that makes it 33 years I have been a Medical Doctor. I worked for the Nigerian Airport Authority where I rose to become the Director of Medical services and retired in the year 2004. I am presently into Health Insurance. My friend and classmate in the medical school, Dr. Segun Ogundimu , the former Commissioner of Health, Lagos State, invited me and another friend, Dr. Babatunde Ladele to be his partners. We have been together for the last five years managing the affairs of Clearline International Ltd.

You are a very stylish man. What can you tell us about style?
You either have style or you don’t . My cousin, a prodigy of the French language as I always describe him, Dr. Johnson Olusoga Oyawale - Ph. D inductrinated me into the art of style when I was in both primary and secondary schools in the 1960s. He was very stylish and classy in his ways. My very good friend Mr. Tex Egbedi the proprietor of Texen Ltd has had a lot of influence on the way I dress. I met Tex in the Airport he was working with the Nigerian Aviation Commercial Venture in the early 1980s, we became good friends because I could see he was a guy like me, he had and has style and since then we have always compared notes a lot on style, he is one of the guys that have really taken style to the next level in Nigeria.
I have noticed that in Nigeria a lot of people love fashion, but fashion is different from style; fashion comes and goes while on the other hand style is constant. A man that has style can some times flow along with fashion but you will still notice the uniqueness of his style. You see some people who wear very good outfit but they put them together, running riots, when we talk about style we are talking about how a man or woman presents himself or herself from head to toe and at all times. Talking about style it is not going to be a one day interview, it is going to be a series. A lot of our men don’t take proper care of themselves; when you look at a guy, look at his head, at his body, at his feet, you will be able to know if the guy has style or not. Starting from the head; is the hair well-groomed, is the guy having wax in his ears, is the face dry or very oily, or is the moustache well-trimmed? The type of glasses the guy wears, does it fit his facial appearance. Some have oblong, some have oval, some have round, some have square shaped faces; the type of glasses a guy wear must go with the face. Some guys talk to you and they have bad breath, there is no reason why a guy can’t have a mouth-fresher in his pocket. There is no reason why men can’t keep extra toothbrush and paste in their offices. Some guys don’t even bathe properly before leaving home in the morning. We are the tropics, the use of deodorat or antipersperant is absolutely necessary. It will be impossible for me to have a shower without using toilet soap and sponge, your body produces a lot of oil and this oil must be washed off as often as possible.
Now to the body. Are you wearing your correct size of clothes; starting from the shirt, are you wearing your neck size, are your sleeves too long or short, is your tie well-knot and of correct length? The tip of your tie should be at the level of your belt. I noticed that only 25-30% of guys knot their ties properly. The type of knot you have for different shirts, or to go along with those shirts, when you wear a cutaway shirt, your tie must be knotted full Windsor, if the collar is the narrow one your tie must be the half Winsdor or “four-in-hand” knot. But you see, most guys know just one type of knot. Most of our men don’t know how to knot a bow-tie. I believe less than 10% of men know how to knot a bow tie. The self knot bow tie is a different ball-game entirely, wearing it can be very chic, Tex Egbedi and myself started wearing the self knot bow-ties about two years and ago and it keeps getting more fantastic like the type you see with Mr. Shobanjo, he wears very beautiful bow-ties. Also, Mr. Tunde Fagbemi. I used to have professors in the university who wore bow-ties a lot in those days; like Professor Oladele Akinla, the great gynaecologist, Professors Femi Odunjo and VPN Mordi of the Morbid Anatomy department and Professor Sola Okuwobi, the cardiologist. They used bow-ties because of the job they do, they to lean over the patients and they don’t want their ties to touch the patients and the Morbid Anatomists they do dissection and they don’t want their long ties to go into dead bodies so they wear bow-ties, however, I see bow-ties as being very chic and stylish. I tend to wear a lot of them now. This has not completely taken me away from the long ties; I buy only the seven fold long ties which are the ultimate in long ties.

You were suits all the time. How do you pick them?

I believe that when you wear your suit it must fit perfectly. A lot of guys buy over-size suits and they look like sacks of garri in their suits, that can be really offensive and not sartorial. It puts me off when a guy wears a very good suit but it doesn’t fit properly; what people do all over the world when you want to be stylish is that when you buy a suit let the tailor work on it, it costs money but it is worth it; you may also go a size lower than your normal size. Mind you, most people don't even know that suits come in regual, long or short sizes; guys should take their time in chosing the suit that fits correctly. When you look at people like Chief Gamaliel Onasode, Otunba Subomi Balogun, Chief Alex Akinyele, Chief Bayo Kuku, Chief Alex-Duduyemi in those days, their suits fitted them very well, these are our senior citizens who have style. Have you ever seen President Barak Obama in loose-fitted suit? No. He has got style.

What are the dos and the don’ts concerning suits?

There are some things you don’t do; do not wear a button-down shirt with double breasted suit, the two don’t go together. It is also not nice for the stripes to be too much. You don’t wear a striped suit, a striped shirt and striped tie all at the same time. When you wear a three button suit, be it double or single breasted, never button all the three but the top two or only the middle one; for the two button suit, only the top button should be buttoned, never the two. Also, the sleeve of the suit should be between a quarter to half inch shorter than the sleeves of the shirt. It is not proper for the sleeves of the suit to completely cover the shirt sleeves.
You know there are some basic colors, when you buy suits, chose: black, grey, navy blue and maybe brown. When you have suits outsides of these colors, you might have problems combining them with ties and shirts. You have pin-stripe and wide-stripe suits. And I believe if you are a stylish man there is nothing stopping you from having all these suits. The style business is a serious matter and I pay a lot of attention to how I appear. What is life all about if you can’t appear well. A man that has style must appear well, good 24/7. So there is nothing in particular that I look into before picking and buying my suits. I have deep blue and cream coloured suits and I know how to combine these suits with my ties and shirts to make me look good. My friend Mr. Tex has always said that the way I put my things together can be inexplanable. You see when you have style, you must be bold; a timid person can’t have style. But I try not to wear too loud colors. Loud colors are good for models, musicians and actors but I don’t think they are appropriate for a gentleman with style; subtle, sharp colors with good combination and you can never go wrong.

Where do accessories come in?

I have noticed that a lot of guys don’t invest in accessories; ties, belts, socks, cuff-links, tie-clips, tie-pins, cologne, pocket squares are all very important compliments when you talk about style and men. However, a lot of men wear worn-out belts and also the same colour of belt with all colours of shoes. You must always wear belts that go with your shoes. One thing that puts me off is a guy wearing good suits but dirty shoes; I don’t see any reason why a gentleman’s pair of shoes can’t be polished everyday. And I recommend that the two colors that go with suits are black and brown shoes, not green, yellow, or purple; white shoes can be very offensive. Some people believe that the color of socks should rhyme with the trousers, I however prefer that the color of my socks should go with the color of my shoes. The strap of your wrist-watch must go with the color of your belt and shoes. Lace-up shoes and the monk strap shoes are ideal for suits but not the slip on shoes. No matter how expensive slip-on shoes are, they are not ideal for suit. As I said at the begining of this interview, the issue of style is not a one-day thing.

Must you be rich to have style, good things don’t come cheap?

Some people believe that you must be rich to have style, no, although if you have some money you can enhance your style, but you don’t have to be rich before you have style, you don’t have to be rich for you have know that you have to use de-odorant so you don’t smell, or before you trim or cut your finger-nails, or before you change your under-pants or inner-vest everyday. Do you need to be rich to know that you don’t have to wear a shirt twice, or that you must wash your socks everyday. These are things that you do that give you style. I dress to please myself and is one of my ways of saying thank you to my God. I do not have to be given notice to go to any function, I m ready to go to Aso-rock from my work at no notice. When I leave my home in the morning I’m ready to go anywhere because I know that I’m in perfect condition to go anywhere, anytime and that’s the way it should be. When you wear your cologne it should not be too heavy because it could be intolorable, just a splash at the right points, the breathing points, will make you smell good all day and people will compliment you.

What of your shirt?

As I mentioned, it is awkward to have a stripe shirt with a stripe suit and stripe tie at a go. I love the solid colors. My favorite is white, my white shirts are almost uncountable, but when it comes to ties, (laughs) I’ve this insatiable appetite for accessories. I don’t think a man that has style can ever have enough ties, bow-ties, cuff links, pocket-squares. It is absolutely impossible for me to dress-up with my suits with out a pocket-square. And I learnt that from one of my senior friends about thirty years ago, you will always see him with his pocket-square. I can’t remember the last time I wore my suit without a tie. And it’s very uncommon , almost rare for me not to wear a tie and I must have my pocket square. The pocket in front of suit is not for pens, it’s meant for your pocket-square. You pens are supposed to be hidden not exposed; they are supposed to be in the inner pocket of your suit.

What do you have to say about young Doctors’ dress sense?
Not only young doctors, all guys that are educated, you lose nothing by having style, you gain everything; when a guy has style and he appears anywhere he will be respected because human beings know what is good. The guy that has style, whether you are a doctor, lawyer, engineer, banker or teacher, will be respected. Regardless of your profession you must appear well.