Tunde Braimoh, lawyer and member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, is seeking re-election. He spoke with Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU on his plans for Kosofe Constituency 11, issues that will shape the governorship poll and why Lagosians will retain the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in power.
Why are you seeking for a second term in the Lagos State House of Assembly?
I am seeking for a fresh term because the legislative job is not like the executive. The constitution allows as many terms as possible. The constitution does not limit the number of times a person can be elected as a legislator. It is something like wine that gets better with age. It is knowledge base. You have to acquaint yourself with. Lawmaking is like law practice. You don’t train for law making in Nigeria; you train on the job. I study law in my university and the law school and I had to learn in a chamber as a pupil lawyer before I became a principal counsel on my own. But, you acquire knowledge and experience as a legislator and you have to use them for the benefit of your constituency.
So, I am seeking election because I have experience to offer. I am preconscious. Without being immodest, I have been a lawyer. I have served as an executive chairman of local government. I know about the procedures of law making and governance. I know the rules. There is a message and there is a messenger. Just like the court room, the parliament has a procedure. It is a hallowed chamber and it is highly procedural. I know the procedures very well, having participated at the local government and the House of Assembly. It will do my constituency a lot of good, if I employ the knowledge and experience for the benefit of the constituency. The longer a legislator stays in office, the better fir the constituency and the House. It is not that somebody should be there permanently. Even, in America, legislators stay for a long time in parliament. During our trip, we met the Clerk of a parliament of the State of Georgia. He said he was born in 1963 and there is a legislator who was elected in 1961. He has been there before he was born and the legislator is still there. Nigeria has not advanced to that level. But, we have had legislators who have done fifth term, fourth term consecutively. They earn respect, even if they do not occupy any position in the House. They are bastion of experience and knowledge. Most of the time, the parliamentary offices are reserved for ranking members. The more experienced, the move versatile legislators are for the benefit of constituency. It will be a great disservice to my constituency if I do one term and run away. I am not standing on the pedestal of experience, pedestal of encounter and pedestal of familiarity with the tenets and procedures of the parliament.
In the last four years, what are your major achievements as a member of the House of Assembly, in terms of contributions on the floor, sponsoring of motions, resolutions and bills?
We have to be careful. We have to be modest. It is not possible for somebody to say that he, singularly, sponsored motions, or passed bills. That will be very realistic. That will be against the spirit if democracy with which we work in the House of Assembly. You can introduce a bill or sponsor a motion. But, yiu need lobbying to convince others. You may have your say, majority will have their way. If your message is good and you as a messenger you don’t know how to push it, there will be problem. I have contributed very well and my colleagues can bear witness. But, I won’t like to arrogate to myself some things. As the Chairman of House Committee on Media and Security, many motions on the security of Lagos were passed. The governor acted upon them. So many reforms on the judiciary of Lagos were carried out and still on-going. I have done things jointly with my colleagues, particularly the Speaker, who has given me the opportunity to serve. He is a factor in the House and an experienced legislator. He has impacted on me. When we were working on the Neighbourhood Watch Bill, it was initiated by him actually. But, I had to drive it as Chairman of the Security Committee. I worked with him personally and officially. I contribute to every debate and in a positive light.
I always articulate the problems of my constituency in the House and other issues that concern my constituency; security, welfare. There was an accident waiting to happy, a bridge was about to collapse in Isheri. Once I get an information about any issue, I act on it.
What are your second term campaign promises?
My campaign promise is to further entrench the principles of democracy whereby a leader should be a servant. A public office is a public trust. Nobody is good enough to lead another person without the consent of the person. I believe in servant-leadership, especially when you are a legislator. The five broad functions of legislature are represent, legislate, make laws, do appropriation; to allocate resources, and do oversight on the executive functions. Representation is first; it comes before legislation. Before you legislate, you must represent. The issues of safety and security of the constituency are very important. All the things that affect the security, welfare and abundance of life of the people of Kosofe Constituency 11 are paramount to me. It is not all issues that are treated at the plenary. Others are tackled at the inter-ministerial level and inter-governmental arms relations. I can go to whatever office to get solutions to the problems of my people. Even, those under executive functions, I go there to get solutions. I write letters, I make contacts, I visit. That is why I am elected. So, the work is not about grandstanding or to answer chief, honourable, doctor, alhaji, otunba. It is very easy to adopt titles. But, what is important is how you are able to discharge the functions of your office. When you receive calls, an average of five persons are asking for money. You won’t say you won’t respond. You give the ones you can give. That is one of the peculiarities and idiosyncrasies of our society. They believe that legislators are loaded and should be able to support. Of course, you do what you can do within the limit of your ability. You have to show sympathy and care. If you go to MDAs and you see opportunities for your people, you take the advantages. What you cannot do, let the people understand that you cannot do it. If an area is been vilified or under the scourge of violence or armed robbery, you raise an alarm. If a community is being cut off from facilities, you intervene.
If I am re-elected, it will give me a leverage. By getting more entrenched, no contact is lost; no knowledge is wasted. All these will be used to the advantage of the people of Kosofe. My people know that I have the ability and the zeal to serve. I will not let them down. I will continue to be their servant, not their master. I am not a boss. I am deputy to them. I will do more. I will do better. Their wants, aspirations, yearnings and challenges will be my preoccupation in the House.
What is the level of confidence you have; that you will be able to beat your PDP rival at the poll?
I am a modest person. I don’t underrate anybody. A contest is a contest. It is easier for people to vote against you than to vote for you. It is very easy to vote against you. They don’t need any conviction. They don’t want to hear anything from you. It is can be anybody, except you. But, for them to vote for you, you need to convince people in democracy. You need to warm your way into the hearts of the people. I fear a situation where people will vote against me. When people don’t vote against you, when they vote for you, you are lucky.
If you want to talk about experience, stability, I don’t want to start comparing myself with people. It will be immodest, unfair. I just want to talk about issues that are involved. I have told you what I want to do for my people. People can interrogate those who are contesting against me. I have done debate before. Pentecostal pastors organised one before and they were able to make up their minds. I have the experience. I have been local government chairman in 1999. I have been in politics for a while. I am not struggling to build a house now. I am not struggling to own a car. I am not struggling to fix myself. But, if may sound immodest. If you want to be a big man, you can be a big man in your house. If you want to serve people, you can’t know more than the people you are serving. You cannot be bigger than the people you are serving. I am just happy serving the people. I am not unemployed at all. It is my choice to be in public life. I wanted to quit before. But, we can’t turn our back to public life. Even, as a lawyer, I used to be in the midst of people. I like assisting people. I will not like to compare myself to other candidates. If they are not qualified, they would not have come out. It is the beauty of democracy. There is need for opposition in democracy. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Contest makes you to prepare well. I commend those people who have the temerity, the courage to contest. Opposition is a veritable tool on democracy. If there is no opposition, there will be no democracy. I tried to reach out to the electorate. I have my own style. By the grace of God, I will be elected to serve. We are just building democracy. The military has been in power fir long; between 1966 and 1979, 1984 and 1990, quasi-military, quasi-democracy between 1990 and 1993, between 1993 and 1999. This is the longest time we are having democracy. It was rough in 1999. Now, electorate are more politically conscious. They know what they want. Power belongs to the people.
What are the issues that will shape the next governorship election in Lagos State?
It is not about sentiments. Without being immodest, with all sense of objectivity, the governments of AD, AC, ACN, and APC have performed wonders in Lagos State. The account for the outstanding position of Lagos State in the comity of states. A vehicle breaks down. Before you know it, the Rapid Response Unit will tow it to your house, free of charge. A vehicle plunged into the river in my constituency here, at Owode Elede. Nobody died because of the response of the unit. They rescued all. They pulled out the vehicle and everybody survived. Government is truly functional in Lagos. Lagos has the highest VAT contribution to Abuja. Lagos has been progressively functioning since the days of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. When the Federal Government left Lagos State for Abuja, Lagos was becoming comatose. Other states were overtaking Lagos. Lagos was lagging behind. When Asiwaju came in, he was able to revolutionalise the state. Asiwaju was able to initiate new things. Babatunde Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode built on the achievements by the grace of God. Asiwaju is a hunter for talents. There are other leaders in the GAC. Look at the people Lagos State has ‘exported’ to Abuja. One is gratified that they are worthy representatives-Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), Babatunde Fashola and Fowler. Very exceptionally exemplary. It is ironical that many things are being done in the Southsouth and Southeast, which is not being appreciated.
I want to appeal to the good people of Lagos not to truncate the wheel of progress. We have not seen anything yet. We can’t begin to experiment again. We have a road map. We have a charter. Nobody can rule Lagos and stat making unnecessary mistakes. There is a standard. Even, in the House of Assembly, there is a standard. You must be a competent person to be able to make a mark. It is just one of the manifestations of Lagos as a state. Let’s be objective. Compare Lagos to other states. I want to appeal to our people to continue to give us the support to always make Lagos great.