Simon Ateba covers the White House, the U.S. government, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions for Today News Africa in Washington D.C. Simon can be reached on simonateba@todaynewsafrica.com
The former Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, on Thursday, bagged a doctorate degree in Leadership from Liverpool Business School, John Moore’s University Liverpool, England.
Speaking with TODAY NEWS AFRICA‘s Simon Ateba from the United Kingdom, Mr. Ikuforiji thanked God for the ability to complete his degree.
The 60-year old Nigerian economist, lawyer, politician, lawmaker and philanthropist from Epe Constituency I was a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly between July 2, 2003, and July 3, 2015.
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He was Speaker for ten years between 2005 and 2015, the longest since Nigeria gained independence from Great Britain in 1960.
Mr. Ikuforiji failed to secure the endorsement of his Godfather Bola Tinubu in 2014 and lost his governorship primary election to Akinwunmi Ambode who was by then a protege of Tinubu. Ambode handed over to Babajide Sanwo-Olu after one term in office last may.
Ikuforiji has been out of public view in recent years. He has rarely granted interviews or made political statements even before and during the just concluded 2019 general elections.
Apart from some philanthropic activities in recent years, not much has been heard about the man who oversaw the passing of most of the recent bills in Nigeria’s most populous city.
It now appears that he was busy studying abroad and at home.
In 2014, when he declared his candidacy for governor of Lagos, he outlined his plans for Nigeria’s commercial hub.
His focus, he said, would be creating jobs to reduce rising unemployment numbers amongst Nigerian youths.
In private conversations, Speaker Ikuforiji spoke glowingly about his plans to build a beltway around Lagos as a solution to choking traffic snarls there, similar to the one in Washington DC, known as Interstate 495 (I-495), a 64-mile (103 km) Interstate Highway that surrounds Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States of America, and its inner suburbs Maryland and Virginia.
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