LAGOS @ 50: MEET 50 OUTSTANDING LAGOSIANS.Part 1.

Lagos the centre of excellence is celebrating 50 years of its existence as a state, we at Lagoshappens.blogspot.com is using the opportunity to celebrate some outstanding Lagosians who have contributed immensely to the development and the growth of the state over the years. Without no particular order or preference,here is the list as compiled by:naijajuwon with additional information from wikipeadia.com . This is the first part watch out for part 2 .   


Akinwunmi Ambode was born on 14 June 1963 in Epe Lagos, into the family of Festus Akinwale Ambode and Christianah Oluleye Ambode. Akinwunmi Ambode is one of ten children of his father Festus Ambode

Akinwunmi Ambode attended St. Jude’s Primary School, Ebutte Meta, Lagos, Nigeria, from 1969-1974, where he sat for the National Common Entrance Examinations.
From 1974-81, Ambode, attended Federal Government College, Warri, Nigeria. From 1981-1984, he attended University of Lagos where he studied Accounting, graduating at the age of 21 He also has a master's degree in Accounting from the University of Lagos, and he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

Ambode was awarded the US Fulbright Scholarship for the Hubert Humphries Fellowship Programme in Boston Massachusetts. He also attended the Wharton Business School, for Advanced Management Programme. Other institutions he attended for courses and programmes, includes Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, England, the Institute of Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland, INSEAD Singapore and Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Boston, U.S.A. He was a civil servant for 27 years and a financial consultant before running for public office. He became the Governor of Lagos State in 2015.

Sir Michael Otedola (1926 –  2014) was  the former Governor of Lagos State . The late politician  was born on the 16 July 1926 into a Muslim family at Odoragunsin, Epe Local Government Area of Lagos State. 

After moving to  Lagos  to pursue his education he won a scholarship to study Journalism at the Regent Street Polytechnic ,London where he graduated in 1958.He began his career as a teacher before working as a reporter at the St. Pancras Chronicle, then as a reporter and later sub-editor at The Guardian  and The Times in England.


Otedola was elected governor of Lagos State from 1992 to 1993 on the platform of the National Republican Convention  (NRC).  His administration facilitated establishing the Yaba College Of Technology campus in Epe, his home town.

After leaving office, he continued his career as a writer, a consultant holding positions on the boards of various businesses, and a philanthropist. In February 2010 ThisDay newspaper announced that he was among 15 eminent Nigerians who had won Lifetime Achievement Awards. His son Femi  Otedola  became the billionaire owner of Nigerian oil giant Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited. The Michael Otedola College Of Primary Education was named after him after his demise. He died on 5 May 2014 at his residence in his home town of Epe, Lagos.

Antonio Oladeinde Fernandez (1936 – September 1, 2015)  was born in Lagos, Nigeria to the Fernandez family that originated from Brazil. He attended St Gregory's College, Lagos for his secondary education but left after his second year for the United States of America. Fernandez ran an oil company called Petro Inett which obtained a 50% share with South African-based Energy Africa Limited in a deal with the state oil company for exploration rights in a 4,700 km2 area of Angola's coast in 1996. In 1992, he was appointed as Special Adviser to the President of Mozambique on International Economic Matters, a position he held for three years.

He was a Nigerian Business magnate, Diplomat and Permanent Representative of Central African Republic to the United Nations.He was considered one of the richest men in Africa. In addition to a variety of other chieftaincy titles, he held the title of the Apesin Ola of the Egba clan of Yorubaland.

Prince Molade Alexander Okoya-Thomas FCNA, MFR, OFR, KSS

(8 June 1935 – 2 February 2015) was born in Lagos. He obtained his formal education at Princess School Lagos, Baptist Academy, Lagos, Balham & Tooting College of Commerce London and Columbia University in New York City. 

He was recognised as the Asoju Oba of Lagos, Babasuwa of Ijebu-Remo and Odofin of Ife. He was also till his demise, the Chancellor of Lagos State University and chairman of CFAO Nigeria Limited. Molade Okoya-Thomas was an active sportsman in his youth, he was a Joint All Nigeria Record Holder of 4 X 220 yards relay race while at Baptist Academy Lagos. He has been the sole sponsor of the annual Asoju Oba Table Tennis Championships for over four decades setting a record as the only Nigerian to have single-handedly and consistently sponsored a competition spanning over four decades.

As a philanthropist he had similarly served as vice-chairman, Lagos State Sports Council, President Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Chairman 3rd All-Africa Games Appeal Fund Committee, Chairman National Appeal Fund for Sports Development and chairman Sports Trust Fund. Molade Alexandria Okoya-Thomas built and donated a modern sports hall for students and staff of the Lagos State University (LASU) in 2009.

Razak Akanni Okoya is a billionaire industrialist and Aare of Lagos born in Lagos on 12 January 1940 to Tiamiyu Ayinde and Alhaja Idiatu Okoya. He had his only formal education at Ansar-un-deen primary School, Oke popo, Lagos. He is the owner and founder of Eleganza group of companies that has a market spanning Western Africa. Razak Okoya's business expanded swiftly, he traveled far and wide and learnt how things were manufactured having the strong feeling that Nigeria could match that quality if not better.

He began the importation of shoes in large quantities, subsequently. On one of these occasions, the shoes were not delivered despite his payment. He traveled to Italy to see the manufacturer only to discover that they had used his money to settle their bills. He was so angry that he decided there and then to start manufacturing his own shoes. He imported all the machines and brought in some experts who trained his workers.

Sir Mobolaji Bank Anthony (June 11, 1907 - May 26, 1991) was a businessman and philanthropist. He was a former council President of the Lagos Stock Exchange and was a minority investor in Aero-Contractors before indigenous shares were acquired by the Ibru Organization.

 At one time, he held the distributional rights to cars manufactured by Rootes Group.He was a board member of various companies and was a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management. Anthony was born to the family of Alfred Bank Anthony of Brazilian quarters, Lagos Island, his mother was related to the Aleshinloye Williams family of Olowogbowo, Lagos and both parents were business people; his father had an undertaker business under the name, A. Bank Anthony and Sons Ltd.

He was born in the Kinshasa region of Belgian Congo in 1907. He started education at St. Peters School, Faji, Lagos and later attended various secondary schools including Methodist Boys High School, Ijebu Ode Grammar School, CMS Grammar School and Baptist Academy, Lagos. Anothony donated a ward to the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos and also built an Ayinke House, which houses the Ikeja General Hospital.

Joke Silva. was born in Lagos, into a family of four children.Her mother, Adebimbola Silva, a pioneering female doctor, died in July 2015. Her father was a lawyer.[3] She attended Holy Child College in Lagos. At university she was part of a cultural group that included the playwright Bode Osanyin and the singer Stella Monye. Silva took a year off from her studies, during which time she began working as an actress. Silva then relocated to England, studying drama at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Initially her parents were opposed to Silva's decision to go into the theatre but they soon began to support her, happy at the success she made of her career. During a slow period of her career, she returned to school, studying English at the University of Lagos. 

Silva has starred in numerous films and television series in both the English and Yoruba languages.^[One of her earliest roles was in the 1990 English film Mind Bending. In 1993 she appeared in Owulorojo, followed by Violated in 1995. In 1998 she starred opposite Colin Firth  and Nia Long in the British-Canadian film The Secret Laughter of Women, in which she portrayed Nene. She is regarded  as an exceptional actress in the Nigerian film industry after mentioning her role.


Femi Otedola : (born 1962) is a Nigerian businessman, entrepreneur philanthropist, and chairman ,Forte Oil Plc an importer of fuel products. He is also the founder of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, and the owner of a number of other businesses across shipping, real estate and finance. He is the second Nigerian after Aliko Dangote  to be included on the Forbes list  of dollar-denominated billionaires.  He has recently invested in power generation as part of the liberalization of the sector in Nigeria.
 
 In 2003, having identified an opportunity in the fuel retail market, Otedola secured the finance to set up Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, a petroleum products marketing and distribution company.As owner and chairman of Zenon, in 2004 he invested N15 billion in downstream infrastructure development and acquired storage depots at Ibafon, Apapa as well as four cargo vessels, amounting to a combined total storage capacity of 147,000 metric tonnes.
 
The same year he acquired a fleet of 100 DAF fuel-tanker trucks for N1.4 billion. By 2005 Zenon controlled a major share of the Nigerian diesel market, supplying fuel to most of the major manufacturers in the country including Dangote Group, Cadbury ,Coca Cola,Nigerian Breweries, MTN, Unilever, Nestle, and Guinness.


Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu was born on 29 March 1952 in the city of Lagos, Nigeria. He attended St. John's Primary School, Aroloya, Lagos and Children's Home School in Ibadan Tinubu went to the  United States in 1975, 

where he studied first at Richard J.Daley College  in Chicago ,IIIinois and then at Chicago State University . He graduated in 1979 with a  Bachelor of Science  degree in Accounting.Tinubu worked for American companies Arthur nderson,Deloitte,Haskins &Sells and  GTE Services Corporation . After returning to Nigeria in 1983 Bola Tinubu joined Mobil Oil Nigeria, and later becoming an Executive of the company.

He was elected Senator for the Lagos West constituency in Lagos State , Nigeria in 1993, just before a military take-over in December 1993. After the return to democracy, he was elected governor of Lagos State, holding office from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. He is an influential member of the All Progressives Congress party; he also holds both the  chieftancies of the Asiwaju of  Lagos  and the Jagaban of the Borgu Kingdom in Niger State, Nigeria.

Asiwaju political career began in 1992, on the platform of the Social Democratic Party in the faction of the Peoples Front led by Shehu Musa Yar'Adua  and other politicians in the faction such as Dapo Sarumi  and Yomi Edu when he was elected to the Nigerian Senate  representing the Lagos West constituency in the short-lived Nigeria Third Republic.After the results of the 12 June 1993 presidential elections were annulled, Tinubu became a founding member of the pro-democracy  Nationa Democratic Coaliation  (NADECO), which mobilized support for the restoration of democracy and recognition of the 12 June results. He went into exile in 1994 and returned to the country in 1998 after the death of military dictator Sani Abacha which ushered in a transition to civilian rule.


Babatunde Raji Fashola was born in Lagos on 28 June 1963. He attended Birch Freeman High school Lagos and Igbobi College  Lagos. He studied Law at the University Of Benin from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws, LL.B.(Hon), degree in 1987.
As a candidate of the Action Congress  party, now known as the All Progressives Congress , Fashola succeeded Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu , on 14 April 2007 and was sworn in on 29 May 2007.^] He was re-elected on 26 April 2011 On November 11th 2015, he was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari to be the Minister of Power, Works and Housing.

He was called to the Nigerian Bar as a solicitor and advocate of the Supreme Court Of Nigeria  in November 1988 after completing the professional training programme at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos which he undertook between 1987 and 1988. 

His legal career of over one and a half decades, commenced in the law Firm of Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe and Belgore, where he cut his legal teeth as a litigator over such wide-ranging areas of specialization as, intellectual property (registration of trade marks), commercial law, covering general contracts, company activities, mergers, acquisitions, right issues, ownership of shares and equity of corporations, as well as land disputes, criminal law and chieftaincy matters, in all of which he has come to acquire appreciable expertise and vast experience.
 
 
Lateef Kayode Jakande was born in the Epetedo area of Lagos State 29 July 1929 Both parents are from Omun Aran Kwara State. He studied at the Lagos public school at Enu-Owa, Lagos Island, then at Bunham Memorial Methodist School, Port Harcourt (1934–43). He studied briefly at King's College, Lagos in 1943, and then enrolled at Ilesha Grammar School in 1945, where he edited a literary paper called The Quarterly Mirror.

In 1949 Jakande began a career in journalism first with the Daily Service and then in 1953 joining the Nigerian Tribune. In 1956 he was appointed editor-in-chief of the Tribune by the owner Chief Obafemi Awolowo His editorials were factual and forthright, and were treated by the colonial powers with respect. After leaving the Tribune in 1975, Jakande established John West Publications and began to publish The Lagos News. He served as the first President of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN).

Encouraged by Awolowo, he ran for election as executive governor of Lagos State in 1979, on the Unity Party Of Nigeria  platform. He defeated his opponents, Adeniran Ogunsanya of NPP and Sultan Ladega Adeniji Adele of  National Party Of Nigeria  and was subsequently sworn in as governor. His administration was effective and open and implemented the cardinal policies of his party.

As the governor he introduced housing and educational programs targeting the poor, building new neighborhood primary and secondary schools and providing free primary and secondary education. He established the. Lagos State University.  Jakande's government constructed over 30,000 housing units. The schools and housing units were built cheaply, but were of great value. Some of the housing units include low cost estates in ,Amuwo Odofin , Ijaiye, Dolphin, Oke-Afa, Ije, Abesan, Iponri, Ipaja, Abule Nla, Epe , Anikantamo, Surulere, Iba, Ikorodu,Badagry.

Musiliu Smith was born on April 17, 1946.in Olowogbowo. He completed secondary 

education at Ansarud-deen College, Isolo , Lagos and attended the  University Of Lagos where he obtained a B.Sc in Sociology in 1970. In 1972 Musiliu Smith joined the police force in  Enugu as an Assistant Police Superintendent. He later served as an Instructor in the Police College Ikeja, and a Divisional Police Officer in Mubi , Adamawa State. From 1980 to 1982, he was in charge of the X-Squad at CID Alagbon Close, Ikoyi . He  moved to Ilorin  where he served in various capacities, finally becoming Kwara State Police Command Administrative Officer
He was posted to Rivers State in 1987, taking charge of the Police College. In 1988, he was promoted Commissioner of Police and moved to Lagos where he took over control of the Criminal Intelligence Divisional Force. He returned to Kwara State and later Plateau State as Commissioner of Police. In 1996, Musiliu Smith was promoted to Assistant Inspector General of Police, placed in charge of Zonal Headquarters, Kano . 

Smith completed a master's degree programme in Strategic Studies at the University of Ibadan in 1997. He was appointed a member of the Provisional Ruling Council in 1998.Musiliu Smith was appointed the Inspector General of Police of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 1999. He retired in March 2002 following a police strike.

Shafi Lawal Edu was born in Epe to the polygamous family of Lawani Edu; his mother was Raliatu who was the daughter of a Muslim cleric. His education started with attendance at 
Quaranic schools before enrolling in the Government Muslim Primary School, Epe. He finished his education in 1927 and thereafter,taught at his alma mater,popularly known as S.L Edu .

He  left teaching in 1930 and started a career as a clerk with the Africa Oil and Nuts Company, a firm which had a business alliance with Holland West Africa and was involved in buying  palm produce  at Epe. In 1933, he was posted to Apapa as a shipping clerk with Holland West Africa. By 1945, he had risen to a managerial level.

 As a manager, he organized the Ducth shipping line's offices in the country and helped in expanding the business to other coastal cities.Figuring out there were affordable untapped prospects in the Nigerian shipping industry, he left Holland West Africa Lines, and founded his own firm. Using his prior experience in the shipping industry, he found himself a niche in ship handling and stevedoring. He later expanded the venture into timber and other commodities. In the post war period , he was a food contractor to private, government and European agencies.

He also delved into the oil haulage business working as a contractor for British Petroleum, Edu was chairman of British Petroleum, Nigeria when the firm was nationalized and had its name changed to African Petroleum by the Obasanjo  regime. In partnership with  T.A Braithwaite  and Munich Re-Insurance , he set up an insurance firm, African Alliance.
As a prominent Lagosian, he spent a few years as a Commisioner  for health in Lagos. After his resignation, he focused his energy on various enterprises. He founded Nigerian Conservation Foundation in 1980.

 Lateefat Modupe Okunnu was born in Lagos and educated at Okepopo Primary School,Lagos Island, Methodist Girls High School and Queens College Yaba. She has a bachelor of arts degree in geography and earned a postgraduate diploma in education from the University of Lagos in 1968. From 1967 to 1970, Okunnu worked with University Of Lagos as an assistant lecturer. Thereafter, she joined Lagos State Civil Service as an education officer. 

She was with the State government until 1980 after which she moved to the federal civil service as a principal secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. In 1986, she became a permanent secretary in the cabinet office. Okunnu was among the group of elite women who formed the Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria. She was the pioneer vice president (amirah) of the organization and also head of the Lagos State chapter.

Okunnu was involved in education matters within the Lagos State chapter of FOMWAN and encouraged the use of mosque grounds as crèche and also formation of education committees within mosques. In 1989, she became the president of FOMWAN. In 1987, as a civil servant, Okunnu was member of the nine member committee inaugurated to review recommendations of the 1986 Political Bureau. In 1990, she was appointed Deputy Governor of Lagos, along with Pamela Sadauki of Kaduna State, the duo where the first female Deputy Governors in Nigeria.

Rilwan Babatunde Osuolale Aremu Akiolu  was born on the 29 October 1943, he is the incumbent traditional Oba Of Lagos,He attended Ansar-Ud-Deen College, Surulere, Lagos (1961-1965) and studied Law at the University Of Lagos (Akoka campus), receiving his Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B).

After high school he served for 32 years in the Nigerian Police Force , entering the force in 1970, He served in various capacities, was promoted to assistant inspector-general of Police in 1999, and was active until his retirement in 2002. He is a member of the Nigerian Institute Of Management  and a fellow of the Nigerian Law School.

Femi Gbajabiamila 
 born June 25 1962, He attended Igbobi College,Somolu,King William's College, United Kingdom, John Marshall Law School,Chicago IIIiniois,United States and the University Of Lagos. Gbaja Biamila was elected to the House in 2003, and re-elected in 2007. He represents the Surulere I constituency of Lagos State in the House of Representatives.He is the House's Majority Leader.


Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins, was born 28 October 1984  plays as a forward for Shangai  He is known for his speed on the ball. After leaving Nigeria for Italy at age 16, he has since played for a number of top-division clubs around Europe. He began his senior career in 2002 at the Italian seria -A club Inter Milan, before moving to the English Premier League club Newcastle  in 2006, and then the German Bundesliga club  VfL Wolfsburg in 2009. Having joined Russian Premier League  side Rubin Kazan in July 2010, they  loaned  him to Birmingham City in January 2011.
 
In club football, Martins has won the Italian Serie A title, the  Italian Cup (twice), and the  Italian Super Cup all with Inter. With Birmingham he scored the winning goal in the 2011 football league cup final . He has played  European Football with Inter, Newcastle and Wolfsburg, winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup with Newcastle. His highest scoring league seasons so far have seen him score 11 goals in the ,2004-05 Serie A and 17 in both the2006 -07 English Premier League and 2014 MLS 

In international football, Martins has been in the Nigerian squad for the Africa Cup of Nations  in 2006 , 2008 and 2010, and for the FIFA World cup in 2010. He played for Seattle Sounders FC  of Major League Soccer from 2013 to 2015, scoring 40 goals, before moving on to China.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa was born to the family of Alhaji and Alhaja Ashafa Erogbogbo of Ikorodu. Her father, Alhaji Ashafa Erogbogbo is one of the children of late Alh. Sule Erogbogbo of Adegorunsen Compound, Ajina square, Ita – Agbodo, Ikorodu. Her paternal grandmother, Alhaja Alimotu Erobogbo is from Bello Solebo family of Ita – Elewa Square, Ikorodu.

 Dabiri-Erewa worked for the Nigerian Television Authority  (NTA) for fifteen years, anchoring the weekly NTA Newsline programme and taking a particular interest in poverty and social justice issues. She retired from her position at Nigerian Television Authority to stand for election in the House of Representatives, winning with a substantial majority.
representing  Ikorodu Constituency . She was the Chairman of the House Committee on Media & Publicity.

She was also the former Chair of the House Committee on Diaspora Affairs. She was elected for the first time in 2003, and re-elected in 2007 and 2011.Abike attended Maryland Private School, Maryland,Ikeja for her primary school education, and St. Teresa’s College, Ibadan for her secondary education. She obtained her first degree in English Language from the University Of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University  OAU) Ile – Ife. She obtained a post graduate diploma (PGD) in mass communication and also a master's degree in mass communication from the University Of Lagos. 

All photographs: sourced from google.com