"Why I Call Myself An Area Boy"- Lagos Island Local Government Chairman, Tijani Adetoyese Olusi
I am Tijani Adetoyese Olusi, Chairman Lagos Island Local
Government. I am from the Olusi family of Lagos Island. I studied Banking and
Finance and I am a member of the Chartered Institute Of Administration. I was
born into a family of politicians and I’ve always been passionate about
community service; I was once the community development Secretary and Chairman
in my local area. I grew up in the communal environment of Olowogbowo, Oke Arin,
and Isale Eko on Lagos Island in the midst of very educated family members; my
father has always been a politician, and my mother was a nurse. My parents were
disciplinarians.
Growing up in Isale Eko was quite interesting and today I
have fond memories of the popular Eyo Festival, I also enjoyed what we called
‘sukunobia’ which took place during the month of Ramadan. The ‘gelede’ and
‘Efe’ which are parts of our heritage happened during Easter celebrations; we
used to have a performance right in front of the Onilegbale Palace where the
masquerade would come out and the ‘yabis’ session took place. Eko has always
been known for ‘faaji’ but the faaji that made sense was that of the 50s, 60s,
and 70s. I think we don’t have such memorable and fun moments like we had back
in the days because we don’t have love and respect like we had then. Back then,
there was communal love and members of my extended family or neighbours could
scold or reprimand me for misbehaving. These days, some parents would fight you
for reprimanding their child. The fear of miscreants who are called ‘area boys’
is another reason. I call myself an ‘area boy’ because back then we used to
identify ourselves with our streets or area; a guy from Agarawu for example was
called ‘Omo Area Agarawu’ but these days it is a different ball game as
miscreants and street urchins now parade themselves as area boys.
This is why
most of the educated and enlightened Islanders are fleeing Lagos Island. The
Government is trying its best to curb this menace but the truth is that indigenes
of Lagos Island need not run away from their heritage because they are the ones
who should serve as role models to the young ones. If they all run away
these
miscreants are the ones who would serve as role models to the younger
generation.
Lagos Island is the commercial hub of Lagos State and by
extension Nigeria as a whole. A commercial hub welcomes everybody and because
Government did not regulate the hub from inception it is now becoming a slum.
All of the violence or negativity we now see is as a result of this. The
present state government is trying to upgrade the infrastructures on Lagos
Island so as to curb all of these. Lagos Island is still one of the best places
to reside in Lagos. On our part at the Local Government office, we are doing a
lot; we have a vocational institute and we try our best to encourage the young
ones by providing employment but I think that it is a collective responsibility
which should not be left to the Government only.
I think the younger ones really need to help themselves;
they need to be focused and very determined to succeed in life. They should
aspire for the best and get educated. I previously served as the Vice Chairman
of the Local Government when we had a programme targeted at kitting primary and
secondary school students and we have continued to do this. We are currently
working on an educational fiesta set to hold in 2018 which the youth should
look forward to.
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