In this interview with GBENGA OLONINIRAN, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who served as an Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State between 2015 and 2019, Adeniji Kazeem, speaks on the degenerating environment of Isale-Eko despite the community producing eminent personalities
Why did you choose to take up the position of Chairman of the Isale-Eko Descendants Union?
I have taken up this assignment to serve my community even though I have a very busy itinerary. I felt there was a need to give back to my community by serving it in this capacity. This job is not paying, and it is completely pro-bono also for the other members of the executive.
Can you tell us a little about the Union?
From our records, the Union has been in existence as far back as the 1930s and was once known as the Isale-Eko Descendants Scholarship Fund Committee. The Scholarship Fund Committee was established after the appointment of Professor Taslim Olawale Elias (of blessed memory), former Chief Judge of the International Court of Justice, Hague, and Chief Justice of Nigeria, an Isale Eko indigene, a scholar and great African, as the Chief Justice of Nigeria in 1972.
The Union originated from the association of notable Isale Eko elders who had the tradition of coming together at the Oba’s Palace to deliberate on issues of concern to the indigenes of Isale-Eko, and among the earlier activities of the Isale-Eko Descendants was the reception held on July 15, 1939 at Iga Idungaran (Oba of Lagos Palace) for the late Dr Oladele Ajose’s success in the M.D Degree examination.
What are the main Aims & Objectives of the Union?
The principal aims and objectives of the union are clearly stated in its constitution, and they involve preserving the Isale-Eko Culture, promoting the health of Isale-Eko Indigenes, and promoting the education of the Isale-Eko indigenes. The Union is apolitical, and it provides an umbrella for all indigenes of Isale-Eko, irrespective of their political leaning or affiliation.
There is a serious allegation of marginalisation of indigenes in appointments, what’s your position?
These are political appointments generally driven by political considerations. We are an apolitical association for the social development of our people and community. Specifically, education for indigent indigenes and promoting and protecting our history and heritage. So, I wouldn’t want to go there ordinarily. As an indigenous stakeholder in Lagos, I should be able to reach out to the government to push the cause of our association without the need for confrontation. That said, indigenes don’t spend Sallah or Christmas in any other place as home but Lagos. They typically don’t have homes in any other state in Nigeria. They have history, culture, and heritage to protect, so they should have more interest at stake. We presented our position to the last National Assembly Joint Committee on constitutional review. We believe in affirmative action. That is a certain percentage and offices for indigenes.
Who is qualified to be an Isale-Eko indigene?
Anyone whose any of his or her parents or grandparents originated from Isale-Eko.
Where is Isale-Eko?
Purists and conservatives would say Ebute-Ero to Idumagbo/beginning of Adeniji Adele Street. They may even argue against Idumota as being part of Isale Eko. Liberals would say the whole of Lagos Island and some territories in Eti-Osa, Epe, Tarkwa Bay, Badagry and others. In the same way, the United Kingdom has territories outside the UK. Isale-Eko was like the Federal Capital Territory, where all the rulers of the territories stayed in proximity and protection of the Oba (of Lagos). For example, Oluwa owns Iwa and part of Apapa but has his palace in Isale Eko. The same applies to Onisiwo over Tarkwa Bay, Tomaro, Abagbo Island, and others. Onikoyi also lived in Isale Eko with a palace, even though they ruled over Ikoyi and Imoba. Same with Oniru and others.
What qualifies a person to be a member of this Union?
The qualification is quite clear and not hidden. It is stated on our website, however, there have been some arguments from some people that Isale-Eko extends even beyond the borders that have been stipulated; and that some of the borders that have been created are artificial borders. They say people from Lagos Island qualify to be a member of this union. That clamour is strong and would be considered and debated in due course.
What do you have to say about the recent matter involving the union and the producers of the movie titled Gangs of Lagos?
During the tenure of the previous chairman, Mr Yomi Tokosi, a distinguished banker and economist, the film began streaming on Amazon Prime, which in our opinion, wrongly depicted the revered Eyo Masquerade and Isale-Eko as a whole. We took steps to ask them to take remedial steps, but the producers and financiers refused and completely ignored the union. So, at that point in time, we had no choice but to go to court to seek restitution.
Our court suit has nothing to do with trying to stunt, dent or suppress the creative rights of our young artists and people; it is simply trying to protect the cultural rights of Isale-Eko and to send a clear message to the world that Isale-Eko has a culture, Lagos has a culture, it’s not a no man’s land and appropriate steps and things must be done before you do that. Lagos is open to commercial activities and has always been; we have always been very accommodating people. However, that accommodation cannot be taken as a license to denigrate our way of life.
What is the position of the Gangs of Lagos Case now?
Unfortunately, I cannot comment on that case because it is before a court of law, and it would be completely inappropriate for me to comment on that. However, our patron and father, Alayeluwa Oba Riliwanu Akiolu, recently issued a widely circulated letter requesting the producers to take certain steps. We are fully in alignment with that letter and hope that the producers will find it proper to do what is needed. I will leave it at that so that I don’t run afoul of the law being a senior member of the Bar.
Can you give your views on the current state of Isale-Eko vis-a-vis flooding and other environmental challenges?
First and foremost, you know that the IDU is essentially a community organisation and not a local government, which is the statutory third arm of government under the constitution with its responsibilities. So, we can never replace the function and can only advise, support, and protect the rights of the community. However, I must say that I agree with you that the community has suffered a huge level of degradation. Only recently, a few months ago, I went incognito across the length and breadth of Isale-Eko, and what I saw was pure horror in terms of the state of the roads, drainage, and cleanliness; it was very bad and one of the worst cases of urban decay I have seen in a long time, and it must be addressed very urgently.
What do you have to say about the Lagos State Urban Regeneration Project?
Yes, we are aware, and it’s a welcome development by the Lagos State Government. However, the Lagos Island regeneration plan is still subject to a lot of scrutiny. We have seen the plan; I know that there is a public hearing proposed on that, and the Isale-Eko Descendants Union would make its observations and reservations about this plan because it must address the concerns that we have regarding our community directly and seek proper processes to fix the environmental degradation that is going on. The Isale-Eko area must become liveable to people who want to live here and not turned into a complete market that has been overrun by commercial activities.
What are your views on making Isale-Eko a tourist hub?
Yes, this is one of the things that the union is hoping to encourage. As we all know, we have the Isale-Eko Day every year-end and apart from hiccups due to COVID-19, this has taken place quite regularly and is very rich. It involves a lot of participation from both Isale-Eko indigenes and non-Isale-Eko indigenes. We intend to do it again this year and under the leadership of our culture committee. Tourism is very vital; there are a lot of palaces here for the Whitecap Chiefs in addition to the Iga Idunganran, which is the palace of our revered leader, Oba Riliwanu Akiolu, the Oba of Lagos, along with other shrines and other historical areas in Isale-Eko but obviously, you can’t fully push the tourism project if your area is in full decay and completely run down, so that has to be addressed to complement what you are trying to do here.
What else can you tell us about Isale-Eko?
Isale-Eko has produced many prominent personalities which I cannot completely exhaust, the list is endless, and some of the names are as follows: Justice Taslim Elias, Professor Oladele Ajose, Professor Babs Fafunwa, Alhaji Femi Okunnu, SAN, Tiwa Savage, Adekunle Gold, Alhaji H.A.B Fasinro, Professor Adele Jinadu, Justice Ishola Oluwa, and Mr Layi Ajayi Bembe, among others.
But Isale-Eko continues to produce more and more people. Hence, you begin to question how come such an area that has produced so many eminent people and professionals would allow that community to degenerate to the level it has. These are some of the reasons why we feel that we must give back to the community.
What is the union’s plan for education?
That is a good question. You know that education is power, and if you look at the scholarship fund, which was set up by Justice Teslim Elias and other eminent people and involved the participation of people like my own father, you will see that education has been at the focus of what the union has been trying to do, but of course, you are well aware of how our currency has depreciated. So what N100,000 could do 20 years ago is not what it can do today. Therefore, we need to raise much more money to educate our people and give them support so that they can be useful to society and take positions of leadership which are key. So, we have decided we are going to set up a trust fund to complement our scholarship project, and we hope to raise at least N1bn as a start so that we can provide seed funds to support our indigent indigenes in their quest to educate themselves both at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. That is the plan, and we’re going to actualise it; we will pull our sons and daughters together at an event and raise that money by the grace of God.
What can you tell us about preserving the culture of Isale-Eko being part of the union’s objective?
I need not add anything to the culture. We know how rich the culture of this area is, and we intend to ensure that our festivals and tourist points are created into a proper calendar so people abroad and locally can track our upcoming events and participate. The union will also provide an anchor for these events.
Regarding health, what are the plans of the union?
For health, they say health is wealth. We will continue to provide support for our community to complement the services of the local government and the state, which are already doing as much as they can. To do that, we have a rich crop of indigenes in medical services both abroad and locally. They have pledged support for what we will do, so we hope to ignite that area fully. Regarding our environment, we intend to work with different agencies to ensure that this area is fully cleaned up and neat to create an area we are proud of. These are some of the things we hope to achieve by the grace of God and the support of all our stakeholders.
We have noticed that your union is one of the few that has a well-defined community centre.
The Isale-Eko House was conceptualised by my predecessors and I must commend them for coming up with the idea. The whole idea is for Isale-Eko House to serve as a multifaceted community centre for the community. To serve as a hub for (such) activity where indigenes can operate within the community and thrive. We will have meeting rooms and possibly a radio station, gallery, and so many other things that will be housed in that building; that dream is alive, and we hope that during our administration, we will achieve that with the support of our committed members.
We meet regularly with our patron, the Oba of Lagos, Alaiyeluwa Oba Riliwanu Akiolu, who has given his 100 per cent support to our union. He is our father; we are his children and we are enjoying his full support. He has given his blessings to our projects, and of course, we will continue to seek his guidance and direction as we move forward to try and improve and make our community a much better place.
Can you tell the difference between Isale-Eko then and what it is now?
I did not have the privilege of growing up in Isale-Eko when I was young. Still, I visited the community several times with my parents, who grew up in this community and from discussions with them, Isale-Eko was a vibrant community with a decent environment where a lot of families knew each other, interacted and with a very strong cultural base. Now, it appears to have been taken over by a lot of commercial activities, which have caused a lot of degradation in the community. Our cultural ethos, one of the few things we still cherish, is being attacked or denigrated. So, our lawsuit on the Gangs of Lagos matter is a pushback from indigenes who feel that enough is enough.
(Punch)
