Sunday 27 January 2013

Politics changed my dress sense – Jimi Agbaje

Jimi-Agbaje-360x225

Jimi Agbaje has a courteous facade and gentle mien that questions his decision to embrace politics. Just as you ponder on this, he interrupts your thought: “People generally play politics for self or service. For me, it is service primarily and the belief that you can make change possible; that you can make your community a better place; that there are opportunities out there that people can leverage on and be better citizens. It is the belief that you can develop your environment.”
A 1978 graduate of pharmacy from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), he is quick to say he was not bored practising as a pharmacist for over three decades.
He doesn’t mince words on his choice of career. “I am still a pharmacist and I remain first a pharmacist before any other thing. I started my pharmacy on the shopping floor, which is about the community- people, customers, and patients. Therefore, you find that you are dealing with your environment. So, going into politics is just an extension.
“By the time you succeed in community practice, it means you have become beacon of hope in the community. People come to you for everything. As a pharmacist, apart from being in the community, I was involved with my professional body, the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, and others,” he says.
So at what point did politics crop up?
The former Lagos State governorship candidate, who contested on the ticket of the Democratic People’s Alliance, reminisces: “It had to do with the Abiola/Tofa election. I saw the annulment as a personal insult and an assault on my person. It came at a time others felt the same way. We had the concerned professionals and my first entry into what I would call activism, was through the concerned professionals. I was in one form of resistance group or the other and I did not realise I was getting deeper and deeper into politics. I went on to the socio-political organisation, Afenifere, but it was not with a mind that I was going to run for elective post.
“Again, during Tinubu’s second term, we sat down to deliberate on who will take over from him. Names were bandied and it got to a stage that we felt this was not our dream. These people were not going to deliver the way we wanted them to. Somewhere along the line, someone threw the searchlight on me. I think that was how the lot fell on me.”
And his family? What was their reaction? He smiles and recalls: “Due to my activities with Afenifere, it was not totally strange to my family. We had to discuss it. Fortunately, my children were young adults and it was easier for my wife and I to explain to them. Maybe if resistance came, it was from one or two of my siblings. My mother was scared of politics. But because you have seen politics from the engine room and you know the risks which is also in every profession, what matters is that you do that job properly and leave the rest to God. To me, they were calculated risks.”
Agbaje had to make some behavioural adjustments to fit into his new role since politics is not for reserved people. “If you want to play politics, you must be ready to mix. You have to be a lot more patient and be more of a listener,” he adds.
Did he feel bad losing out in the governorship election of 2007? Agbaje answers that he was not bitter but that those around him found it difficult to overcome the loss. He is a staunch believer that the best team does not win sometimes.
“I had learnt in school that you may have the best team but it does not guarantee you victory. during the election, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly but it is like every game – you either win or lose. You can lose because you actually lost and you can lose because you were actually cheated,” he states.
Now, does he still nurse the ambition of becoming the governor of Lagos State?
This elicits another round of laughter.
He says, “that is a very difficult question for a politician to answer. Let me just say that I have remained in politics although I do not belong to any political party. If you want to remain in politics, the constitution recommends that you should belong to one party or the other. To that extent, I am beginning to look at what party I want to join. Time will tell.”
Agbaje believes that he has not achieved much as a politician.
According to him, one should go into politics to make a difference which he has not been able to do. He considers himself more accomplished as a pharmacist than as a politician.
He proudly launches into the history of his successful practice as a pharmacist.
“Jaykay Pharmacy was born in 1982 and I was a relatively young pharmacist. I worked in an outlet for a nice boss of mine and when it was time, I decided to set up my own pharmacy. My dream then was along the line of a company in England called, Boots. They have a manufacturing concern and a retail outlet chain. I cannot say that I have achieved the dream because over the last six years, I can say I have been distracted and therefore the expansion has not gone on, as I would have loved. We have people who run the business; so I have been able to step back a bit. In 2005, when I started politics, I left as managing director and became the chairman of the company,” he says.
Married for 31 years and still counting, he talks enthusiastically about his wife who he met at the University of Ife. They dated for eight years before they got married. “We were young when we got married because there was really nothing to wait for after graduation. The union has produced two gentlemen and a lady,” he states.
Politicians are considered to be very social but Agbaje says he is ‘a bit social.’ “I like a good intelligent discussion. You find that I am happy in a good environment. I like a weekend that is free and I do not have to be anywhere. I like to watch TV and I am a news freak. When I have time, I like to read and I love my sleep,” he adds.
Born and bred in Lagos, he fondly relives his childhood days: “I think the only time I left Lagos was to go to University of Ife. I was born into a Christian home and I’m the second surviving child. My father was a career banker and he taught us to work hard like himself. He did not spare the rod; so we were not spoilt. If you were rascally, you paid the price. My mother was teacher.”
Now, one topic he shies away from is fashion, which he admits, is not his forte.
“You are talking to the wrong person because unbelievably, my wife dresses me up. Whatever you see on me, just give the credit to my wife. Can you believe that I don t even know my tailor but I get clothes sewn for me? I just like to dress comfortably, simple and clean. Of course, I changed my dressing from the moment I got into politics. If you met me before I went into politics, I was dressed in good shirts and trousers. Then, my friends advised that if I was running for governor, nobody would take me serious unless I looked gubernatorial; which meant wearing agbada but I did not see myself wearing that. We settled for buba and sokoto but if I do have a proper event, I wear agbada.”

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