•Accuses Lagos govt of bias
The Lagos State chairman of the Tricycle Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria (TOOAN), Alhaji Abdul-Azeez Abiola, also known as Istijabah, speaks, in a telephone interview, to SUBAIR MOHAMMED on the crisis in the state chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the appointment of park management committee by the Lagos State government and the steps being taken by the national leader of the union, Alhaji Tajudeen Baruwa, to ensure the crisis doesn’t snowball into a bloody battle.
What is responsible for the recurring violent clashes between members of TOOAN and NURTW?
Basically, it is all about the battle for the control of Lagos State chapter of TOOAN. It is about the chairmanship of the tricycle union in the state. TOOAN was formed in 1998 during the military administration of former military administrator of the state, General Mohammed Buba Marwa.
TOOAN, which is independent of the NURTW, has its state chairman.
Between 1998 and now, TOOAN has had six state chairmen with the last state chairman before my appointment being Alhaji Murtala Lawal, popularly known as Epo. Mr Joseph Odusanya was the state chairman of TOOAN before Alhaji Lawal.
Before my appointment as the state chairman by the national president of the NURTW, I was the state vice chairman of TOOAN. Everything was moving on smoothly until Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya, also known as MC Oluomo, became the state chairman of the Lagos NURTW.
The first thing he did was to dissolve the state executive committee of TOOAN and it was hoped that he would appoint a new committee to manage the affairs of TOOAN but he never did.
Rather, he unbundled TOOAN into five zones and appointed a coordinator for each of the zones. I was appointed as one of the coordinators. This was the beginning of the frequent clashes between members of TOOAN and NURTW.
Disturbed by the development, I made frantic efforts to seek redress. I challenged his decision to divide TOOAN into zones. The Board of Trustees of TOOAN confronted him; that he had no such power and right to divide TOOAN because TOOAN, like the state NURTW, is just an affiliate of the NURTW. He has no right to tinker with the mechanism of the union but he stuck to his decision and appointed his ‘boys’ from Oshodi as coordinators of TOOAN.
Our elders, that is, the board of trustees members, reported him to the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation but there was no response from the ministry. Then they headed to the headquarters of the NURTW calling for their intervention.
The national president of the NURTW, Alhaji Tajudeen Baruwa, invited the BoT of TOOAN, state executive members of TOOAN and MC Oluomo for a discussion.
How did the peace meeting go?
We explained our plights and they instructed him (MC Oluomo) not to interfere with the issues of TOOAN while we continue to pay our dues and buy our tickets from the Lagos NURTW.
After this, they asked the TOOAN BoT members whom they wanted as their state chairman and I was chosen as the state chairman with an instruction that I worked with the other four coordinators appointed by MC Oluom
But on getting to Lagos, another round of crisis brewed as MC Oluomo kicked against the decision of the national body. He insisted that there was not going to be two state chairmen during his tenure.
He said TOOAN and the Motorcycle Operators Association of Lagos State (MOALS) would not have state chairman under his tenure and that the two unions must be under his control.
He insisted that once his tenure was over, we could appoint whosoever we desired as state chairmen for TOOAN and MOALS. This culminated in the faceoff between TOOAN and NURTW until he announced his exit from the NURTW.
What do you think is responsible for MC Oluomo’s rejection of your appointment as the chairman of TOOAN? Is it because you belong to the camp of former state chairman of the NURTW, Tajudeen Agbede, who is believed to be an arch enemy of MC Oluomo?
I don’t think so. Even if it has anything to do with factions, why don’t they appoint another person from another faction as chairman? This tells you that the issue goes beyond faction. I was appointed by the national NURTW not as a factional chairman.
And talking about faction, I am a mature mind. I don’t belong to any faction. I run things as objectively as I can as the state chairman of TOOAN. I strike a balance in my relationships Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede and MC Oluomo.
There was never a time I pitched my tent with one against the other. I recognised Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede as state chairman and Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya as state treasurer and I accorded each of them due respect and honour.
I am not in the class of young and immature unionists that go about assaulting people based on the faction which they belong. I maintained cordial relationships with Agbede and MC Oluomo when the former was state chairman and the latter, the state treasurer and I gave each of them their dues.
Also, during the chairmanship struggle of MC Oluomo, I was one of his sponsors. I spent my resources to support his aspiration. When Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede aspired to the national presidency of the NURTW, I spent my money to support his aspiration, too. The only person I could say I didn’t sponsor is the current national chairman of the NURTW, Alhaji Tajudeen Baruwa and that was because I didn’t have any personal relationship with him. We were not close then.
If you supported MC Oluomo to become the state chairman of the NURTW as you claimed, how did things fall apart between you two?
I would say it has to do with his unguarded exertion of power and influence. It was all about his move to make one of his allies known as Pappy Kamoli the state chairman of TOOAN.
He had promised Pappy that he would make him the state chairman of TOOAN just as he made Kazeem, popularly known as Water, the state chairman of MOALS. So, in order to fulfil his promises, he was hell-bent on removing me from office. But the BoT is telling him that this is not possible because anyone that is a delegate at the state executive must be the chairman of TOOAN.
I have been in the state executive of the national union and as a delegate; it is not possible to choose another person to become the chairman of TOOAN except me but MC Oluomo is bent on making Pappy Kamoli the chairman of TOOAN.
Following the suspension of MC Oluomo by the national body of the NURTW, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu appointed a 25-man committee to manage parks across the state. As the state chairman of TOOAN and a stakeholder in the transport sector, it was expected that you would make the list but you did not. Why do you think this was so?
It points to the conspiracy between the Lagos State government and MC Oluomo. There are no two ways to it. It is pure injustice and they are not being honest to themselves.
At the State Executive Council, we are 18 members. I wonder why the Lagos State government would appoint 16 out of the 18 members into the management committee of Lagos parks. It may interest you to know that all the 16 persons appointed were allies of MC Oluomo. I am one of the stakeholders in the transport sector in the state but my name and that of the state secretary were excluded from the list released by the state government. Instead, they included all manner of characters that knew nothing about the operation of the transport sector to make up the 25-man committee.
Who drew up the list, Lagos State government or MC Oluomo?
If you had seen the list, you would know that it was drawn by MC Oluomo. He made the list, included his allies and, unfortunately, the state government approved it. How could the government present itself as a mediator and end up being on the side of a party to the dispute? It is not fair.
Now that the activities of the Lagos NURTW have been suspended and a management committee has taken over, what do you think the future holds for the union in the state?
No matter how long it takes, the NURTW will resume its activities. No one can proscribe the activities of the NURTW. It is an affiliate of the NLC. There is no law banning the NURTW, just as the state law cannot outweigh the constitution of the country.
What is your next move? Are you considering seeking redress in the court of law?
If I would be heading to court on the NURTW matters, that would depend on the decision of the national headquarters because I was appointed by the national body. Therefore, only the national body can direct the path to follow, whether to head to court to seek redress or not. But regarding my personal property that were destroyed by MC Oluomo and his boys, I will definitely be heading to court. I must seek redress for the injustice.
When was your property destroyed?
When MC Oluomo was announced as the park manager, his boys took to the parks and destroyed my property in the process. Lagos State didn’t instruct them to chase away those that were there. Instead of calling us to discuss the handing over, MC Oluomo sent his boys out to take control of all parks and in the process, they damaged my property.
So, who is currently in charge of TOOAN activities in Lagos State?
It is MC Oluomo. About 90 per cent of TOOAN is under his control and this is because he threatened to deal with any member that pledged allegiance to my leadership. When I was on lesser hajj in Makkah, MC Oluomo attacked my fuel station and destroyed it.
He also destroyed my commercial buses. They shattered the glasses of any bus they saw my picture on. My tricycles that they have destroyed are countless.
We had been peaceful and law abiding. TOOAN members are non-violent and they were not responsible for the recurring clashes. MC Oluomo and his boys are behind the crisis being reported in the media. We are a peace-loving people.
What steps has the national body of the NURTW taken to resolve the crisis?
I can assure you that they are working on it. They are making efforts to resolve the crisis and, hopefully, it would be resolved very soon.
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