Many years back, he used to belong to the lower class of the society. As a young man, he had to do menial jobs to survive, some of which were working as a bus conductor, gardener and pool clerk. Those were the years he saw the other side of life.
Later, Hon. Segun Olulade, who is now representing Epe Constituency 2 in the Lagos State House of Assembly, managed to gain admission into the Lagos State University (LASU) and he has since stooped to conquer having joined politics and occupying a political office.
Last week, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Strategy, Publicity and Security was a guest of the correspondents covering the House at a fortnight forum tagged; 'Time Out With The Press,' where he spoke on personal, and other issues.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself
I was born in 1971 to the late Chief and Mrs. Sufiat Olulade. I am a native of Ikosi/Ejirin in Epe Area of Lagos State, where I attended primary and secondary schools. I finished secondary school in 1988, but I could not further my education immediately as expected. So, as a way of making ends meet, I had to work as a bus conductor, office clerk, gardener and pool clerk. It was very tough in those days. I later raised money and obtained a JAMB form in 1995 and I got admission to the Lagos State University, Ojo Town. I finished in 1999 and served in Jos, Plateau State with the then United Bank for Africa (UBA) between 1999 and 2000. It was by the grace of God that I escaped being killed in a crisis in Jos in 2001 as I stayed back there for sometime. I got back to Lagos in 2002/2003. I came from a political family, my father and mother were both politicians and they belonged to different political parties. They would hold meetings of their parties in our house at the same time. We, their children pitched tents and I supported my mother's party. I was a youth leader during the SDP/NRC era.
In 1999, I was one of the young men that supported and worked for former Lagos governor and now our leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. We went round Lagos to mobilise the youth to support him. I also worked with him for his campaign for second term in office in 2002/2003. We had what we called; Independent Campaign Group (ICG) and I was a senatorial leader for them and the leader for Ikosi/Ejirin chapter.
Prior to my contesting, I wanted to work in the bank and I wrote application letters, but it was not possible. Then, people were talking about waste management in Lagos as there were heaps of refuse in the state that were competing with motorists and pedestrians.
We started an NGO that could clear the waste, we went to meet the then Lagos commissioner for works, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and he was impressed by the proposal. We identified black spots in the state and we were clearing them on Thursday and environmental Saturdays free of charge. I later worked for a waste management company as manager before I started my own. I tried to contest the 2006 election into the Lagos Assembly, but I had to step down for somebody at the primaries. I contested again in 2010 and I won before I came here.
Two persons influenced me into politics; former Lagos governors; Alhaji Lateef Jakande and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
I was the senior boy of my primary school, when Alhaji Jakande came to our school in Epe and I shook hands with him, since then I made up my mind that I would be like him. In 1992/1993, I was impressed by the performance of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a senator. So, I felt I wanted to be a politician like these people.
I used to come to the Lagos State House of Assembly to watch the proceedings since 1999. I was impressed to see men and women talking on the floor of the House. People wanted me to contest as a local government chairman after the 2007 elections, but because of my interest in the legislature, I refused and decided to wait for another elections.
What is your take on same sex marriage and the recently passed anti-gay law
I want to thank the National Assembly for passing the Bill into Law. Same sex marriage is bad, it is foreign to us in Nigeria, we would not support it as it can defile our land. We have no apology for not supporting same sex marriage, it is not part of our culture.
Same sex marriage, as far as Africa is concerned, Nigeria inclusive, is ungodly, immoral and unacceptable to us.
It is a criminal incursion into our moral life for anybody or country to canvass for same sex marriage. Nigerians have spoken through the National Assembly and there is no going back on it.
You said you once worked as a bus conductor due to the level of unemployment in the country, what are you doing to help the unemployed?
I am proud to say I once worked as a bus conductor. I meet youths from my constituency regularly and I tell them about how to escape unemployment. I have a farm in my area and I encourage them to go into farming too.
How did you cope with those period, when you didn't have a child for seven years after marriage?
It was a terrible period seeing your colleagues having grown up children. Seeing people that married after you with children and sometimes you even helped take care of these children.
In fact we gave up hope about having children. We had said we would go for IVF after the 2011 elections after I had won the primaries. But surprisingly, I was at a political meeting, when my wife called me and said that I should come to meet her at our family hospital. I was scared when I got the call initially, but as I got there, she showed me a doctor's report, which I didn't understand initially. It was later I discovered that the result stated that she was pregnant, we thought it was an ordinary illness before I left home that day. Now, we have two boys to the glory of God.
Would you like to be the Speaker of the House someday?
I do not envy the occupier of that seat at all. It is not easy when you have 39 people with whom you have equal rights around you. They all came from different homes and have different political backgrounds, it is not a servant/master relationship. It is even easier to remove a speaker than to remove a governor. So, the Speaker has to know his boundary, I don't think I have the temperament, it is not easy for the occupier of that office at all. Former speaker of the house, Senator Olorunimbe Mamora used to say that anytime he was going to the assembly then he used to tell his people that he was going out as a speaker, but that it was not automatic that he would return home as speaker. I could say a thing that would lead to my immediate impeachment, so I cannot handle the office.
In what ways have you impacted on your constituents?
My stewardship has been productive
as I have done many projects in my constituency such as facilitation of road projects, giving out of books to students in the 31 schools in the area, provision of 14 transformers, boreholes, empowerment amongst other numerous people-oriented projects. I complemented the works of the state government by providing about 12 boreholes for our people in different communities. I have done a lot of sensitization programmes and empowered elders and widows with cash and I have a website through which I reach my people regularly. I provided dental care for about 1000 residents of my area and I supported inter-house sports in primary and secondary schools in the area. I donated items to orphanage homes in the constituency and paid fees of over 200 students. I also attracted government housing schemes to the area and helped resolved land disputes amongst several other projects.
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