Talebearers

I LOVE DANCING A LOT

-Lagos Lawmaker, Ramota Akinola-Hassan

Getting to meet her in her office is often a simple task. Hon. Ramotalai Akinola-Hassan, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly from Amuwo-Odofin Constituency 2, which comprises Oriade Local Council Development Area (LCDA) and part of Amuwo Odofin LG, is a woman of the people, who has does not have any air around her as a public office holder.

The amiable woman is proud to tell you that she loves fashion just like her mother, and that fashion should be part of a woman’s life.

“In life, you should be conscious of whatever you put on; you must wear what fits you.

I wear anything that fits me. I buy my fabrics and fashion accessories in Lagos here, I used to sell fabrics before I got here, and I still do it now,” she stated.

The first term lawmaker also said that she uses all kinds of wrist watches and wears the ones that fit the cloth she is putting on.

One question the upwardly mobile politician also finds easy to react to is how she combines being a lawmaker with her home and she says; “My family is number one, after finishing here, I go to my family, so I take them as a priority. I go to the market myself, I shop for cooking and I sometimes cook because I love cooking. I have time for my family; we only sit in the Assembly for plenary sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. I create time for my family and my little boy except if I am out of the country. I bath for my boy everyday and I dress him up. I cook for my husband in the morning, so I am a family woman to the core.”

When we probed further to know what Hon. Ramota does on her spare time, she quickly replied; “Oh, I love dancing a lot, there is no music I don’t dance to, I enjoy all kinds of music and I am very good at dancing.”

She also revealed that she didn’t use her body to get what she wanted, but that she is eating out of the labour of her late father, who she said was a successful politician and a devoted member of the progressive.

The lawmaker expressed appreciation to the likes of  Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Dr. Muiz Banire and Cardinal James Odumbaku (Baba Eto), who she said God used to help her to compensate for the efforts of her father.

Hon. Ramota is one of the few lawmakers that mix freely with people around them and she said that she enjoys the company of all her colleagues, both males and females. “I am a friend to everybody, we came to the world with nothing and we will leave with nothing.  I play with everybody here, my staffers and others inclusive, I am a very straightforward person, I don’t close my door. My father was a dredger; he ate with the people working with him, so I got that from him,” she said with happiness written all over her face.

As a public officer, Hon. Ramota has been to many countries, but she still has phobia for traveling by air; she said; “anytime I want to travel out, I always pray to God to protect me, I have a lot of people I cater for. I have been to the United Kingdom, United States of America, South Africa and Kigali in Rwanda.”

She however, said that Nigeria needs to learn a lot even from neghbouring African countries like Rwanda.

“When we went to Kigali in Rwanda, I could see that they are so disciplined, when we were going to see one of their big farms, the motorbike rider that led us obeyed traffic light. In the hotel, where I lodged, I looked through the window to see if there would be a gunshot in the night, but there was nothing like that. It is a very peaceful place though they went through hell during the war there, now they are enjoying. If you see their farms, they are so good. We went for a legislative programme in the country and I enjoyed my stay there,” she said with nostalgia.

A devoted Muslim, the female politician believes that violence happens during election period because there are some people that are bad, adding that she believes in God (Allah), and that anything that comes to her is through God, which is why she is occupying the office of a lawmaker today.

“I did not use thugs during my campaign period. It was peaceful all through and God did not allow the opponents to harm me. God knows what you would be in life, the next Governor of the state, God knows, He knows those who would occupy offices in the state house of assembly tomorrow,” she said.

One other thing the woman is proud of is the fact that Lagos State has the highest number of female lawmakers in the states houses of assembly and even council chairmen and that a leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu love to see women in positions and that they are doing their best on that, especially now that APC is controlling many states.

Hon. Ramota also has some pieces of advice for the Nigerian government; “our major problem is poverty, it is very rampant. Our government can create employment through farming; it is not everybody that can work in the office.

“For instance, it is not everybody that would be a millionaire, if God says you would not be rich; there is nothing you would do that would make you rich. Some people don’t know their destination in life; God may want you to do vocational work rather than office work. What some of these successful artisans have, people who work in offices don’t have them.

“The Lagos State Government is trying to create agencies, where people can be employed such as the Consumer Protection Agency, which bill was recently signed into law by the state government, LAWMA is employing a lot of people and many others,” she said, while placing emphasis on the need for public office holders not to neglect their homes.