Lagos Assembly Bids Member Farewell

Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly and Igbogbo/Bayeku people of Ikorodu shed tears profusely today as the corpse of a member of the House representing Ikorodu,  Rotimi Shotomiwa, was brought to the Assembly complex this afternoon.

Among those who attended the special session  for the deceased were Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu who represented her husband, the immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Members of the state executive council at the session included the Chief of Staff to the governor, Babalola Olanrewaju, Tola Kasali, Lanre Balogun, Bosede Fransico, Olusegun Ogunlewe and Rotimi Agunsoye.

Immediately the corpse was ushered in a white casket at 12.05 p.m., the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, who could not hold back his emotions, told his colleagues: “This is a story. One of our own is here. He is not here to take his seat but to visit us for the last time. Death will come when it will come. And of course, it is one thing we cannot escape,” he said.

Wahab Alawiye-King who said he was the deceased’s next door neighbour, described him as very gentle, adding that he was a grassroots politician.

Adio Saheed said the late  Shotomiwa was an articulate person, adding “a few days to his 50th birthday, he met me at the corridor and he said, ‘Adio, my birthday is Friday, I hope you will come there?’ When I complained about the state of roads, he asked again, ‘can’t you come because of me?’ It is very sad that Shotomiwa could not live to attend his own birthday.”

He said his death was a lesson to his colleagues.

Lola Akande said the night before Shotomiwa died, she woke up and told herself that she would go and see him the next morning, “but by that morning, he was dead.

“When I started my Poverty Alleviation scheme, I thought it was the best until I saw what the late Shotomiwa has been doing in his constituency. As we remember him for his good deeds, what will the rest of us be remembered for when we are gone?” she asked.

Ayoola Ahmed, who represents Lagos Island Constituency II, described Shotomiwa as a devoted family man.

“One thing I am sure of is if he had the opportunity to come back to the House, he would have done more for his people because he was very  compassionate,” he added.

Another lawmaker, Babatunde Adewale Jimoh, who represents Apapa Constituency II, said the late lawmaker was his confidante because he had a lot of experience which he loved to share with him.

“He has got to his own bus stop but we have lost an experienced politician. May his soul rest in peace,” Jimoh prayed.

Meanwhile, another tragedy almost struck the family of the late  Rotimi Shotomiwa as armed robbers invaded his Igbogbo, Ikorodu residence yesterday night.

Though no life was lost, P.M.NEWS gathered that the robbers ransacked the whole building as they claimed that the lawmaker left some money behind for the family.

A source at the Lagos State House of Assembly told P.M.NEWS that the robbers carted away valuable properties of the family.

The properties carted away by  include  jewellery and handsets belonging to the late  Shotomiwa  and his wives as well as an undisclosed amount of money

Shotomiwa, who died on Monday, had aspired for a second term in office. In fact, his campaign posters were already out and he was said to have cleared all major obstacles that could hinder him from achieving his goal.

P.M.NEWS learnt that the lawmaker collapsed at a venue of a chieftaincy title that was to be conferred on him by an oba, a day before his 50th birthday.

He was rushed to a private hospital, where he was transferred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Idi Araba, Mushin, Lagos on the order of the Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji.

The late Shotomiwa started his political career in 1998 as a supervisory councillor. A former primary school teacher, he became a lawmaker in 2007 and until his death, he was a musician and an undergraduate of Political Science, Lagos State University, LASU, Ojo, Lagos.

Shotomiwa had 10 children. He left behind an aged mother, Taiwo Shotomiwa, and two wives, Rukayat and Olawunmi.

—Eromosele Ebhomele