Hon. Musibau Kolawole Taiwo is currently a member of the House of Representatives at the National Assembly representing the good people of Ajeromi-Ifelodun Federal Constituency.
Before then, he was one of the longest-serving members of the Lagos State House of Assembly. He was in the Lagos House of Assembly from the 4th to the 7th Legislative Assemblies ( 1999-2015).
Throughout his 16 years sojourn in the Lagos House of Assembly, he was a prominent and active member.
Aside from the fact that he was the Chairman of, the House Service Committee in his first term which earned him the sobriquet “Agbonmagbe”, he played a major role in the passing of the Appropriation Bill of the state every year because of his training as a statistician ( he holds a Master Degrees in Statistics from University of Ibadan, Ibadan).
He was also at different times the Majority Leader and Deputy Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly.
It was certainly because of this vast experience in legislative and financial matters that his colleagues in the 7th Legislative Assembly ( 2011-2015) tipped him as the Speaker of the 8th Legislative Assembly ( 2015-2019).
This was before the general election of 2015. The election came and he lost by less than 2000 votes.
Thus, he was unable to return to the House of Assembly for the 5th term, and his ambition to become the 6th Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly went with the winds.
The incumbent speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa said this much in his interview with me in my book, ‘Two Decades of Lagos House of Assembly: Face to Face with Movers and Shakers,’ when he said, ” We had all agreed among ourselves that Hon. Kolawole Taiwo who was the Deputy Speaker then would be the Speaker. But unfortunately, he lost in the general election. That left only three of us as the most ranking members….”
I asked Hon. Kolawole Taiwo aka HKT in an interview in the same book, ‘ Two Decades of Lagos House: Face to Face With Movers and Shakers, about his most challenging period while in the House.
This is what he said, ” My inability to return to the House for the 5th term was without a doubt my most challenging period. I had to rely on God to overcome it. I found myself in a corner where hatred just came from nowhere.
“People that loved me before now hated me with a passion to the extent of planning to uproot me from the government when I was supposed to pick the most important seat ( Speaker) for our area.
” The financial burden it put on me cannot be quantified. But I give thanks and adoration to God, that He was able to assist me. It was the most trying period of my life, particularly that one-and-a-half month of my last days in the House when a lot of people were looking at me with pity. Some will even come to my office and try to pacify me.
“What I used to tell them is that God does not do evil. Who knows if I had won the election and become the Speaker something bad or terrible would have happened to me”.
When did you know Tolani Abatti? I asked him again in the book, ” Ha! The fear of Tolani Abatti in the House is the beginning of wisdom for any legislator. You know you were always putting me on the spot.
How? I asked.
” When you were writing stories about me flirting with a woman. That story was always putting me under pressure at home. My wife loved reading your magazine. There was a day I told her that this paper you are reading will put her in trouble. I only pray you don’t have cardiac arrest after reading the magazine.
“The same thing goes for all our wives then. Then, they must buy Encomium and read it from the first page to the last. My wife will now draw my attention to what you wrote. Then, I would ask myself; ‘who is this Tolani Abatti? I don’t know him.’ Until I met you and told her that Tolani Abatti is one gentleman doing his job. I didn’t feel offended by your write-ups. That is why it is easy for me to relate well with you”.
Thank you Hon Kolawole Taiwo for not only relating with me since the days of yore but also for buying five copies of my book generously.
