2015:SUTTON DECLARES FOR GOVERNORSHIP IN LAGOS

2015:SUTTON DECLARES FOR GOVERNORSHIP IN LAGOS

DR ABAYOMI SUTTON

……………………………………………………SON OF A CARPENTER TO REEL OUT CHANGES

……………………………………………………AFFIRMS BELIEVE IN DEMOCRACY

……………………………………………………..WILL IMPACT ON GOVERNANCE BY USING PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

……………………………………………………..REVEALS THAT PARTY LEADERS WILL NOT FORCE ANY CANDIDATE ON THE PARTY

………………………………………………………..SAYS 12 OF THEM IN THE RACE INCLUDING A WOMAN.

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU

Amidst pomp and pageantry , Dr Abayomi Sewanu Sutton ,a bonafide Lagos indigene from Badagry  has declared his

 candidature to contest for the position of the Governor of Lagos state in 2015,

While speaking to a cross section of the media that gathered at the lawns of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Dr Sutton said that he was elated that he will now be in a position to give back to the society if elected on the ticket of the All Progressive Congress primaries coming up very soon.

He explained to the media gathering at the event that he will be building on the legacies of the present regime of Governor Raji Fashola.

He pointed out that while he is happy at the progress made so far in the state ,he will use his wealth of experience to boost the state’s tourism road map,educational strength  among other economic indicators.

He revealed that he will use his wealth of exposure to also tackle the age long marginalization that Egun people complained of, insisting that they were all from Lagos and wondered why such should even exist at all.

He rejected the notion that the position of who get the governorship ticket has already been zoned to somebody within the party ,saying that he had been in several meetings with party leaders including Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and there was no occasion in which any of his rivals have been given any form of preferential treatment so far.

According to him , there were 12 of them in the race within the APC ,with a woman involved but did not mention her full identity as at press time.

The rich cultural display of Badagry indigenes was in full glare for all to see as he made his declaration at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism Football ground in Ogba,Lagos

Given his humble background, the thought of attending a highbrow school was out of the question. He had to make do with attending Yaba Methodist Primary School and African Church Grammar School, Ifako Agege, both in Lagos, for his primary and secondary education. He later attended The Polytechnic, Ibadan, where he earned a Higher National Diploma.

Determined to equip himself with world class education, the young Sutton fixed his gaze on travelling abroad to attend one of the best universities in the world. Since wherever there is a will there is always a way, he eventually travelled abroad. But initially, it looked as if he was on a descent despite leaving the shores of Nigeria for the United Kingdom.

Telling his story, he says, “I left Nigeria in the mid-1980s mainly to further my education. Three weeks after arriving in London, my cousin, who I was staying with, got me a job at a kitchen to be washing plates. But they call it kitchen porter in London to make it a little bit posh.”
But instead of allowing that to depress him, Sutton, who would never have taken up such a lowly position in Nigeria, gave his best to the job. He recalls, “I became such an expert in this kitchen job that I implored my friends to take it up.”

As the saying goes, those who know where they are going usually get there. Sutton was clear headed about where he was headed. So, despite starting as a kitchen hand washing plates, he pursued his dream of acquiring quality education. So, today in spite of the initial drawback occasioned by his background, Sutton holds five masters degrees from some of the best universities in the world, including the University of Oxford where he bagged a master’s degree in Major Programme Management. He is also in the process of completing two doctoral programmes; one in Project and Programme Management at Skema Business School, Lille, France, where he is expected to submit his project in 2015 and the second doctoral programme, at Sheffield Hallam University in UK, is in Business Administration. He is billed to complete the programme in 2016.

He also holds four post-graduate diplomas. Aside these, he is a Fellow of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS) UK, Fellow of Chartered Institute of Housing (FCIH) UK, Fellow of Association of British Engineers (FBEng) UK; Fellow, Chartered Institute of Building (FCIOB) UK; Fellow, British Institute of Facility Management (FBIFM) UK; Member, Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) UK; Member, Association for Project Management (PMP) UK; Member, Institute of Revenue, Rating and Evaluation (IRRV) UK; and Member, Nigeria Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), among others.

Good education is known to be a harbinger of great opportunities; it was not different for Sutton. Having acquired world-class education and highly revered certifications, limitless opportunities have been opened to him, especially in the built industry. He has acquired vast managerial experience in construction, housing programme and project management with broad exposure to planning, programming and contract administration in the United Kingdom.
He eventually rose to the level of a Senior Project manager at Brighton and Hove City Council, UK.

Speaking on how he was able to overcome the limitations foisted on him by his background, Sutton says, “I grew up in Yaba area of Lagos to the belief that you must fend for yourself. My father would not go to any soul to lobby for help, not even from his friends who were well to do. He believed that as a physically able person, you should be a go getter. He used to tell me in Egun language ‘Eendewe’, meaning you don’t have anybody but yourself. So, I grew up with this idea planted in my subconscious mind that I would be great in life.”

Sutton, who says he left Nigeria for the United Kingdom after working a while as a teacher, first at Methodist Girls’ High School, Yaba and later at Nawarudeen Secondary School, Ebute Metta, Lagos, where he taught Economics, adds that he decided to leave the country for the furtherance of his educational pursuit because of his belief that quality education is critical to the realisation of personal goals.

According to him, his graduation at Oxford is one of the high points of his life. Expatiating on this, he says, “My father, Shadrack Oladele Gbenupo Sutton, did not attend any higher college because his parents could not afford it. But funny enough, my father used to write and speak Queens English. That was why tears ran down my eyes during my graduation ceremony at the University of Oxford, Oxford in United Kingdom that I did what my father could not do. A son of a carpenter amidst the children of the high and mighty in the world, not only graduated with honours but with an award from the university.”

Sutton also ascribes his success to his wife, who he holds in high esteem. Speaking of his wife, he says, “God gave me a beautiful woman who has been over the years supportive as a friend, lover, mother, counsellor and wife, who has effortlessly and continually been oiling the wheel of the little achievements we have together recorded.”

Before his relocation to Nigeria, he had been involved in philanthropy, as he availed people from diverse backgrounds of his financial resources to make them live their dreams. As he puts it, “The joy of life is to make others happy; the beauty of life is to help others achieve their goals; no one goes down by raising others; a candle does not lose anything by lighting others. So for me, reaching out to give a helping hand is a culture because I am conscious of the fact that we all, at one time or the other, need somebody to lean on.”

Now, Sutton is looking at taking his service to humanity to a higher level as he hopes to take over from the current governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola.

According to him, this is not just a blind ambition but a desire to hearken to the clarion call of his people.
He says, “Each time I come home from UK, friends, community leaders and political stakeholders in the state have one or two things to discuss with me about Lagos State, having identified some qualities in me, especially the ability to feel for others and to inspire them. I cannot say no to their wishes and aspiration for me.”

He continues, “I have accepted to be drawn into the politics of Lagos State after very wide consultations with God and man. I am ready to use my experience, exposure and God-given wisdom to serve humanity the more on a higher platform and improve on what our party leaders have done on the platform of our great party, the All Progressives Congress.”

Sutton, stressing the need to get the right person to succeed Fashola, said, “If Asiwaju Bola Tinubu could successfully lay the foundation of the New Lagos just yesterday, and today, Barrister Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) is building on this solid foundation laid by his predecessor and tirelessly leading us towards a mega city of Lagos, don’t you think a man with exposure, experience, good education, humble and God-fearing should be the one to take over from Fashola? I am the one. I am the person to entrust with the task of safeguarding the foundation laid by Fashola and his predecessor and to build on their achievements to transform this great state of ours.”