Aremo Adesegun Oniru is a son of one of foremost monarch in Lagos state, His Royal Majesty Oba Idowu Abiodun Oniru. He is a civil engineer by trading but now he deals in real estate development. Aremo Adesegun served Lagos state in the capacity as a commissioner for 12 years.
The scion of Oniru Royal family took time out from his tight schedule to talk to duo of Adewale Ogunniran and Yomi Modiu on life after serving his state meticulously.Exc
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Let’s look at your background as a Commissioner in Lagos State, we learnt that you were once a Personal Assistant (P.A.) to former Governor of Lagos, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu?
Cut… No, I was never a P.A., I will tell you my background in government and how I got to where I am before I exited from government. I started as the Managing Director, Lagos State Waterfront and Tourism Development and after completing that assignment, I move on to be the Special Adviser on Works and Infrastructure to His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and later Commissioner for Housing in Lagos state. When His Excellency, Babatunde Raji Fashola became the governor, two new ministries were created, one was the Ministry of Tourism and Intergovernmental Relations, and the second one was the Ministry of Waterfrontb Developmen. I was the first Commissioner till 2015. I ran that Ministry from inception, from 2007 to 2015.
During the regime of Asiwaju Tinubu, many people thought that you were more than the Housing Ministry considering your royal and educational backgrounds, what do you feel about this?
Well, let me tell you this and how the government was ran at that time. At that time, Tinubu was laying a foundation for Lagos state as a visionary leader . Asiwaju was one of the people who called me back to Nigeria to serve my state. At that time, I was already working as a Civil Engineer, looking after motorways and the structure of motorways in England for the High Way Agencies. Asiwaju was a person who always look would look at your background, what he believes your capability is, and eventually after moving you around, he will get youb to where your destination is. Looking after the waterfront in 
Since you served under both Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Mr.Babatunde Raji Fashola’s administrations, how would you compare both leaders?
Asiwaju Tinubu’s government was a government that laid the foundation where Babatunde Raji Fashola was elected to build on. Asiwaju’s government would work day and night. You could still be with Asiwaju at 3am and he would expect to see you in the office by 9am the following morning, that was the kind of government he ran. Babatunde Fashola was also a workaholic, you must deliver on whatever you are expected to do. One cannot actually compare both of them, one came to lay the foundation while the other came to build on the foundation and bring Lagos to where it is in 2015. Now we have another government that has continued the work. So to compare both of them won’t be fair because they had their own different styles of governance. I can only tell you the system each of them applied in working.
As an exposed person, what prompted you in Made in Nigeria project?
Made in Nigeria project was what I gave birth to in my mind when I was still in government. I knew I was not going to do it as a government official, once you do it as a government official, when you are no longer there, for the dream to continue will be very difficult. What I see nowadays and what I saw back then when I was in government are two different things, because I have seen the two sides of the coin. Now, I know what people expect from the government and what the government can do to create that enabling environment. So “Made in Nigeria” is an idea innovation to bring our people together, developing what we have in Nigeria. We have a lot of natural resources in Nigeria that are still untapped, we have lots of skills in Nigeria that don’t have an enabling environment to exhibit what they have to offer. So bringing all these together gave birth to what is being referred to as “Made in Nigeria”.
What is “Made in Nigeria” all about.?
We have a summit, we have an exhibition, we have fashion shows where all the designers of “Made in Nigeria” come, especially those that are just starting and need a push. To round up “Made in Nigeria”, we have a concert on October 1, where all top artists that have really made it here in Nigeria will perform. The summit part of “Made in Nigeria” is an eye opener to a lot of Nigerians. There are lots of things that go on in government. You read things in the paper, whether it is true or not you don’t know, but when you have a platform where you can invite Senators, Governors and Ministers where people gather to ask them questions and they answer, it would go a long way to solve many problems. So the summit has a very big role to play inside this “Made in Nigeria” festival. We started last year, this year, by the end of September, we are hoping to have another one. All things being equal, we want to continue this programme, inviting people to come and debate on issues that matters and meet people that matters. Even if the people that matters are not there, the press are there to report back on what you heard and how things are to be done.
Are you saying you are using “Made in Nigeria” cloth?
Yes. Sometimes but not always, I try as much as possible to wear what is made in Nigeria. It is not always easy to find a fabric that would suit your need but as long as it is made in Nigeria tailor that sow it, it is good for me. I try my best to wear made in Nigeria products but sometimes it doesn’t always work like that, sometime if you want to travel, you can’t travel wearing agbada, but I try my best to stick to what I am preaching.
You are from a royal family and everybody believes that anybody from a royal family tends to be arrogant but in your now case you are so humble and humane, did you inherit it or what.?
You know that is the way I was brought up, I grew up with my grandfather and the way we were taught back then was to be nice, have respect not only to the elders, but to everybody, learn to forgive each other. I live with three quotations of my own in life and I believe if I continue to live with that, I will not have problem with anyone. “A weak person will always seek revenge, a strong person will always forgive, but an intelligent person will ignore.” So if you offend me and I know that you have offended me and you too know that you have offended me, I will ignore it and I will just leave it. So I hold on to these things and I live by it. So, being humble and pleasant to people is not a big deal, there is nobody that I won’t talk to and there is nobody I won’t relate to because I believe we are all humans, regardless of where you come from.
How are you able to maintain the cordial relationship in your family, so that other people can learn from you?
You see the things about a royal family is that you have the land, you have people that have interest in the land but the worst thing you can do is to share the money and then move on or to share the money within the family. The very first thing you should do as a land royal family is to use your wealth to create infrastructures. I thank God my father was a civil engineer and I am a civil engineer too. This is what you see in the leadership within the family and the foundation we build on. If you don’t create the infrastructures for the people who you are going to sell land to, forget it, because even though you have sold the land, share the money within the family, that your land will never get value because there is no infrastructure on it and without infrastructure, you cannot get anywhere. So the big plus we have in our family is the infrastructures we created from day one and we keep updating on what we have. What you need to do, look at the royal families in Lagos, check whether they have infrastructures on ground to cater for the people they are selling land to. It is not everything that we get from the land that we put in our pocket, we put some back on the land to create infrastructures to enhance the value of our property.
In the nearest future, people will want to see you becoming something bigger politically, can you throw more light on this?
Well, politically, I am not too sure. I believe strongly that I have paid my dues, I have served my state for 12 years. You do your own time and move on let somebody else continue, you are not going to die there, it is not your birth right. As far as government work is concern, if I am called to come and serve my state, I believe strongly that I have done my own quota, another people can continue. However, if I am called to serve my nation Nigeria, it is something I may consider.
What is your impression about Buhari’s regime so far?
You know I believe that the government we are running today needs to open up the economy. if we don’t, the people you are serving may never understand what you are doing when you say you are fighting corruption and prior to do so, people seems to be living fine and there was enough food on everybody’s table; that was the time of corruption. The government means well. However, I don’t believe in any government that should not stand to be criticized, if you believe you know it all and all you do is to do things in your own way, you will always go wrong. So the government we are running today I believe is for the betterment of Nigerians in the long run. However, the live of people should be made easier than it is.
If you are able to meet the President today, what will you tell him?
Well, I will wish him well. I will tell him to please have listening ears to the people of Nigeria because people are crying out for different things in the country today, he may not hear it and even if he hears it, is he listening to them? In general I will tell him to hear and listen to the crying of the people.
How do you unwine?
Well, I hadly leave my state because everything I want is here, I have places where I go to socialize with my friends and then straight to my house. But as far as I am concern, my work is my hobby. I can’t be static, it is not possible for me to be static, I must be doing something. I like socializing but I select the places to go to.
