Encomium
– The odds that favoured her
(Mrs.) Idiat Oluranti Adebule, the Secretary to the Lagos State Government (SSG) beat three other cabinet colleagues to emerge the Deputy Governor designate to Mr. kinwunmi Ambode of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State.
The 44 year-old former university lecturer was announced as Ambode’s running mate on Wednesday, December 18, 2014, by the Assistant Publicity Secretary of Lagos APC, Mr. Abiodun Salami.
Thus she beat Dr. Femi Hamzat, the Commissioner of Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Tunji Oseni, the Commissioner for Environment and Engineer Ganiyu Abiodun Johnson, the Special Adviser to the governor on Works and Infrastructure.
She also beat Hon. (Alhaji) Abdulateef Abdulkareem, the former Special Adviser to Governor Fashola on Legislative and Political Matters.
ENCOMIUM Weekly gathered that she became the party’s hierarchy choice based on the fact that it could not secure a strong female Speaker that could hold the House of Assembly together in the eighth assembly session that will commence in 2015.
The calculation of the party was that if it could get a female Speaker for the Assembly, a male would have been nominated as the Deputy Governor designate. The party also realized that no woman returned to the House of Representatives, therefore, she was favoured.
Three, the fact she is a strong Muslim, a former lecturer in Islamic Studies, a doctorate degree holder in Curriculum Studies and an Awori from the Ojo/Badagry axis of the Lagos West senatorial district of the state was another factor that tilted the position in her favour.
The party, we gathered, has always given the Awori a lot of consideration in the political scheme of things because of their widespread population through the length and breadth of the state.
This probably explained why the incumbent deputy governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire and her predecessor, Princess Adebisi Sarah Sosah who are also of Awori stock have occupied the exalted post.
We also gathered that some prominent members of the party such as Dr. Muiz Banire and Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) were in favour of her as the deputy governor designate.
While Governor Fashola’s interest is that a prominent member of his cabinet must be a member of the next cabinet, Dr. Muiz Banire’s interest is that a strong Muslim woman (instead of a man) should be the next deputy governor of the state.
Her gentle mien and I-don’t-want-to-rock-the-boat attitude may also have contributed to her choice as the deputy governor designate.
Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule was born on November 27, 1970 to Alhaji Kamorudeen Idowu-Esho and late Alhaja Asia Alape Idowu-Esho. She had her secondary education at Awori College, Ojo and university education at Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo from where she bagged B.A (Ed.) in Islamic Studies in 1992.
In 1997, she was awarded M.Ed (Curriculum Studies) from the same university and in 2012 she bagged her doctorate degree (Ph.D) in the same discipline (Curriculum Studies) from the same university (LASU).
She was once a lecturer at Lagos State College of Primary Education (LACOPED), Noforiji, Epe and later her alma mater Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos, from where she was appointed Secretary to the State Government (SSG) in July 2011.
She was between 2000 and 2005, a board member of defunct Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) and Lagos State Scholarship Board.
She is married to Alhaji Saheed Adebule, an Information Technology (IT) expert. He is the head of ICT at Ibile Holdings and they are blessed with one child.
– TOLANI ABATTI
