Guardian

Remmy Hassan, a two-time member of the Ogun State House of Assembly, was recently honoured as ‘Outstanding Democrat’ by the prestigious AD-King Foundation, an American-based NGO belonging to the family of renowned human rights activist, the Late Martin Luther King Jr. Alfred Daniel Williams King, otherwise known as A.D King, is Martin Luther-King’s younger brother. In this interview with BANKOLE SHAKIRUDEEN ADESHINA, the immediate past Deputy Speaker of the state assembly, who says the award came as a pleasant surprise, speaks on what may have necessitated the unprecedented gesture. He also spoke on Ogun politics, among other issues.

SECURITY checks into the Ogun State Governor’s Office Complex in Oke-Ilewo, Abeokuta was an expected routine. But even after getting cleared into Room 229, 2nd Floor, Assembly Building, office of Hon. Remmy Hassan, a young and promising lawmaker in the State, it was yet a long wait before one had access to him. The reason was simple – the deluge of visitors that laid-in-wait at his office had to be attended to on a first-come first-serve basis irrespective of status.

That done with, and after a warm reception by a gorgeously dressed Hassan, he is asked what he thinks he is doing or has done to deserve the prestigious ‘Freedom Award’ from the AD-King Foundation? But he could not exactly explain it.

Hassan explains: “Honestly speaking, I do not know what qualified me for the award,” he says bluntly.

He recalls how, on a particular working day, he received a parcel through courier, with the content being a letter from Mrs. Barbara King, the Chairman of A.D-King Foundation, notifying him of his selection for the award.

And on November 17, Hassan walked majestically to the dais as he was honoured as one of the young democratic titans still living, among other high-profile professionals across the world. He was the only Nigerian so honoured.

Besides honouring young and old people with unmatched knack for freedom activism across the globe, AD-Kind Foundation also teaches young people, from their cradle, irrespective of colour, to recognise that democracy should not just be heard but seen, experienced and sustained. It is a campaign that had seen the NGO go to Primary, junior and high colleges in America and elsewhere to give scholarships to many.

Further prodding on how he became favoured for the recognition however got Hassan into deeper thoughts, bringing out presumptions that could have singled him out. First, he thinks the unprecedented recognition could have being ‘divine.’ Thereafter, he acknowledges that such honour could also have come because of his staunch commitment to democratic development in the country, especially in Ogun State.

Before joining the Ogun National Assembly in 2007, Hassan made great strides in students unionism back in his days at the Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa and Yaba College of Education respectively in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

“More importantly however, AD-King Foundation may have been following my records and made the selection because of one’s firmness for the rule of law and the courageous efforts made to redefine democracy in the state for the good of the people,” he adds.

Hassan’s human right activism dates back to his childhood days, specifically at his secondary school in Omu Ajose Comprehensive High School in Ogun State, where he got inspired by the school’s Students Representative Council’s politics. The SRC, newly introduced in the school in 1986 by the then Principal, Chief Ademola Okusanwo, was a platform where students articulated their thoughts and galvanised support for collective resistance against any form of oppression from the school authority or elsewhere.

Interestingly, after the inauguration of SRC in his school, Hassan’s cousin was elected the pioneer speaker of the parliament, a political milestone that fascinated him beyond imagination. “I drew much inspiration from my cousin’s election and political victory,” he recalls. That experience made him resolve to contest the SRC Speakership position, which he won in 1987. “As challenging as it was being the Speaker, I still had to combine the position with the school’s Health Prefectship,” he adds.

On leaving the school, Hassan never looked back. He got admitted into the Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa and went on to become the President of the school’s Students Estate Management Association and Speaker, Estate Management Students’ Representative Council before joining Yaba College of Education for his HND, where he also served as Secretary of its Students Union Government in 1996 under Lanre Suraj as president.

Hassan left the higher institution with his knack for human right activism fully established. While serving his fatherland as a member of the NYSC in Bayelsa State in 1998, his humanitarian and selfless service earned him an ‘Award of Excellence’ from government. This recognition was besides other exploits he made during his leadership as the Artistic Director, Drama Troupe Group of the 1998 NYSC members in the state, presiding over 14 Theatre Arts graduates. Under his stewardship, the Drama Troupe won laurels and accolades, becoming the South-east Zonal Champion and coming 3rd in a national competition held in Abuja, among others.

With these antecedents, it was only a matter of time before he ventured into mainstream politics. “That was why, in 2005, I started aligning with my people at home, in preparation for joining the democratic process. And in 2007, I was elected as a member of the Ogun State House of Assembly. In less than a year of inauguration (June 2007), precisely in May 2008, there was need for leadership change in the house, and my colleagues decided that I should deputise the speaker, Tunji Egbetokun.”

Hassan’s first term as a lawmaker was eventful, as he was part of the factionalised 6th assembly that waged a relentless political war against the former governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, over his planned N50billion bond.

The N50billion bond was a famous controversy in the last political dispensation in Ogun State. In 2009, Daniel had applied for the loan, with a promise to expend it on developmental projects that would improve the lot of the people. He had sought the approval of the state assembly for the loan. But the lawmakers thought otherwise, saying the then governor was not convincing enough in his analysis of what the money would be eventually expended on, if approved.

Grouped among the popular G15 that was against Daniel, Hassan gives more insight into the melodrama that unfolded at the time. “Let me correct the wrong impression in the media. None of us (G15) was against the N50billion bond of the former governor. But we were against a process that was not transparent. You want the bond, fine. After all, bond is for developmental projects and we all want development in our land and country as a whole. Therefore, we expected you to tell us, in clear terms, what you want to do with the bond.

“At the same time, tell us our exposure, in terms of indebtedness, so that we will be able to see critically if we are able to repay and if the subsequent administration can survive and sustain the trend, based on the magnitude of repayment arrangement that is going to be incorporated into the bond arrangement with the Security and Exchange Commission. These information were not supplied.”

He however assured the Ogun people that such political misunderstanding could never happen again in the state, especially as he claims that the lawmakers “have now tightened all legislative loopholes and sanitised the process.”

He adds: “What the former governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel relied on to secure the bond was the Savings and Bond Law of 1980, which was a hurriedly put-together legislation by the first assembly (1979-1983), under the then Governor, late Chief Bisi Onabanjo. And his government’s motives were noble and aimed at building infrastructure that will boost and sustain the state economy.

“The law was enacted to raise money for the construction of Gateway Hotels (in Ijebu-Ode, Abeokuta and Ota), and the two major markets that we have - Ita-Osin in Ijebu-Ode and the Oba Lipede Market in Abeokuta. And we are still servicing the loan till today.    The former Governor forgot that the 1999 Constitution has vested an exclusive power over public fund in the legislature. And that power, according to Sec 1. Sub. 3, which says in the case of ‘inconsistency of any other law to the constitution, such inconsistency is void.’ Upon this premise, we the G15 relied on the 1999 constitution and gave the House Resolution 167 that says ‘No financial institution should deal concerning our bond’ because the information we need as a legislature, we do not have.”

However, as tensed as the political dispute was, the lawmaker says that nothing was personal. “I still say it today that, on a personal note, I do not have anything against the person of Otunba Gbenga Daniel. If I see him today, I will still do unto him, what a younger person ought to do.