Not many people know that late Senator Buruji Kashamu who died a few days ago, spent his last days making up with a lot of people he had issues with, in his lifetime. That is the big news coming out of the household of the late Ijebu-Igbo politician. And we can categorically confirm that on his sickbed, towards his last days, he called up very many people, one by one, to apologise and beg for forgiveness. He sought forgiveness from his known and acclaimed enemies.
He also spent his last days to arrange adequately
for his children. He settled as many of them as possible, insiders reveal.
City People gathered that he knew he was going to
die. Insiders say he had a premonition of his death and he specifically told
many of those he spoke to that he had a few days left to spend on earth, though
many of them didn't quite believe him at
first. He specifically gave instructions to his young wife, Susan, Lawyers and
Political aides. We gathered that he passed on instructions to his followers in
Ogun PDP to align with the OGD Group.
He was also able to make up with some of his female
friends towards his last days. There was a big businesswoman friend of his who
he had disagreements with a few years back and he suddenly called her up to
plead with her. He also made up with 2 former South-West governors. He also had
a telephone conversation with an Elderstateman who he had issues with. We even
gathered that he withdrew some cases he had filed in court.
How did he know he was going to die to have made him
embark on peace moves before his death, many have been asking? Many say it was
because he was spiritually gifted. He was a good Muslim who spent a lot on
Moslem activities. In his lifetime, he took care of many Muslim clerics and
donated generously to religious leaders. The late Senator Buruji Kashamu was a
man of many parts. He was a caring husband, a doting father and an exemplary
grandfather. He was also a dutiful brother, uncle and leader, who spared no
cost in giving hope to all who came across him. He was an entrepreneur and a
politician of note.
Early in life, he floated Kasmal Group of Companies,
an indigenous conglomerate with interests in the real estate business,
hospitality, Oil and Gas, automobile, investment and entertainment industry. He
was also the Chairman of the Group Kasmal SAL and SICB Industries in The Republic of Benin.
On the political front, he was the foremost leader and
major financier of the PDP in Ogun State until he went the way of all mortals
on the 9th of August, 2020. He once served as the Chairman, Organisation and
mobilisation Committee of the PDP in the southwest zone of Nigeria, comprising
the six states of Ogun, Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti.
The late Senator Kashamu meant different things to
different people. Some described him as a controversial person. But, those who
knew and came across him during his lifetime would really attest to his
generous and down-to-earth nature. He gave freely and unconditionally. That was
why they called him Alaanu Mekunu. He was genial and yet firm; he was very
courageous, yet kind and tender-hearted. He was a fighter for Justice and gave
all he had to any cause that he believed in. Although he was wealthy, he never
forgot his roots. That, perhaps, explained his uncommon ability to connect with
the grassroots.
Born on the 19th of May, 1958, the late Senator
Kashamu had his primary education at the Ansar Ud Deen Primary School,
Oke-Sopen, Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State. After his primary education, he moved to
Lagos where he worked and attended evening classes. He later sat for the West
African Examination Council’s GCE as an external candidate. Realising his flair
for business early in life, the late Senator Kashamu attended Pitman College in
the United Kingdom where he took business courses to prepare himself for the
enormous task of business management. He later enrolled for an Executive
Diploma in the English Language of the University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, where he
bagged a Diploma in English.
He had over 90 percent of the shares in the
ultra-modern cotton ginnery in the Republic of Benin, a neighbouring
French-speaking West African country; while the balance is held by some private
banks and individuals. The late Senator Kashamu was involved in the business of
importation and exportation of goods and commodities for over 25 years. For
him, the saying that the height great men reached and kept was not attained by
a sudden flight but was attained, while their companions slept, they were
toiling in the night, could not be truer. He maintained such a high energy level
and tight schedule that saw him stay awake till late in the night. He would
call up his business and political associates at anytime so much that you
wonder if he ever slept! He was a workaholic with an unbelievable level of
energy.
As has been attested to by many across the length
and breadth of Ogun State and beyond, that the late Senator Kashamu was a
philanthropist of note. It could be safely said that his philanthropic gestures
smoothened his foray into politics. Indeed, giving was his second nature. He
once said he could not stop giving because the Almighty Allah kept blessing him
as he gave to people of all races, creed and status. In 2009, he founded the
Omoilu Foundation, a non-profit organisation, to empower the people. Consistent
with his belief that the government alone cannot meet the needs of the people, the
late Senator Kashamu used the Foundation to reach out to thousands of people
within Ogun East Senatorial District, Ogun State and beyond.
The Foundation embarked on various initiatives such
as granting interest-free micro-credit schemes, scholarship, payment for
surgeries and hospital bills, and several other empowerment schemes. Not many
gave him a chance when he happened on the political scene in Ogun State. They
asked how old he was in politics; what he knew about politics and where he was
coming from. When all those could not do, his detractors launched a campaign of
calumny to cast aspersion on his person. They sought to haunt him with some of
the trials he had in his eventful life. This was in spite of his exoneration by
the courts. But the late Senator Kashamu
remained undeterred. and the rest, as they say, is history.
Imbued with uncommon native intelligence and sharp memory, the late Senator Kashamu has his own unique approach to party
politics and organisation. Although, he was quick to say he was not your
regular politician but a businessman in politics, the late Senator Kashamu
believed that the welfare of the people was the whole essence of not just
government, but party politics. A clear-headed and highly calculating
individual, Senator Kashamu’s foray into politics began in 2008 when the former
Otunba State Governor, His Excellency, Governor Gbenga Daniel and other
chieftains of the PDP in Ogun State invited him to help mediate in the
intra-party crisis that nearly crippled the government and party in the state.
He soon established a platform then known as “OGD
OMO ILU” through which he sought to rally all the various contending interests.
His intention was to get everybody to support the then Governor Gbenga
Daniel-led government. To calm frayed
nerves, he helped many to set up their businesses; others, he gave vehicles and
cash. The foundation soon metamorphosed into what many called the “Omoilu
Movement” as it spread across the 20 local government areas in the state.
Again, on realising that no nation or people can be greater than the level of
its human resource, the late Senator Kashamu also made education one of the
cardinal objectives of the Omoilu foundation. Now, besides empowering people
from all walks of life with hundreds of units of vehicles and motorcycles, a
good number of indigent youths are on the foundation’s scholarship in various
private and public institutions across the country and beyond.
The late Senator Kashamu showed that one did not
need to hold public office before one could make an impact on the welfare of
his people. Indeed, analysts said that his foray into the politics of Ogun, nay
the Southwest, raised the bar of party politics in the state and zone. This was
attributed to the uncommon passion and generosity that he brought to bear on
his political sojourn.
During the 2015 general elections, he contested to
represent Ogun East Senatorial District in the Senate on the platform of the
PDP and won, defeating his closest rival with over 15,000 votes. Thus, he
became the highest elected official of the PDP in Ogun State being the only PDP
Senator from the state and one of the five PDP Senators from the South West
geo-political zone.
During his four-year tenure at the Senate, the late
Senator Kashamu had four Bills to his credit. They were the Mental Health Act
Amendment Bill, the National
Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) Act
Amendment Bill, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Amendment Bill and
the National Security Tax Fund Bill.
As a grassroots politician, who was always
interacting with his constituents, he attracted many laudable projects to Ogun
East Senatorial District. The projects cut across the educational sector,
healthcare, rural electrification and the provision of potable water to
communities. He also facilitated the distribution of various mobility aids,
equipment and tools to his constituents. In the educational sector, the late
Senator Kashamu facilitated the building of 19 schools and the rehabilitation
of three others, with, at least two in each of the nine local government areas
that make-up the Ogun East Senatorial District.
During the 2019 general elections, he contested to
be the governor of Ogun State on the platform of the PDP, having emerged PDP's
governorship candidate. Quite unlike the typical Nigerian politician, when he
lost the election, he was the first candidate in that election to concede
defeat and congratulated the winner-the incumbent Governor of Ogun State, His
Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun (MFR). he did not stop there. He visited the
Governor at his Iperu country home to congratulate him.
With these and several other initiatives too
numerous to capture in a single piece, the late Senator Kashamu showed that he
was a rare breed, a consummate entrepreneur and an uncommon political leader
for whom politics was not a do-or-die affair. Indeed, his ears and heartbeat
resonated with the people, especially the masses. He lives for the people.
Little wonder, he was aptly described as “Alaanu Mekunu” (a Yoruba expression
for “the helper of the masses”).
A detribalised Nigerian who spoke French, English
and Yoruba fluently, the late Senator Kashamu was an employer of labour, a
manager of men and resources with an uncanny ability to seamlessly multitask
and coordinate activities.
Until he breathed his last on the 8th of August,
2020, during a brief illness, the late Senator Kashamu was a devout Muslim who
had an unwavering belief in the Almighty Allah. He demonstrated that in
politics, as in life, it is the impact that you make on the sands of time that
counts, not the years. That is why he would continue to live in the hearts of
the many men, women, youths and children whom he loved and touched their lives
in several ways than one, while he sojourned on this terrestrial plane.
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