By Victor Isiguzo
There are some personalities you meet for the first time and you instantly feel comfortable with them after spending only a few minutes in their presence – Hon. Jude Emeka Idimogu is one of such people. His humility and the warmness with which he relates to people around him make him easily one of the most accessible Legislators in the state today. But that is not what makes this gentleman politician tick. He is a man with an inspiring story. In 2015, the man affectionately called Abundance by those who know him closely dared to tread where no one else had ever tread. He contested for a seat in the Lagos State House of Assembly on the platform of PDP (before defecting to APC afterwards) in a part of Lagos (Oshodi-Isolo II) that had previously been controlled by the APC. And to make his quest even more daunting, he is not Yoruba. He is from Imo state and no politician of Igbo extraction had ever challenged a son of the soil (Yoruba) in Lagos for a political office and got anywhere with his ambition. But a confident Jude Idimogu never lost his faith and trust in God. He emerged winner and got the mandate of his constituent to be their representative at the 8th Legislative Assembly. WALE LAWAL, was a guest of the soft spoken Lawmaker weeks ago and got him to share his inspiring story.
Let us begin this way, sir, how did politics start for you?
Well, my name is Honourable Jude Emeka Idimogu, a Legislator representing Oshodi/Isolo constituency II. I am also called Abundance by those who know me very closely. I am a Roman Catholic by faith and I’m also a Knight. To the glory of God, I am a prominent member of my church and I don’t joke with my faith as a Catholic. I am a Chartered Accountant by Profession. My journey into politics wasn’t something I would say I planned from the very start. I was doing my business and doing very well too. My job involved meeting with people, getting their foreign exchange transactions sorted out and things were really okay. But in the course of doing my job, people were always complimenting me that I had a natural flair for relating very easily with people. They felt I had the ability to manage people very well and that I was good at marketing and so suggested I should consider going into politics someday. Then, when they made those comments I would laugh them off. But the comments and advice kept coming. I have always loved to make myself available to my immediate community. I am a man who enjoys being in the spotlight, being spoken about, for the right reasons. Politics, for me, was not something I was desperate about, but even then, I felt that if I was ready for politics I would have to go to my home town in the east. I am from Imo state. Although I have spent quite a long time in Lagos, about 37 years now, I still didn’t think that gave me any chance to give politics a shot here in Lagos. There now came a time when I had some spare time on my hands and I wasn’t as busy as I used to be. So, I thought to myself, why I don’t I give this thing a shot since people have continued to persuade me to do it. And besides, like I said earlier, I have always been involved in community activities. Whenever things needed to be done through communal efforts I would always stand up to be involved. In fact, I personally rehabilitated about two roads in my area with my own money and this was long before I joined politics. Go and do your findings and people will confirm to you what I’m saying.
So, how did you now finally get your political career started and what made you believe that as an Accountant, you had what it takes to manage people?
I will be honest with you, politics was not on my agenda at all, like I said earlier. But I have always believed and seen all human beings as political animals. In our everyday relationship with people, we practice politics. You market yourself. You sell yourself. My interest in politics did not become strong until I was involved in the creation of a professional body called the Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, South West Zone. For several years, I was the first vice chairman of the zone, and to achieve that took a lot of politicking. The task of coordinating our numerous members was my responsibility, so bit by bit I began to learn how to manage people. In my community, I was the chairman of the CDA for about eight years and I graded two roads all by myself before I ever thought of becoming a legislator. I eventually started serious politics with the PDP. Like I said earlier, I was considering going to my state to start politics, but I realized that after spending over 32 years then in Lagos and married to a Yoruba woman, I have become more or less a Yoruba man myself even though I still cannot speak the language as well as I would have loved to. And of course, I also asked leaders of the party if it was okay for me to join the race to be the party’s flag bearer at the state House of Assembly elections and they said, why not. But, my brother, it was not easy. There were lots of obstacles along the way. Some people were saying, ‘who is this okoro man? What is this omo Igbo trying to do in a Yoruba land? But I didn’t let all that side talks discourage me. What really helped me was that I had made a lot of philanthropic contributions to my community even when I didn’t know I was going to end up in politics. In my church, the same thing, I have done quite a lot on my own to aid the growth of the church long before I came out to contest. I was also the team manager of the football team of the church. This enabled me win over a lot of my people, majority of who are traders in the community, to my side. They all came out enmasse to support me. But I also got tremendous support from the Yorubas in the community as well. One man I will never forget is the Jagun of Isolo, Alhaji Kabiru Agbabiaka. He said it was only me, an Igbo man, out of all the contestants who recognized him and came to him for support and advice. And he promised me he would stand by me to the very end, which he did. Even though I have left PDP, we are still very good friends till today. This man stood by me and helped me reach out to other people who ordinarily would not have even allowed me bring my campaign to their doorstep because, remember, apart from the fact that I am not a Yoruba man, PDP had also never won an election in my area. So, everything just seemed stacked against me. All through the night leading to the primaries, my wife and I and this man were on the road, in the middle of the night lobbying people to endorse me. That’s one of the reasons why I don’t joke with my wife, she’s an amazing woman. She was driving her own car and I was driving mine, behind her, in the middle of the night. We were going from one place to the other, talking to people. My brother, it was not funny at all. I remember I even had an accident in the process that night. It was a bike accident but thankfully, I only sustained bruises, it didn’t stop me from pursuing my goal. And in the end, I won. But it was the outcome of the main election that shocked everyone. Do you know the man I was contesting against? He is the son of Lagos state APC chairman, Henry Ajomale! It was as a result of my popularity and philanthropic activities that made people vote for me. It was not an easy battle, I tell you, but at the end of the day, God’s will prevailed. God fought for me. My wife and a lot of people too tried for me.
Tell us a little about your wife, how did you meet her?
We actually met at a party held somewhere in Mushin. I had gone to the party with a friend who wanted to get me acquainted with a particular lady. But on getting there, I met the lady sitting beside another lady and I found that I liked and preferred the lady she was sitting with. But there was no problem because she didn’t know that I had actually come to meet her. So, I shifted my attention to the other lady and from there we became friends before she eventually became my wife. She was living in Lagos Island then. She is Ijebu, and she is from the popular Kuku family in Ijebu. Her name is Rosaline Idimogu.
What was the immediate attraction then? Why did you suddenly abandon the person you had gone to meet for her?
Her beauty. It was her beauty that attracted me first time, and I think also her carriage and composure. My wife is a pretty woman.
What was your wife’s reaction when you told her you wanted to contest for a seat at the House of Assembly?
Ah! Let me tell you the truth, I didn’t inform her oh. I was sure that if I told her she would discourage me. In fact, what I did was that I played a fast one on her. I just printed the banners, used her picture and my own and took it home and showed her. Naturally, she was shocked, but there was nothing she could do again. She knew that at that point, I had already gone far and she couldn’t talk me out of it. The reason why I used her picture on the poster was not only to give her no choice but to support me but also to woo supporters to my side so that when they see that I’m married to their daughter, a Yoruba girl, they will see me as their in-law, calm down a bit and give me a chance.
But seriously, sir, did you actually think you could win that election considering APC was in total control of Lagos state and to make matters more complicated, you are Igbo?
I won’t lie to you, I believed it was possible for me to win. Personally, I always believe that once you have God on your side and you work hard at achieving something, you will achieve it. The way I saw it was that the only issue I had was the fact that I am not a Yoruba man. I had all the qualities needed to contest the election, just like the other contestants, my ethnic background was the problem. Then, I summoned up courage and said after all, I have spent more than 30 years in Lagos and I’m now their in-law, so what else could be the problem? And from that point, I never looked back.
So, how has it been so far, now that you have gotten the mandate of the people to represent them?
Well, we thank God. It’s been great and it’s been challenging at the same time. The expectations of the people are quite high but slowly and steadily, we are doing the best we can.
How was it like when you first got to the House being the only Igbo man in the fold?
Let me be candid with you, contrary to what people were expecting, the situation was exactly the opposite. There was no hostility, no coldness towards me. Everybody welcomed me. They accepted me whole heartedly into the House, despite the fact that I was not APC and to make matters worse, I was an Igbo man. From my colleagues to Mr. Speaker and even former governor Ambode, everyone welcomed me with open arms. And I became quite popular almost immediately because everyone of them would refer to me as omo Ibo and we would all laugh over it. Another thing that also made it easy for them to accept me was that I humbled myself before them. I didn’t go with the mindset that I was coming to drag issues with them. I will never forget the reception and love they showed me when I joined the House. If I needed anything and went to the Speaker, he would give me audience and assist me to sort out whatever I’d gone to see him for. Same with former Governor Ambode, he was always warm to me and ready to give me assistance in whatever form I was asking for. And to think I was still in PDP then. To tell you the truth, these were some of the reasons why I decided to join APC.
What were the other reasons why you left PDP then?
Well, like you must have known, the party was embroiled in a lot of crises then. It was like a house divided against itself. Another reason was that I thought about how difficult it would be for me to get things done for my people since PDP was no longer the ruling party. When Jonathan lost the elections it was really tough for me. You remember that the presidential elections came before our own, so when he lost, I thought it was over, that there was no way I would win. But as God would have it, I won. Then, shortly afterwards, I began to think, how can I effectively bring the dividends of democracy to my people if I’m not with the ruling party? Knowing the way the average Nigerian thinks, would they understand if I start telling them stories that the reason they have not been feeling my impact as their legislator is because PDP is not the ruling party? Is that what they want to hear? Then, I now looked at it, if the APC can be showing me this kind of love and giving me this sort of support even as a PDP member, won’t me and my constituency benefit more if I join them? So, yes, I would say they made it easy for me to leave the PDP and I’ve not regretted the move ever since.
How did members of your constituent, especially your kinsmen, take your defection to APC at the time?
Naturally, they didn’t take it well at first. But I took time to explain to them. I organized town hall meetings, met with different groups and let them understand that it was for the good of the community and the constituent at large. We needed to align with the power at the centre, which in this case is APC, to be able to enjoy the dividends of democracy. Aligning with the ruling party would make the work easy for me to achieve, otherwise, the same people would be the one asking me after my first term, what have you achieved?
