Bimbo Daramola
Bimbo Daramola | |
|---|---|
| In office 2011–2015 | |
| Constituency | Ekiti North Federal Constituency 1 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 November 1967 Nigeria |
| Political party | Action Congress of Nigeria |
| Residence(s) | Abuja and Ekiti, Nigeria |
| Alma mater | Christ's School, Ado-Ekiti |
| Occupation | Lawmaking |
Abimbola Oluwafemi Daramola (born 9 November 1967) is a Nigerian politician and a trained scientist, who has been a legislator in the House of Representatives, representing Ekiti North Federal Constituency, Ekiti State, South- West Nigeria [1] since 2011. He does his work through equitable representation, lawmaking and oversight functions as demanded of him by law.
Early life
Bimbo Daramola was born in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, the fourth child of five (all boys) children of Francis Adebayo Daramola, a former Chairman (Mayor) of Oye Local Government Area from 1991 to 1993,[2] when Oye Local Government Area was under Ondo State, out of which Ekiti State was carved in 1996 by the military government of Nigeria then headed by late General Sani Abacha.[3] His mother's name is Joan Taiwo Daramola (now late), a retired Head Teacher - Secondary School Principal and Primary School Headmistress. His father was also an educationist, a profession which took him across the length and breath of the then Ondo State. Daramola experienced a travelling lifestyle while growing up as a result of the peripatetic nature of his parents' professional calling.
Education
Daramola started his formal education at Emmanuel Anglican Primary School, Ado-Ekiti, (where his late mother, Mrs. Joan Taiwo Daramola was then a teacher). The occupational mobility or (labor mobility) of Daramola's parents required that the then very young Bimbo Daramola move with them whenever and wherever they were posted to. He was then transferred to St. Joseph Primary School, Aramoko-Ekiti in 1973 when his father was posted from the famous Christ's School, Ado-Ekiti to Aramoko District Commercial Secondary School, ADICO, Aramoko Ekiti [1]. In 1978, Daramola returned to Ado-Ekiti as a student of Christ's School, having sat for and passed the highly competitive entrance examination into the school founded by Archdeacon Henry Dallimore.[4] Upon completion of his secondary education at Christ's School, he had a one-year stint at Ado Grammar School where he had to resit for West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) when there was delay in the release of the results of his first attempt by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC], the body charged with the responsibility to conduct the examinations. He went ahead to study Geology in 1984 at the then Ondo State University (OSUA), Ado Ekiti, then University of Ado Ekiti, (UNAD) and now known as Ekiti State University.
He graduated in 1989 and was thereafter posted to Kaduna State, North West Nigeria, where he observed his one-year mandatory National Youth Service Corps, a national scheme created in a bid to reconstruct, reconcile and rebuild the country after the Nigerian Civil War that took place from 1967 to 1970.[5] His place of primary assignment during the NYSC scheme was Water Survey (Nig) Ltd, a subsidiary of Water Survey (UK), an international geophysics and hydrology consultant outfit with extensive activities in Nigeria since 1960s, and Botswana. He proceeded to the University of Ilorin to bag a masters degree in Business Administration, (MBA) in 1995.
Career
Daramola has a professional career path that took him across various fields of human endeavour.
Geology
Having trained as a geologist, Bimbo Daramola's career took off when Water Survey (Nig.) Limited offered him permanent employment four months into the NYSC scheme in Kaduna. He soon became the crew leader of a geophysical team on the World Bank sponsored boreholes project in Kaduna State and team leader on such projects as: World Bank Assisted 20 villages shallow aquifer study in Kaduna State, 77 communities rural water supply scheme for Enugu/Anambra States in conjunction with DHV Consultants, Holland. His team won award for siting the best borehole in the most difficult clay-laden areas in Kaduna State (Birnin Gwari Area), as well as the 17 communities shallow aquifer in Osun State and the water supply for Faru Village, Sokoto.
The multifarious projects undertaken as a geologist in Kaduna offered him extensive professional experience, geographical exposures, practical field knowledge of all aspects of borehole siting, and water prospecting and sourcing. He resigned from Water Surveys (Nig) Ltd in 1993 to pursue a career in an entirely different field from his professional background.
Banking
In 1993, Daramola took an appointment as Assistant Officer with Savannah Bank, formerly one of Nigeria's foremost banks before its license was withdrawn in February 2002 and restored in February 2009 after protracted legal battles.[6] He specialized in research work on the strategic planning for the attainment of organization goals and corporate management with emphasis on marketing communications. Savannah Bank it was where his communications skills were sharpened due to the liaison roles that his various designations attracted.
Public Relations, Advertising and Marketing Communications
After Savannah Bank where he had garnered competencies in marketing communications, Bimbo Daramola went on to co-found and became the Deputy Managing Director of Rucie Communications, a marketing communications outfit. One of the major projects the company produced and executed was an epic documentary, which chronicled the life, times and works of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, titled “From Prison to Presidency,” which brought tears to the eyes of the retired Army General when he saw it. The documentary took Daramola and his team three years 1999 – 2002, as they traveled the world to capture different perspective of the two-time former President. Daramola always attributes the success of the project to the embrace Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Turaki Adamawa, accorded him by accepting to be the project's Grand Patron. The project is the first official electronic biography about any Nigerian President. Daramola firmly believes the project remains one of Nigeria's best documentary as regards standard and he once challenged "anybody to produce a documentary about anybody that will match that standard."[7]
Bimbo Daramola is also the Chief Executive Officer of The Bridge Concepts Nigeria Limited, a marketing, research, public relations/mass communications, publishing and below-the-line advertising outfit. The company achieved a feat when it researched, compiled, solved and published “JAMB Q&A: A Publication of Past Questions and Answers 1983 – 2004.” The book (first of its kind in Nigeria) consists of over 12,500 questions solved in most practical and learning-friendly ways, and complete with CD-ROM. The Bridge Concepts also conceptualized and designed the logo for the 18th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2003, CHOGM 2013 Abuja, which was held from 5–8 December 2003, and chaired by President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Politics
Campus Politics
Bimbo Daramola had his first political engagement with campus politics when he was an undergraduate; he contested for the Presidency of the National Association of Geological and Mining Students (NAGAMS), Ondo State University Chapter and won. He was re-elected a year after for the second year running.
National Politics
His interest in politics in the larger society was piqued in 1998 when he had interactions with politicians in the build up to the 1999 General Elections which signaled Nigeria's return to democratic rule away from military dictatorship. In his bid to promote environmental protection during election periods, Daramola, under the aegis of his company The Bridge Concepts, came up with the idea of mobile billboard campaign strategy. He met politicians across party divides to sell the idea to them to discourage massive use of posters and handbills that would leave the environment defaced.
In 1998, he met with a team of Bola Ahmed Tinubu Campaign Organization (BATCO) which was then responsible for campaign coordination of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who was contesting for the governorship seat of Lagos State under the platform of Alliance for Democracy (AD). In an interview granted to City People Magazine, he said the team was more enthusiastic about conventional posters, a gesture he was "unhappy" about.[8]
Daramola also took his mobile billboard proposal to the campaign team of then yet-to-be-elected President Olusegun Obasanjo who was the presidential aspirant of People's Democratic Party (PDP). The team accepted his proposal, co-opted him into the team by association, he became a member of PDP. He participated in the 1999 and 2003 elections, in the mobilization and publicity arm of the Presidential campaign traversing all the 36 states of the country, including Abuja. Daramola rationalized his membership of Action Congress of Nigeria in the following quotes in an interview he granted a national newspaper: "By year two, Obasanjo had introduced me to Atiku Abubakar when I was shooting a documentary of his lifetime from prison to presidency, and up to now I challenge anybody to produce a documentary about anybody that will match that standard. It was a major event in May 29, 2002. Obasanjo watched the documentary and broke down crying. So that documentary brought me very close to Atiku. To be honest, Atiku is a good man; I have no apology for that. After that, fight broke out between Obasanjo and Atiku and because I was privy to a number of things, I felt that Obasanjo was getting high-handed. At some point, I gave a note to the late ADC (aide-de-camp) to Obasanjo. I told him that if Nigerians don’t want Atiku, why would Obasanjo be the one to condemn him? I dumped Obasanjo and went to join Atiku, and because the platform was not available for him in the PDP, we began to prepare a platform for him to run and we went from one party name to another until we arrived at Action Congress (AC). When Atiku decided to go back to PDP, I said no; I don’t think this is the right thing to do, and since then I have remained in ACN."[9]
In 2011, he was nominated by ACN to contest the seat of his Ekiti North 1 (Oye-Ikole Local Govt. Areas) Federal Constituency, which he won.
Legislative Activities
Bimbo Daramola took oath of office as Member, House of Representatives, representing Oye/Ikole Ekiti-North Federal Constituency 1, Ekiti State, on Monday, 6th June, 2011 during the inauguration of the Seventh House of Representatives. He is the Vice Chairman of House of Representatives' Committee on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). He is member of the following House of Representatives committees: Army, Banking & Currency, Civil Society and Donor Agencies, and Diaspora.[10] As a "rookie legislator,"[11] Daramola is credited with moving the first motion of the Seventh National Assembly of the House of Representative when he moved a motion titled Emerging Threats to Nigeria's Internal Security and the Need for the Establishment of Department of Homeland Security, with which he sought support of the House to address the menace of security challenges facing Nigeria, especially as posed by the Boko Haram sect.[12] Daramola moved the motion to investigate claims by the Asset Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON that 140.9 Billion Naira (about One Billion Dollars), owed by Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited and Forte Oil Plc as a result of fuel subsidy scam had been paid. The motion motivated the House of Representatives to constitute an ad hoc committee, headed by Femi Gbajabiamila to verify the repayment claims.[13] Daramola heads the House of Representatives ad hoc committee to probe the allocation of plots of land to companies and individuals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and possible cases of fraud in the process from 2010 till date.[14]
Table of Motions Moved and Bills Presented by Bimbo Daramola
| S/No | Date | Title of Motion/Bill |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | June 20, 2011 | Emerging Threats to Nigeria’s Internal Security and the need for the Establishment of the Department of Homeland Security[15] [16] |
| 2. | October 6, 2011 | Motion on the 'Urgent need to investigate the federal government’s N30bn National Identity Card Scheme Project'[17] |
| 3. | February 29, 2012 | Motion on the Utmost Disregard and violation of the rights of Nigerians by Airline Operators in Nigeria and the need to get the Airline Operators to comply with Global Standards and best practices with regard to Consumer Welfare |
| 4. | March 7th, 2012 | Motion on the need to forensically review every aspect of Nigeria’s relationship with South Africa, particularly our economic interest beyond the entry denial of interest 125 Nigerias’ and associated immigration issues[18] |
| 5. | June 15, 2012 | A Bill for an Act To Be Known as “Disaster Location Protection Act |
| 6. | July 3, 2012 | Presentation of National Emergency Management Agency (Establishment, etc) (Amendment) Bill[19] |
| 7. | July 14, 2012 | Deployment of 3500 Soldiers to Edo State for the purpose of the forthcoming Gubernatorial Elections[20] |
| 8. | October 11, 2012 | Investigation of Final Settlement of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited and Forte Oil Plc. outstanding debts of N140, 999, 620, 395.80 owed Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria AMCON[21] |
| 9. | November 7, 2012 | Urgent need to remove all disused, broken-down and unserviceable airplanes from the precincts, premises and airsides of all the Airports in Nigeria. |
| 10. | July 26, 2013 | The Urgent Need to Investigate the Use of Public Funds by the Bank of Industry Under the Power and Airlines Intervention Fund[22] |
Empowerment Programme(Abomire)
Daramola annually organises an empowerment programme for people of his Ekiti North Federal Constituency 1, where he donates various items. Vehicles, motorcycles, hair dryers, sewing machines, electricity generating sets, among others, were items distributed by the lawmaker."[23] He "also gave monetary gifts as benefits to 30 artisans and students in the constituency also as part of the second edition of the empowerment programme tagged: Abomire."[24] The annual event is also put together as a platform for Daramola to render his account of representing the people of Ekiti North Federal Constituency 1 in the House of Representatives.
Comments on National Issues
Fuel Subsidy Removal
During the national debate on fuel subsidy removal that eventually led to Occupy Nigeria protests, Daramola was one of Nigerian legislators invited to a meeting with Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President when the President needed the cooperation of the legislative arm of government. At the end of the meeting, Daramola was not impressed. This he expressed when he said "Mr. President did not sufficiently convince me or my other colleagues in the House of Representatives. I don’t want to be graphic on what happened there but I am telling you that it was a faux pax. I don’t think he achieved any purpose. I don’t think he moved the story forward. I would say that his reasons did not appeal to members of the House of Representatives."[25]
Near Crash of the Nigeria Capital Market
Bimbo Daramola was a member of the second ad hoc committee mandated by the House of Representatives to investigate the near collapse of the Capital Market. Described as someone who "have an uneven temperament and may be one of those to watch in the course of the proceedings"[26] Daramola lived up to this description when he pointedly told the Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu who was trying to exonerate CBN from the financial crises that bedevilled Nigeria's finance sector, to accept blame for the “failure of institutional regulations.” “The abuses took place directly under your watch. It was because you did not do your job. It is your fault; it is an institutional failure." CBN, through Moghalu had earlier blamed the near collapse of Nigeria's capital market to abuses of banks.[27]
Terrorism, Insecurity and Boko Haram Insurgency
Having moved the motion, Emerging Threat to Internal Security and the Need to Set Up Department of Homeland Security in his bid to arrest the then festering terrorist acts of the Boko Haram sect and other security challenges in the country, Daramola said on Channels Television breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily that "the Federal Government is treating the present insecurity in the country with kid gloves."[28]
References
- ^ National Assembly (2011). "HON. DARAMOLA ABIMBOLA OLUWAFEMI".
- ^ Ekiti State Government. "Oye Local Government Area".
- ^ Femi Omotoso (March 2009). "Administrative problems of state creation in Ekiti State, Nigeria" (PDF). African Journal of Political Science and International Relations. 3 (3): 107–116. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
- ^ "History of Christ School, Ado Ekiti". Retrieved August 1, 2013.
- ^ "National Youths Service Corps". Retrieved August 1, 2013.
- ^ Kamarudeen Ogundele (February 6, 2009). "Court restores Savannah Bank's licence". The Nation. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
- ^ Daniel Kanu (February 17, 2013). "Why I dumped Obasanjo for Atiku–Daramola". Daily Independence.
...up to now I challenge anybody to produce a documentary about anybody that will match that standard.
- ^ Bola Davies (April 17, 2013). "Gov. Fayemi was 2 years my senior at Christ School". City People.
- ^ Daniel Kanu (February 17, 2013). "Why I dumped Obasanjo for Atiku–Daramola". Daily Independence.
- ^ National Assembly (2011). "HON. DARAMOLA ABIMBOLA OLUWAFEMI".
- ^ Yaqoub Popoola (August 25, 2013). "NASS functioning at short optimal capacity – Daramola".
...even as a rookie legislator.
- ^ Clifford Udujihe (March 14, 2013). "We need more will than dialogue to tackle insecurity – Rep Daramola".
... That was the very first motion of the Seventh Assembly of the House of Representatives and I moved it. I remembered that people were like 'is this man a ranking member?'
- ^ John Ameh (October 12, 2012). "Reps Panel to Probe N140.9bn". Punch.
- ^ Jacob Segun Olatunji, Kolawole Daniel (July 25, 2013). "Lawmakers to probe land allocations in FCT from 2010 till date". Tribune.
- ^ "We need more will than dialogue to tackle insecurity – Rep Daramola".
- ^ Bimbo Daramola. "Insecurity and Challenges Of Good Governance In Nigeria".
- ^ Adesua Tsan (October 7, 2011). "Reps To FG: Suspend N30bn National ID Card Project". Leadership.
- ^ Editors (March 8, 2012). "Reps Seek Review of Bilaterial Relations With South Africa". Leadership.
{{cite news}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ Fourth Republic 7th National Assembly (Novemner 28, 2012). "Second Session No.60: Order Paper".
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Channels Television (July 11, 2012). "Deployment of soldiers to Edo causes commotion in House".
- ^ John Ameh (October 12, 2012). "Reps Panel to Probe N140.9bn". Punch.
- ^ Tordue Salem (July 26, 2013). "Reps probe BOI over N176bn disbursement". National Mirror.
- ^ Jide Aluko (August 21, 2013). "Bimbo Daramola – a legislator and his 'extra-curricular' legislative exploits". Ikole Ekiti: Legis Reports.
- ^ Sam Nwaoko (August 26, 2013). "Ikole, Oye constituents receive empowerment from Ekiti lawmaker". Tribune. Ado Ekiti.
- ^ Paul Odenyi (April 1, 2012). "Fuel subsidy: 'Jonathan can't convince Senators, Reps'". Vanguard.
- ^ Onwuka Nzeshi (April 1, 2012). "Capital Market:House Begins Journey Afresh". ThisDay.
- ^ John Ameh (May 3, 2012). "Manipulation by banks caused capital market crash - CBN". Punch.
...It was because you did not do your job
- ^ Sunrise Daily (July 10, 2012). "Government is treating insecurity with kid's gloves – Bimbo Daramola". Channels Television.