At 71, Gbenga Ashafa Has Earned Every Year

Senator Gbenga Ashafa turns 71 on July 22, and the birthday is worth marking for reasons that go beyond the number. Over a career spanning more than two decades in public life, he has moved through three entirely different arenas and left a credible record in each.

The first was Lagos State’s civil service. Appointed as Executive Secretary of the Land Use and Allocation Committee in 2001, and later Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Lands Bureau in 2005, Ashafa digitised land allocation processes that had long been opaque and prone to conflict. He is credited with significantly reducing the gang violence and land-grabber clashes that plagued the system before his reforms.

From Lagos, he moved to the federal legislature. Representing Lagos East in the Senate through the 7th and 8th Assemblies between 2011 and 2019, he chaired the Senate Committee on Land Transport. His legislative push to modernise Nigeria’s railway networks earned him a nickname that stuck: “The Rail Man.” He also sponsored amendments to the NDLEA Act, imposing tougher penalties for drug trafficking, and championed national unemployment data tracking.

His third chapter came when he was appointed Managing Director of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) in 2020. The FHA had long carried a reputation for sluggish delivery. Ashafa restructured it and pushed through the construction of affordable housing units across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones before leaving in 2024.

At 70, he added one more item to that record by publishing his memoirs, titled “Truly Distinguished: A Life of Service To God, Country, And Humanity,” a document that reads as both a personal account and governance blueprint.

President Bola Tinubu and Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu have both publicly saluted his legacy. If some think that a long life in public service does not mean anything in Nigeria, they only need to look at Ashafa at 71 and how much he has contributed.