There is a eulogy for accomplished people like Senator Gbenga Ashafa that others cannot enjoy. With public officers like Ashafa, dedication trumps ability, and ability trumps gaps in the national institutional framework. To say that Senator Ashafa is a paragon worth his salt is to draw legs on a snake. The man has done and is doing well for the country, and so it is no surprise that folks are climbing over themselves to wish him a happy 66th birthday and long and sweeter years to come.
Writing about Ashafa is the kind of endeavour that one begins with fervour and energy but ends with sighs at the many merits of the man’s character, historical profile, and exploits. Leaving out everything he did before his appointment to the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) less than a year ago, there are still volumes and volumes of good deeds attached to the coattails of Ashafa. But his life at a glance leaves the mind wondering whether some are predestined to greatness.
Born in the Luther/Bamgbose/Campos area of Lagos Island on July 22, 1955, Ashafa started as the son of a merchant involved with textiles and precious stones. Consequently, the young Ashafa was destined to obtain his primary and secondary education in Lagos. Of course, Gbenga Ashafa left Lagos to study Biological Sciences at Morgan State University, Maryland, USA, but his primary guiding principles came from those early years in Lagos.
Although the business life of Gbenga Ashafa is something of a glorious adventure, it is his public and political life that has warranted celebration time and time again. This includes the time he was Director of Planning for Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to the time he was Secretary for the Land Use and Allocation Committee in Lagos, till he represented Lagos East at the National Assembly, and after several other positions, came to be the Boss of Federal Housing Authority.
At 66, Senator Ashafa is still very much on the move: still vibrant, still visionary, still beloved of all and sundry.
