Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, B.sc., M.sc., Ph.D. - APC Gubernatorial Aspirant Born on September 19, 1964 in Lagos, Nigeria, Obafemi Hamzat is an Engineer, and a Politician. His father, Olatunji Hamzat is an influential politician in Lagos State who served as a former member of the Lagos State House of Assembly and also as a former Commissioner for Transportation in the state (1979 – 1983), before becoming the one time Vice-Chairman SW of then Alliance for Democracy (AD). Olatunji Hamzat would later go on to become the Lagos West Senatorial District leader of the Action Congress, an elder statesman in the Action Congress and a coronated king through his maternal royal lineage. Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat graduated from the University of Ibadan in 1986 with a degree in Agricultural Engineering and subsequently furthered his studies at home and abroad, resulting in both an MSc. in Crop Processing Engineering (1988) and a Ph.D. in System Process Engineering (1992). Sequel to this, he garnered about two decades of work experience in several organisations including the City of New York, RTP Consulting Services, Columbia University, Merrill Lynch Inc, Morgan Stanley and Oando Plc. In August 2005, Dr. Hamzat was appointed Commissioner for Science and Technology during the tenure of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He retained his position when Governor Babatunde Fashola assumed office in 2007. It was during his tenure as Commissioner for Science and Technology that Dr. Hamzat enforced the application of modern technology in the states ministries, thus changing the face of data and record keeping in Lagos and at the same time eliminating the trend of state ghost workers. It is reported in some quarters that this single act was largely responsible for his elevation as Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure at the commencement of the second term in office of the Governor Fasholas administration. The office had gone on without a commissioner during Fashola’s first four years (post-Rauf Aregbesolas appointment), with only a Special Adviser reporting directly to the governor. In execution of his mandate, Dr. Hamzats ministry has completed several key projects for Lagos State in the mega-city era. Dr. Hamzat has remained a key figure in the Lagos State Government over the past few years and it is widely rumoured that he could be in the running when eventually the party hierarchy decides to begin its search for Fashola’s successor in the run-up to the 2015 elections. Dr. Hamzat emerged the winner of the fifth edition of the Lagos State Man of the Year Awards in September 2013. The award winner was selected and nominated by a nine-man selection committee comprising renowned academics, writers/researchers and media practitioners. In 2005, Dr. Hamzat advocated for the creation of a forensic laboratory that would provide better evidence in the adjudication of criminal cases and unsolved murders in the state. It was widely reported that he made it a priority to see Africas most populous nation be able to independently investigate criminal incidents. Fortune would be kind to him as his appointment as the Commissioner for Works and Housing paved the way for the commencement of the project in 2013. Widely acclaimed as Lagos States answer to the U.S. social security number, Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) was established to create a useful database of all residents in Lagos State with a view to, among others, providing useful information for social welfare, political, security, business, employment and financial activities. Governor Babatunde Fashola passed the mandate develop the frame work for implementation of the agency to Dr. Hamzat after he (Governor Fashola) had conceived the idea with then Governor Bola Tinubu. Dr. Hamzat is a practising muslim. He is married to Mrs. Oluremi Hamzat, and the union is blessed with children.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 07:37:05 +0000
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