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Toyin Caxton-Martins holds the dual posts of Publicity Secretary of the Alliance For Democracy in Lagos State as well as Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs to the governor of Lagos State. The Polo-playing politician spoke with Olaseni Durojaiye on several issues – including her duties and outbursts from the presidency directed at her boss Functions
I assist basically. But the issue of an advisory role would probably come in if and when there are definite reasons, either threat or opportunity against or for the state, or when I am aware that certain steps are being taken that might either be contrary to advancement of or harmful to the government or the governor. If I happen to have prior knowledge of such, then I’m in a position to advise. However, that has not happened yet. Maybe I have not been in this position long enough, or maybe the situation has not arisen, or they have not happened to my knowledge.
In terms of assisting, this is a day-to-day thing, if you realize that I’m here to bridge the gab between the diplomatic communities in particular and maybe, indeed, the foreigners and the government of the state.
From the government point of view, the biggest issue is consular matters – particularly when people need to travel on training courses or medicals. I attend to those issues as the Senior Special Assistant. I have the authority to deal with those issues.
From the diplomatic and the foreign communities now, what it means is that they have an opportunity at last to be able to call on somebody, to put a name to a number or face to be able to address some of their own issues and needs. This afternoon, I was invited to a meeting by one of the embassies with their Chamber of Commerce and, I made useful contacts there; contacts that may be useful to the government in terms of partnership.
I also have people who contact me because they want to meet with His Excellency. If there is an opportunity for me to facilitate that and I believe it would be useful to the state and would be mutually beneficial, I’ll certainly do that.
And then, it could also be the mundane things. Maybe they have little problem with some of the authorities on the road and they need some assistance, we shall be very willing to render them.
A lot of the Embassies and Consulates have moved to Abuja, and are still moving, but now that there is somebody in Lagos State Government that can deal with the Consulates and Embassies some of them are willing to maintain a mission. They are willing to stay back by maintaining an office in Lagos. I’ve heard from at least two of the embassies that they were planning to leave the state but because they now have somebody – not me as a person - that they can reach out to,they are willing to keep a mission in the state.
And I think for a state like Lagos (probably next to Port-Harcourt, Rivers State) we have the largest foreign community in the country. So, it is important we maintain a liaison with the foreign and diplomatic communities, because however you look at it, it is still the commercial nerve centre of the country. It is a state that everybody knows about; even if you’ve never been to Nigeria before, at least they’ve heard of it before.
As AD Lagos Publicity Secretary
I’m very sorry to say in a way, but I’m very proud to say I have not been very active over the last year as publicity secretary, because I have had to cope with this appointment, which is very challenging and time-consuming. There is a lot that has to be done; so, I concentrated more on it, which I think is unfair. At the end of the day, all I’m saying is that as a human being, you cannot divide your time equally. One must certainly suffer for the other and I think that, sadly, is what has happened.
However, I’m quick to point out that we’re in 2006 and you’ll be having quite a lot from me now. I will be straddling the two more equally from now on.
Of elective office
I have not thought about it. I’ve tried it before but I haven’t thought that far yet this time around.
Like I said, I was battling away trying to make the party as visible as possible when I got an appointment in the government; so, I have been here since then. Now, I’m also trying to master the job that I have at hand because it is a very crucial one. One, it is not a position you can take lightly, because it is new. Two, the people we deal with diplomatic and foreign communities in Lagos State. You must not appear stupid or you don’t make the governor look like he just appointed somebody who doesn’t know left from right. So, I have really been concentrating on that and that’s why I said now I appreciate that we’re in 2006 and I have got to be more visible I think in the party because without the party, I could never have got this position. I’m here on the platform of the party and I serve at the pleasure of His Excellency. But I’m not sure at this stage about running for an elective post.
Qualification for the job
First and foremost, I only did primary school and maybe half a term of Secondary School in Nigeria. The rest of it was done in England.
Now, I didn’t plan for the job. I didn’t prepare for it and I didn’t know about the job. I am the first one to hold the position; there was never foreign affair as a nomenclature in Lagos State in the first place. The point is this though: I didn’t know that I’d be in politics today.
I really wanted to know what politics was about. I was only curious to know. Even at the higher level of education I didn’t participate in politics. I just wanted to know what it meant to be a politician; who these people who take decisions on my behalf are. And how do they do it? How do they decide who occupies any of the elective posts? That was what I went into politics to go and find out. And here I am.
Not only am I still in politics, I have been elected to a post in the party and I have also been appointed to a position in the government. Really, I think this is a calling that I didn’t realise I had.
Godfather anywhere?
No! But I believe that the governor just made the decision. When I wanted to run for elective post as House of Representatives member for Eti-Osa Federal Constituency against the incumbent Honourable Hebeeb Fasinro, I stepped down voluntarily, willingly and happily because I believe when you get into the party politics thing, you’ll understand the right thing to do and when. And, it doesn’t have to be about you all the time.
If you realise and recognise that this is the way things are going to go and this is the way it should go, you’ll toe the party line. And I remember that at the venue of the primaries, I went to the front of the gathering and announced that I was not going to run for the post any more.
When I was going back upstairs, His Excellency himself said to me “Thank you very much; I won’t forget this.”
For me, at the end of the day, I’ve learnt something, and that is that you have to be a team player. If you are a team player, you will find out that it’s not just about you; so that when things don’t quite go your way you can appreciate.
I don’t know if this is an appropriate analogy or not, but I know that if you have been playing any kind of competitive sport from your childhood, you’ll learn how to lose gallantly. You cannot win all the time. You cannot be the shinning star every time. On some occasions somebody is going to beat you. I think it is the same thing in politics. We really do need that type of mentality. We have to be willing to be foot soldiers. We have to be willing to take the back seat some times. You cannot always be number one.
Those that defected from my own party are good riddance. It is a good thing that they left when they did and not at this crucial time.
It is very clear you don’t hear about them any more –not even their newfound strange bed fellows are talking about them. People will always remember what they did to AD. Even in the PDP that they went to, when something good and meaningful is about to happen, they will remember that these persons, if you dare give it to them, they will do to us what they did to AD.
This thing is an attitude; it is a mindset and behaviour too. That is why I said if you were used to competition, there’d be such a thing as healthy rivalry. We’re not used to it in this country. We’re not accustomed to it simply because we are so used to these militarisation of everything - because there are some people today who are parents and who have only known military rulership.
The point I’m trying to make is this: it is not that you must not have ambition; I m not saying you should be a door mat. I’m saying you should do things with good reasons. It shouldn’t be just because you were not able to get something and you believe only you should have been the one to have it. That is entirely wrong.
AD and Lagos in 2007
The time has come in politics – whether in Lagos State or Nigeria as a whole – when people should prove their worth. I’m not saying this because I’m in government. It is an obvious fact that you don’t have to physically be in government to do something good in the land. PDP doesn’t have the means to actually win in Lagos because it is a destructive force in Lagos. |
