Babatunde Raji Fashola, was born in Lagos at the Island Maternity Hospital on June 28, 1963 to the family of Mr. Ademola Fashola, a former journalist with Daily Times of Nigeria, and his mother was a nurse. A fifth generation Lagosian and a direct descendant of the patriach of the Fashola family in Isalegangan. He is also a descendant of the Shomade family of Isale Eko through his paternal grandmother as well as a descendant of the Bashua and suenu families of Lagos.
Fashola attended Sunny Field Primary School, Adelabu Surulere, Lagos, where he obtained his First School Leaving Certificate. After his primary school, Babatunde Raji Fashola poceeded to Birch Freeman High School, Surulere, Lagos and later to Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos State where he did his secondary school.
After his secondary school, Babatunde Fashola gained admission to study Law in the University of Benin, where he obtained Bachelor of Laws (LLB ) degree in 1987. He was called to the Nigeria Bar in November 1988 after going through the Nigerian Law School.
After his call to the bar, Babatunde Fashola engaged in private law practice for many years, and his excellence in a advocacy occasioned his elevation to the position of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (S.A.N.).
Babatunde Raji Fashola have served the Lagos State Government in various capacities including: Member, State Tenders Board; Member, State Executive Council, Member, State Treasury Board, and Member, State Security Council.
During the regime of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Babatunde Raji Fashola was appointed Chief of Staff of the Governor of Lagos State. In the year 2007, Babatunde Raji Fashola was elected the Governor of Lagos State.
He was again re-elected for a second tenure in the 2011 elections under the platform of the All Progressive Congress(APC).
In the year 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Fashola as the Minister of Housing, Power and Works
This is an extract from a question thrown to Fashion about the religion of the next Governor of Lagos that will succeed him:
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State on Monday described as baseless calls that the next governor of the state should be of a particular faith.
The governor spoke on Monday at an inter-faith conference organised by the state government. The conference was themed: “Peace, Religious Harmony and Good Governance: Issues and Challenges”.
He contended that religion and good governance were two different things and democratic dividends had no religious coloration.
Fashola stressed that anybody could emerge as governor irrespective of faith, noting that Lagosians had not been known to elect their governors based on religion.
The governor said that he read in a newspapers on Monday morning a statement to the effect that a group was insisting on a Christian governor in Lagos State.
“I don’t recall the last time that a governor of Lagos was elected on the basis of his religious beliefs.
“What will the preference for governor of one faith over the other even benefit us?
“Will it give one religion roads that other faiths cannot use? Will it give them schools that children from other faiths cannot attend or will it bring water that only one faith can drink?
“Will it begin to draw a very clear line between poverty and the faith? Does hunger know your faith?”
The governor urged religious leaders to guard their pulpits with utmost responsibility and watch the messages they pass across from it.
He advised them not to use religion for personal aggrandisement but a tool to promote peace and unity.
The governor cautioned religious leaders against religious debates that would lead nowhere. “There are rules in the legal profession, there are rules in football as well; you cannot tackle from behind.
“What are the rules in religious debate? Who is going to be the umpire? I know that there are many people for whom spirituality is a calling; I also know that for some, it’s a business.
“For a long time, the state and religion have been one, but over time, we have also tried to separate religion from the state, but it has not been a successful venture.
“I am not sure that clear separation will happen and I’m not even sure what clear separation will deliver.
“But one of the things I will suggest is that we should take better control of our pulpits and be more restrained in what comes from there.”
His political views are vividly seen in his work. When the question of "How would you rate yourself?" was thrown to him in an interview pertaining his eight years as Governor of Lagos State, this was his response: "You can’t really isolate the last eight years from the ones before; there’s a momentum and team efforts here and this is why the next elections are important as far as experience is concerned. I was in the first team and it was easier for me to get going and give things my own view, but as I say to people, this is all about human life; being governor is about being responsible for human beings and so the problems won’t go away, they would never end. As you solve one, another one appears. And, indeed, the more problems you solve the more challenges you create for yourself. In terms of rating, I honestly can’t rate myself because I don’t have time to look back. I still focus on the next one hundred and something days; my job ends on May 29."
Fashola, quite unlike most politicians in Nigeria goes by the simple prefix of "Mr" and can be seen in traffic just like any other motorist devoid of that familiar Nigerian trapping of power, wailing siren.
Physical Characteristics: He is Slim, tall, and of the Black race.
He is married, and has children
