Councillor Adedamola Aminu is one of the Nigerians doing exploits in London; previously the Mayor of Lambeth Borough, he was an elected councillor representing Tulse Hill Brixton in the same Lambeth Council. Also, he is the president of The Association of Nigerian Academics in the UK (ANAUK) and former chairman of British Nigerian Councillors.
Aminu, who is a year older today, February 19, speaks with thelaurel.com about life as a politician in the UK.
You are a year older today, how does this make you feel?
We lost a lot of friends last year because of this Covid-19. The most important thing is to thank God; we are still alive, we are still healthy. Things might not be the way we want them to be, but at least, we still have hope.
How is life generally in the UK?
It is boring, stressful. Today, I have three different zoom meetings at 2 pm, 5 pm and 7 pm. Every meeting is now on zoom. No parties, no function at all.
How are you marking your birthday then?
I just go to work and then go home to rest. Restaurants are not opening, except for takeaway. You order the food and take it home. It is affecting the economy and everything. Nigeria is not as bad per restrictions. People still go about doing their business. Here n(UK) everything is on lockdown. They just want everyone to work from home except people on essential duty.
What do you miss about Nigerian?
When you have parents, cousins, brothers here in Nigeria, you’ll always miss them, because over there in the UK, it’s very lonely and isolated. You would just work, work, work, and pay bills, and you have to deny yourself so many things to save money. Before you get the money, they’ve removed so much taxes. For the little change you get, VAT is also there, waiting. Before you think of eating, you must think of bills first. If you don’t pay your bills, you will be on the streets. But in Nigeria, you can never be stranded; even If you don’t have a place, you will get someone to support you. I said that because having achieved the things I have done in the UK, people ask me when I would return to Nigeria to help the country. I often convey my willingness to come back home to serve in whatever capacity I could. The question, however, is would I get the chance?
How did you get into British politics?
Having lived in the UK for many years, I realized that if you live in a society, whatever policy they introduce will affect you as a resident of that community. I said to myself that I would not sit down while they made policies that would affect my health, education, social services, and even how much rent and council taxes we pay. These are the things local councils are responsible for in the UK. They make decisions that have a major impact on people’s lives. Would I sit back doing nothing or I get involved so that I would be able to influence such policies? I was elected a councillor in 2006. I was there for 10 years. Within that period, I was a deputy cabinet member for education and social services for three years. I left that position to become deputy mayor, then mayor. After that, I was re-elected as the deputy cabinet member for enterprise, responsible for businesses, growth and enterprise.
I’m also a trainer, a lecturer, and I run a management training company where I train people on leadership and management skills. I’m the President of Nigeria Academics in the UK and Chairman of British Nigeria Councillors in the UK.
You wrote a book recently, what is it all about?
The book I recently authored is Nigeria British Politicians in United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. It is a book of profiles. The purpose is to have records of all Nigerian British who have done well in the United Kingdom and Ireland, from the first day they were elected. The book chronicles individual members of parliament, mayors and councillors; the year they were elected; when they finished, and the position they held as a cabinet member, minister, council leader or mayor. It is just about having our own record because no one will write our own history for us; if we don’t start documenting our history, then others will just write what they feel about us. The book is a fact about every single Nigerian who is being elected in the United Kingdom over the years. It details their achievements, what they contributed to the political system. One thing the book highlighted was that it shows that its only in the United Kingdom, apart from America, that we have a lot of outsiders being elected in position of politics. In the book, we probably have nothing less than 100 Nigerians being elected and that doesn’t include the Caribbean and Asia. So, if we can have this number of Nigerians elected in the United Kingdom, why is it that they are not being used in Nigeria? With all the skills and expertise these individuals have in governance, why is our country Nigeria still remain the way it is now when we have this talent of people in the Diaspora who are making our country Nigeria proud? The book offers an insight into what Nigerians abroad are capable of, what they have achieved. Readers of the book will read about what the councillors, mayors, members of parliament have done, and they will be able to judge for themselves whether these people are the people we need to bring back home to come and do something for our country Nigeria.
