Mobolaji Olufunso Johnson (9 February 1936 – 30 October 2019) was a Nigerian Army Brigadier who served as Military Administrator of the Federal territory of Lagos from January 1966 to May 1967 during the military regime of General Aguyi-Ironsi (to July 1966, and General Gowon subsequently), and then as Governor of

Lagos State Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 states, it is both the most populous and smallest in area. Bounded to the south by the Bight of Benin and to the west by the international border with Ben ...

from May 1967 to July 1975 during the military regime of General

Yakubu Gowon Yakubu Dan-Yumma 'Jack' Gowon (born 19 October 1934) is a retired Nigerian Army general and military leader. As Head of State of Nigeria, Gowon presided over a controversial Nigerian Civil War and delivered the famous "no victor, no vanquishe ...

. As Governor of Lagos, his administration supervised the unpopular demolition of the Ajele Cemetery in the early 1970s.

Early life and education

Johnson was born to the family of Joshua Motola Johnson and his wife, Gbemisola Johnson (née Dudley-Coker). His father was of Lagos origin and was a member of the Royal West African Frontier Force during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Johnson had five other siblings including his brother, Femi Johnson, founder of Femi Johnson and Company of

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

. Mobolaji Johnson started his education at Reagean Memorial Baptist School, Yaba,

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

School in 1941. He then attended Hussey College,

Warri The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri and her twin city, Uvwie are the commercial ...

, 1954. In 1955, he moved to

Methodist Boys High School Methodist Boys High School, Lagos (MBHS Lagos) is a secondary school for boys located in Victoria Island, Lagos. Nigeria. Founded in 1878, it was the second secondary school established in Nigeria. History The leaders of the Methodist community, ...

Lagos, the School his father attended, where he finished his secondary education in 1957. While in MBHS, Lagos, Mobolaji was a good all-round sports man. In 1959 Mobolaji attended the Officer Cadet Training School in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. Mobolaji Johnson also attended the

Mons Officer Cadet School Mons Officer Cadet School was a British military training establishment for officer cadets in Aldershot from 1942 to 1972, when it was closed and all officer training concentrated at Sandhurst. Until 1960, it was known as the Mons Officer Cade ...

in Aldershot and the

Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town ...

, United Kingdom, between 1960 and 1961.

Military career

Zaria Zaria is a List of Nigerian cities by population, metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna State, Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau, Zazzau Emirate ...

Military Depot, 1958–1959. * United Nations Peace Keeping Troops, Congo *He was promoted a 2nd Lieutenant, Nigeria Army, 1961. *Lieutenant, 1962, Captain, October 1962. *Appointed Deputy Commander, Federal Guards, 1964. *Commander, Federal Guards, 1964. *Deputy Adjutant and Quartermaster-General Headquarters, 2nd Brigade,

Apapa Apapa is a Local Government Area in Lagos, located to the west of Lagos Island. Apapa contains a number of ports and terminals operated by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), including the major port of Lagos State and Lagos Port Complex (LPC ...

, Lagos, 1964. *Major, February 1966; *Second in command, 4th Battalion,

. *Station Commander,

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

, Midwest (old Bendel State).

Biafra War

At the end of the famed

Biafra War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence ...

, Johnson was amongst the federal delegates at the end of the war ceremony. In 1966, after the abortive coup d'etat that put paid to the first Nigerian

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...

administration, he became Military Administrator of Lagos State. In 1967 he became the First Governor of Lagos State. Johnson's tenure as Military Governor of Lagos State saw the building of major infrastructure in Lagos State.

Governor

Johnson was first appointed by Aguiyi-Ironsi as the administrator of the former federal territory of Lagos in 1966. Ironsi was the head of state and wanted someone from Lagos to handle some of the problems of the federal territory. In May 1967, Lagos State was created and Johnson became the first governor of Lagos; the state was now composed of the old Federal Territory of Victoria Island,

Ikoyi Ikoyi is the most affluent neighborhood of Lagos, located in Eti-Osa Local Government Area. It lies to the northeast of Obalende and adjoins Lagos Island to the west, and at the edge of the Lagos Lagoon. Popular with the extreme upper class res ...

and Lagos Island plus the additions of the Epe, Badagry,

Ikorodu Ikorodu is a large city in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is located to the north-east of Lagos, along the Lagos Lagoon and shares boundary with Ogun State. With a population of over 1million inhabitant, Ikorodu is currently the 12 largest city in Nig ...

and

Ikeja Ikeja is the capital city of Lagos State in southwestern Nigeria. Its population, as of the 2006 census, is 313,196. Prior to the emergence of military rule in the early 1980s, Ikeja was a well planned, clean and quiet residential and commercia ...

divisions. He was involved in developing the civil service in Lagos State. Johnson was initially assisted in running the state with help from some key civil servants such as Administrative Secretary, Adeymi-Bero,Legal Secretary, Alh. I. O Agoro, Finance Secretary, F.C.O Coker, and the acting secretary to the Military Government, Howson Wright and waited until April 1968 before appointing his commissioners.

Building Lagos

* 60.7-kilometre international express road (Lagos– Badagry Expressway) linking Nigeria with the neighbouring countries Benin, Ghana and Togo. * Toikin Bridge to link Epe to Ikorodu *

Eko Bridge Eko Bridge is one of three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the mainland, the others are the Third Mainland and Carter bridges. The bridge was built in 1975 and is the shortest of the three bridges linking Lagos Island to mainlaind. Eko brid ...

Third Mainland Bridge Third Mainland Bridge is the longest of three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the mainland, the others are the Eko and Carter bridges. It was the longest bridge in Africa until 1996 when the 6th October Bridge located in Cairo was complet ...

* A network of roads and bridges that constitutes what is modern day Lagos * Reclamation of the Bar Beach shoreline. Another coup ushered in a new military government in 1975. A new administration came in, under an anti-corruption banner.

Demolition of Ajele Cemetery

Johnson's administration was responsible for the demolition and disinterment of people buried at Ajele Cemetery such as

Samuel Ajayi Crowther Samuel Ajayi Crowther ( – 31 December 1891), was a Yoruba linguist, clergyman, and the first African Anglican bishop of West Africa. Born in Osogun (in what is now Ado-Awaye, Oyo State, Nigeria), he and his family were captured by slave raide ...

James Pinson Labulo Davies James Pinson Labulo Davies (14 August 1828 – 29 April 1906) was a Nigerian businessman, merchant-sailor, naval officer, farmer, pioneer industrialist, statesman, and philanthropist who married Sara Forbes Bonetta in colonial Lagos. Early li ...

Madam Tinubu Efunroye Tinubu ( 1810 – 1887), born Ẹfúnpọ̀róyè Ọ̀ṣuntinúbú, was a powerful Yoruba female aristocrat, merchant, and slave trader in pre-colonial and colonial Nigeria. She was a politically and economically influential figure in L ...

Thomas Babington Macaulay Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (; 25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was a British historian and Whig politician, who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster-General between 1846 and 184 ...

, and many others. The demolition met with a lot of criticism: Prof J.D.Y. Peel noted that the demolition had deprived ''"Lagosians not only of a precious green space in the heart of the city but of the memorials of their forebears"''. Nobel Laureate

Wole Soyinka Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...

called the demolition ''"the violation of that ancestral place" noting that "the order came from the military governor obolaji Johnson 'Dig up those dead and forgotten ancestors and plant a modern council building – with all its lucrative corollaries on that somnolent spot"''.

Retirement

In 1975 at the inception of the General

Murtala Mohammed Murtala Ramat Muhammad (8 November 1938 – 13 February 1976) was a Nigerian general who led the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup in overthrowing the Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi military regime and featured prominently during the Nigerian Civil War ...

administration Johnson was one of the two state Governors (along with Brigadier General Oluwole Rotimi) found not guilty of corruption by the three-man panel commissioned to investigate the various allegations of corruption amongst the State Governors. General Johnson retired from the Nigerian Army in 1975 and went into private business. He had four children, three sons and a daughter.

Later life

Johnson was the Chairman of

Nigerian Conservation Foundation The Nigerian Conservation Foundation is an environmental non-governmental organization which works to preserve the natural resources and biodiversity of Nigeria. The Foundation was founded in 1980 by Shafi Edu and has worked since then on a num ...

. He became a Director of construction giant

Julius Berger Nigeria Julius Berger is a Nigerian construction company, headquartered in Abuja, with additional permanent locations in Lagos and Uyo. The company is represented across Nigeria in structural engineering and infrastructure works, and in southern Nige ...

in 1979 and its chairman in 1996, a post he held until 2009. Johnson was the Chairman Executive Council of

Lagos State University Lagos State University, also known as LASU, is located in Ojo, with sub-campuses at Ikeja and Epe both towns in Lagos State, Nigeria. The university was established in 1983 by the enabling law of Lagos State, for the advancement of learning ...

Development Foundation. He was the chairman of the Board of Trustees of Methodist Boys' High School, Lagos Old Boys' National Association. He was honoured with the position because he was a distinguished Old Boy who was of great assistance to his alma mater. His daughter-in-law is

Omobola Johnson Omobola Olubusola Johnson (born 28 June 1963) is a Nigerian technocrat and the Honorary Chairperson of the global Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI). She is also a former and first Minister of Communication Technology in the cabinet of P ...

. Mobolaji Johnson died on October 30, 2019, at the age of 83 in his home. His death was announced by his son, Deji Johnson. Deji has 3 children himself, two daughters and a son. Seyi Johnson who is currently Business Development Director at Julius Berger also one of his 3 sons.

Legacy

A road, an avenue, and a sports complex in Mobolaji's home state bear his name as well as a Housing Scheme at Lekki both in Lagos. A railway station in

Ebute Metta Ebute Metta is a neighbourhood of Lagos Mainland, Lagos, in Lagos State, Nigeria. History Ebute Metta is known for the production and sale of local food and cloths. It is a very old part of Lagos State, many of its houses were built during the ...

, Lagos was named in his honour.