A retired Nigerian army brigadier-general and the first governor of
Lagos State Mobolaji Olufunso Johnson, is dead.
His son, Deji, confirmed that Johnson died yesterday, around 4pm at
the age of 83.
The late Johnson was appointed as the military Administrator by the
military Head of State, Major Gen. Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, and later,
governor of Lagos State by his successor, Gen. Yakubu Gowon.
He served in that capacity between 1966 and 1975 when he was
compulsory retired by former Head of State, Gen. Murtala Mohammed.
However, he and the military governor of Western State were separated
from the pack of colleagues who were indicted for corruption.
He was born on February 9, 1936 to Joshua Motola Johnson and Emma
Gbemisola Johnson, nee Coker, both indigenes of Lagos City.
He attended Reagan Memorial Baptist School Yaba, Lagos, from 1942 in
his early years, till 1946, when the school was converted to an
all-girls school. He thereafter transferred to Yaba Methodist School
from 1946 to 1951 to complete his primary education. He started his
secondary education at Hussey College Warri in September 1951 till
1954, when he left for Methodist Boys’ High School, Lagos to complete
his secondary education in 1957.
Brigadier Mobolaji Johnson joined the Nigerian Army in 1958 and
trained at the Military Depot in Zaria where he finished as the Best
All Round Recruit. He was trained as an Officer Cadet at Teshi in
Ghana at the Regular Officers’ Training School from where he went for
further Officers’ Training at MONS Officer Cadet School in Aldershot,
United Kongdom and from there to the Royal Military Academy at
Sandhurst, United Kingdom.
After completing the officers training, he was posted to the 5th
Battalion of the Nigerian Army in Kaduna where he served in the UN
Operations in the Congo. At the end of his stay with the UN operation
in the Congo, he served in Kaduna. Further postings were to the
Federal Guards in Lagos and the 2nd Brigade Headquarters, serving in
the Quarter Master-General’s office. He served at this posting until
the first Army Coup of January 15, 1966. His other postings were to
Ibadan, as 2nd in command and to Benin City, as the Station Commander
of the troops in the then Mid-Western State of Nigeria.
His tenure saw the building of major infrastructure in Lagos State.
In 1975, Brigadier Johnson retired from the Military with full
honours. After leaving the Army, he went into private business and was
the Chairman of Nigerian Conservation Foundation. He became a Director
of the construction giant – Julius Berger Nigeria in 1979 and its
chairman in 1996, a post he held until 2009. Brigadier Mobolaji
Johnson is currently the Chairman, Executive Council of Lagos State
University Development Foundation. A road, an avenue, a sport complex
and a housing estate at Lekki bear his name in appreciation of his
meritorious service to his home state.
