LAGOS, June 28 — The figure that matters: 64 years. Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, hit that milestone today, and the congratulations came with a deep nod to decades of personal history. The Ambassador-Designate to South Africa, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, issued a statement recalling a friendship that stretches back at least 50 years.
By the numbers, that puts their bond to the 1970s, a period Fani-Kayode described as “those heady yet great days” in Lagos and London. Fani-Kayode didn’t just offer birthday wishes.
He laid out a timeline of shared memory: growing up in Surulere with mutual friends Folabie Caxton Martins and Wole Atunrase, who lived “just round the corner” from Gbajabiamila. He recalled the former Speaker’s sharp criticism of the late Chief Bola Ige in 1990, when they first entered politics together.
The bottom line for Fani-Kayode: “You have never let me or any of us down.” The reminiscence tracked Gbajabiamila’s return from America in 2004 with his wife Saa, and their visit to then-President Olusegun Obasanjo at the Villa to announce they would settle in Abuja. Fani-Kayode also remembered the restaurant and bar the couple opened in Abuja years later, a gathering spot for “all those that mattered.” Investors will note the arc here: a childhood friendship in Surulere that produced a prophecy.
Fani-Kayode said he predicted Gbajabiamila would become Speaker upon his election to the House of Representatives. That prediction held. Gbajabiamila served as Speaker from 2019 to 2023 before taking his current role as Chief of Staff.
Fani-Kayode described Gbajabiamila as a “profoundly good man,” commending his work in public office and service to the country. The message carries weight given both men’s positions in the current administration — one as the President’s chief gatekeeper, the other as the incoming ambassador to a key African trade partner. What to watch next: How Gbajabiamila’s extensive network — from Surulere childhood friends to the corridors of the Villa — shapes the administration’s legislative strategy in the months ahead.
The 50-year friendship is personal, but the political alignment is professional, and both men are now central to Tinubu’s operation.
