Nigerians and indeed Lagosians have been thrown into mourning as the first military governor of the state, Brig-Gen. Mobolaji Olufunso Johnson (retd.), has died at the age of 83.
According to one of his children, Deji, Brig. Gen. Johnson passed on in a private hospital in the state after a brief illness.
The late Gen. Johnson was appointed Military Administrator by the then military Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, in 1966 and later, another Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon appointed him the Military Governor of Lagos.
Brig. Gen. Johnson served in that capacity between 1966 and 1975 when he was compulsorily retired by another former Head of State, the late Gen. Murtala Mohammed.
However, he and the military governor of Western State were separated from the pack of colleagues who were indicted for alleged corruption.
He retired from the Nigerian Army in 1975 and went into private business, becoming the Chairman of giant construction company, Julius Berger.
Brig. Gen. Johnson was born on February 9, 1936. His administration saw the building of major infrastructure in Lagos State, some which are still lasting legacies till date.
In 1975, at the inception of the Gen. Mohammed administration, Johnson was one of the two governors (along with the Brig. Oluwole Rotimi) who were not found guilty of corruption by the three-man panel set up to investigate the various allegations of corruption amongst the State Governors.
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