Apart from his political ambitions, GRV is well-known in Nigeria for his activism in the areas of good governance, human rights, and youth empowerment. He founded a number of non-profit organizations, including The Freedom Foundation and Project Africa. He has also received recognition for his architectural designs, winning several awards in the field.
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour Education
He attended Chrisland primary and secondary schools until JSS3, and then went to Paris to finish his secondary education at Ecol Artive Berlin.
He holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Nottingham and a Master of Architecture degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
He joined the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) after finishing his first master’s degree in 2008 and completed it in 2009.
He later earned a second master’s degree from the University of Lagos in Research and Public Policy (UNILAG).
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour Age
He turned 40 on March 8. On his 40th birthday, instead of celebrating, he spent part of the day campaigning. He also went to visit and empathize with the traders who were victims of the Ajegunle spare parts market whose shops were burnt down as a result of the electoral tensions leading to the March 18 gubernatorial polls.
After inspecting and talking to the traders, he donated N15m as part of his support towards cushioning the traders’ pains and promised to rebuild the entire market when elected governor.
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour Father and Mother
Rhodes-Vivour comes from a family of lawyers. He is the son of Barrister Olawale and Mrs. Nkechi Rhodes-Vivour. His uncle is former Supreme Court Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, and his grandfather is the late Judge Akinwunmi Rhodes-Vivour. He is the great-grandson of Steven Bankole Rhodes, the country’s second indigenous judge.
Reacting to a viral message claiming he is an Igbo man, purporting that he was born out of wedlock and not raised by his father. Gbadebo said, “I am a Lagos boy, an Omo Eko Proper, no doubt! To those doubting my Yoruba pedigree, I advise you to read Lagos history if, as a Lagosian, you don’t know the Rhodes-Vivour family pedigree and our stellar contributions to the development of Lagos – foremost legal luminaries and judges from the 1800s such as Steven Bankole Rhodes, to my uncle the Supreme Court Judge Bode Rhodes-Vivour and my father, Barrister Olawale Rhodes –Vivour, a lawyer.
“The land upon which City Hall is built belongs to my family. My great parents’ estate owned the largest plantation in Lagos. I am an original Omo onile olona of Lagos. With so many high flyers in this Yoruba family that I have to emulate and surpass, I hardly have time for the 1939 April Fool’s day joke that ignited the Yoruba versus Igbo rivalry and its current divisive effects,” he said.
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour Wife
He is married to Dr. Ify Rhodes-Vivour (née Aniebo), a molecular geneticist by profession, who is the daughter of Augustine Aniebo, the former military administrator of Kogi and Borno states.
Career
When he was in the United Kingdom, he worked for Franklin Ellis Architects. Before entering politics, he worked for SISA, Cliff Consulting (now Building Partnership CCP), and Patrick Wayi in Nigeria.
Political career
Rhodes-Vivour ran for the Ikeja Local Government Area chairmanship under the KOWA party in 2017. He claimed that the lack of godfatherism in the party drove him to run under the platform. He was defeated by the incumbent APC candidate.
In 2019, he ran for the Senate seat of Lagos West on the PDP ticket. His campaign points were to revamp the infrastructure within the district and well as to get out the incumbent who he terms as a “absentee senator spending more resources pursuing a futile governorship bid in Ogun State, rather than focus on Lagos West that has already given him their mandate.”
He finished second in the final polls, trailing incumbent senator and former ruling party APC candidate Adeola ‘Yayi’ Olamilekanola by 243,516 votes to Adeola’s 323,817. Rhodes-Vivour received 39.40% of the votes, while Adeola received 41.38%. He challenged the outcome in court, citing electoral violence and disruptions as reasons why the outcome should not be considered valid.
He is the Labour Party’s gubernatorial candidate for the Lagos State gubernatorial election in 2023. He was initially one of the nominees preparing to run for the PDP but backed out just before the primary election.
He crossed over to the Labour Party, contesting a substitute election in which the party’s substantive candidate was to be chosen, and won with 111 votes, defeating former All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Moshood Salvador, who received 102 votes.
