…continued from last week
CITIZENS COMPASS–-It’s just one controversy after the other. Something that is supposed to be very straightforward. I have all the documents of my grandfather. I have pictures of him when he was schooling, I can tell you he was here at this time, we have evidence. There’s nothing you want to tell me that you cannot find evidence for. So, these are some of the things that bring about poor leadership.
Leadership is not just about the quality of a manifesto or policy of documentation. It includes character, compassion capacity, intellectual capacity. When you put your leader in front of other world leaders, you should be able to feel that that leader is an intellectual giant. And you know what’s so painful? Even in this country, when you meet Nigerians, you will know that we have brains. We are highly intelligent people that can be seen all over the world. But look at the quality of our leaders. The only person that I can speak confidently and say he achieved that attribute was Obasanjo. He was a Titan intellectually. You cannot rubbish him. I will pause on the situation of poor leadership.
And the last one, which really also stands for poor leadership, is that we don’t have leaders, we have rulers. A leader leads from the front. A leader tells you to follow him because he has told you about a vision and you have been brought into the vision. So, you are following him. A ruler you have him whether you like it or not. He tells you “Go there”, you have to go there. He might not come out of his palace for a whole year but if he tells you to go to the market and bring yam, you must go there and bring yam. You must adore him not because of his intelligence or capacity, but he’s just a ruler. That’s why they come and they buy their way into the office. So, they don’t have to be accountable to anybody. They can do anyhow. They can steal money and use that money to buy their way into that office again. Those are rulers.
A leader has to highlight or explain a vision for a country. Short term, medium term, long term. A big vision. Now look at the vision of China, when they started on their journey.
There are people that will rule over a country or lead a country and the people will say, “Oga, stay, stay, please, you are not going anywhere”. Because they can see the vision manifesting.
Like in Burkina Faso, where people asked a military man to please stay there?
Exactly! So, well, people might give many excuses and say, “Okay, on the ethnic background, there was this, there was that”, the poor man on the street…. But, if the politicians are fighting because you want positions but if they go and impact that poor man on the street, the talakawas, people in the ghetto and you are elevating them out of poverty, nobody is going to be talking nonsense, if they can feel your governance. So, that is it. And you know, we need justice. If justice is strong in the society, it will really flourish.
Would you say that the loss suffered by the president to the Labour Party in Lagos in 2023 is why you are going into this contest again?
It’s not about the loss of the president in the last election in Lagos State. President Tinubu was not campaigning when Jimi Agbaje was contesting, and they were calling him Jimi Chukwu, and they were putting banners up, saying that Jimi Agbaje was the governor of the South-Easterners. Once a Yoruba man stands up to challenge the hegemony of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the first thing they attack is his Yorubaness. They will take his Yorubaness away from him. You have a titan like the late Chief Ayo Adebanjo, because he supported somebody else, they were questioning his heritage. They said his mother is Igbo, they started creating lies. Same thing with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a man that delivered the best performing economy, whether you like him or not, the numbers do not lie. I remembered when I was in school when this man was president, all my mates in America were all rushing to come back to Nigeria because we were afraid that we were missing out on something, right? He delivered that. Now, because he does not support you, you are now creating stories about who his father is Igbo and all that.
You know, I just gave an example of Jimi Agbaje being called Jimi Chukwu. You see, when people don’t have a vision to sell, they sell divisions. Do you understand? Can you imagine if somebody like Prof. Osinbajo was contesting for president, do you honestly think that he would have been playing tribal card? When you don’t have anything to say, you don’t have anything to sell, that’s when you bring things like this up. It’s stupidity, they are taking advantage of our lack of knowledge and if we continue falling for these people, I am sorry, but we are being stupid. At some point, we have to tell ourselves the truth. If we continue the same thing over and over again, it is madness, if we expect a different result.
But, look, you are a Lagosian and the situation as it is now we have Lagosians, who are backers of Tinubu. In fact, they have sustained him so far in government. What do you say to that because Lagosians are also behind him?
There are people that kidnapped people to sell and then called them slaves. And you point to the white man and say the white man is bad for doing it, but your brother was kidnapping people, I am talking about neighbours kidnapping people at night and selling them. There are a lot of people that only care about themselves, their pockets and their family.
They will go back to Lagos Island and see what Lagos Island has become and they will close their eyes. They don’t care because they have access to the president. The president has put some of their children in government. The president has taken care of them. They have access to him. When he calls them, they can come to his house, and it is a disgrace. You see, Lagos in general, and not just Lagos Island, Epe, Ikorodu, Badagry, you have places where people made so much impact that their history is so well documented, so they know what Lagos has been. It’s not about “Oh I think”, you know. These streets that are flooding today, Herbert Macaulay walked on these streets. Henry Carr walked on these streets, we know how Nigeria was formed in Lagos. So for you to go there and sit now and just pretend as if you don’t know, as if you don’t know what your grandparents passed down to you, or the legacy, and you just want to close your eyes and say you are backing someone because of your unselfishness, I mean, history will judge all of them, ultimately. History will judge all of them.
And ultimately, you know, some other people will stand. A whole bunch of Lagosians that want to be at the helm of affairs of their state should be in control of the indigenes of the state. A whole bunch of people are shouting that call and crying about it, it’s not even about right or wrong, it’s about fairness, it’s about justice.
Right, a Dosumu cannot go and become governor in Ogun State, because everybody says Lagos is a Yoruba Land. Okay, fine! Lagos is linked to the South West and Lagos is Yoruba, fine. But the indigenes of this same Lagos cannot go and be senator, even local government chairman in Osun, in Ondo, in Ekiti, it can never happen. Then, when you had a James Faleke representing Ikeja, then you now went and ran for deputy governorship seat in Kogi State. Or you have a commissioner like Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in Lagos State Government that then went to become governor in Osun State, or you have Senator Olamilekan Solomon (Yayi) that was serving Lagos West, and then he now went to go and become Senator for Ogun West. It’s not reciprocal (Laughs). It’s not reciprocal.
And even this thing, we are even talking far, can an Osun man go and run for the governorship seat in Ekiti? Can an Ondo man go and run for local government chairmanship position in Ekiti? It is not possible. So, this whole idea about Yorubaland only has a say in Lagos because, again, it’s a distraction. It’s a form of mental colonisation and a form of just trying to take the voice away from indigenes of Lagos, or people that describe themselves as Lagosians and this is their only home. And when it comes to talking about fairness, people should look at it and say, “Why not? We are all here, we are all benefiting. These people don’t have any other place they can go. Let them control their state. That will even be better. Let’s try it.” The person’s that see this place as their legacy, right? The way they will hold something will be different from some other persons that still have another place to go. It’s just the truth, whether you like it or not.
The ADC, a new coalition is a household name, how do you see the development?
So for me, for the longest time, I have made it clear that the only way to face the APC is by forming a coalition. There is no group that can face President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by themselves. You saw how tightly contested 2023 was. If we are fair, you will see that there was an attempt by former President Muhammadu Buhari, now late, to conduct a free and fair election. There was a genuine attempt that we’ve seen, to ensure that the election would not be monetised. Now, that’s not going to be the case. You have seen a huge amount of money that is being borrowed by this government, that is what they are using the money for. A lot of these funds would come in to monetize these elections.
So you need a coalition. We cannot afford to divide the opposition. And dividing the opposition is not just in votes, it’s in ideas, it’s in strategy, it’s in network, it’s in working together. Those forces coming together will be extremely formidable. So in my opinion, you know, and when you even add Peter Obi’s votes to those of His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar’s votes, they defeated Tinubu’s votes with almost 5 (five) million votes. Now, 5million votes is a very hard number to reach. You cannot just hide five million votes, you can try it and change 10 to 100, 20 to 120, to do that to get to 5 million votes, to cover 5million votes, it becomes a very, very difficult task.
So I am of the opinion that we need a coalition. We need a united opposition. And my hope is that reason will prevail and we will be able to get an opposition that flies a ticket that Nigerians can truly buy into. I am not talking about a section of the country. I am talking about the whole of Nigeria because the suffering of the whole of Nigeria is not shared by just one section of the country, it is shared by all of us. Bad governance is shared by all of us. Right, it might not be you that terrorists are coming to your farm and chasing you away from the farm, but it is you that is going to the market and buying tomatoes that are much more expensive. It’s connected. It might not be you that is sending your children to public schools that the education quality is very bad, but it is you that’s struggling to find skilled staff that are going to be able to work for you. You might have the money, you might have everything to side step all the bad situations of bad governance, but bad governance would still find it, it will affect you. So this is the thinking that we must imbibe as Nigeria from all classes, from all sections, from farmers to the bank CEOs. If the government is working, if Nigeria is working all of us will be better for it.
Ahead of 2027, do you see the PDP still maintaining its name as the main opposition party?
The coalition is a reflection now of the new type of politics we have come into. There was a time when it was not so much about the person, it was about the party. If you have a solid party, there are solid men on ground in every state, they will put everything together to work for you and deliver you. But what His Excellency Peter Obi has shown is a new type of politics, a reflection of a new type of Nigerian, a new type of person, that is looking at the individual. Also, that is tied to the new type of way we live. Our phones are always with us. So you can fall in love with a candidate, not necessarily the party. You can watch his videos, you can do research.
At the time when you were 15 or when you were 18 and you were coming of age to vote, you did not have a place where you could just Google and see how somebody performed four, five, six years ago. Now you have that at the palm of your fingertips. How did Peter Obi manage his budget? How did Atiku create employment or investment and you get the answer right away? So now, people are not googling how the PDP performed. No. They are googling personalities. So, when those personalities come together in a place, the party now becomes strong. Before it was about the party, now it’s about the personalities coming together, and even the individuals themselves. You know that the Labour Party did not have any structure, but in most parts of Nigeria, you can see the number of votes he garnered. The effect of Peter Obi coming into the Labour Party and total votes garnered by the party that has no structure, and in a situation where 70percent of the polling units were not manned, right. Now, you have a situation where people are more passionate about individuals, because if you really look at it, there is no party with any real ideology. You might have ideology on paper, we are not there yet. So it is not so much about the party, it’s about the individuals that make up that coalition.
Don’t you think the strategy of instigating a crisis in the opposition is being used against the ADC? Talking about individuals, there is also the PDP trying to woo Peter Obi back into its fold, in other words trying to break the ranks of ADC and the momentum already gathering, how do you read the game?
The game is a very dynamic one, I don’t think Nigeria has experienced this kind of dynamism in its politics at least since I have been in my adult years to even understand or observe what is going on. It’s a very very dynamic one. The people that we are up against are very solid politicians in terms of their idea of playing the game of politics. Not so much in terms of governance. Their focus and their strength are mainly on politics. These intrigues, creating problems in parties, so they extinguish the opponents, so they don’t have to face them. There is fear of competition because they are not doing enough that makes them believe that when you show the people what is being done, you will be given a second term. Because they are not doing that, their main strategy is to destroy any party that wants to stand up and put a mirror to their face.
Now, think about it, if a person is doing well, if you have truly impacted the lives of people you are leading, you will want to show off. Who are you? Who is your father, come and debate, you would like to say that? Can you imagine a Lagosian like the late Chief Lateef Jakande with everything he did, resorting to bigotry in an election? I cannot imagine it. Maybe, I was too young, I did not know, but I have read a lot about the man.
I have to look at the things he did, I have researched about the man. In fact, I am reading a third book on him right now. He was a man that deliberately made sure that his businesses were completely separated from the government and also the businesses of those people around him as well. You can see the car he was driving when he was governor, it was his personal car. When he retired, he remained in his house; he did not take over the government’s guest house on Bourdillon or former Deputy Governor’s House on Queens Drive, right. And you can see a man that brought his all for the benefit of Lagosians.
Jakande brought substance. He brought value. When you are bringing substance and value, you want to show it. You want to talk about it. And that’s what you see Peter Orbi doing, every time, he comes with data. He has gone to Egypt to go and see how they are generating power. He has understudied and wants to share his ideas. So he is not trying to divide people because he wants to govern on your view. If all of you are happy and you are working well, that would also make my life easier.
So all these tribal things they are doing, what has it come to? A lot of people would tell you that all these demolitions they are doing and things they were doing were targeted. Meanwhile, all your canals are overgrown with weeds, your gutters are uncovered, you are not disposing off your waste in a timely fashion, and you are destroying people’s houses you gave approval for directly or indirectly. Now, whether it’s a fact or not, if a person feels or believes this is ethnicity motivated and violence is triggered from that and then escalated, would the governor be happy, would the president be happy?
The people who have love for Lagos do not want people fighting. They do not want division. The only thing you might hear some people say as indigenes is let us also have a say in our affairs. Which is fair. That is not divisive. That is not violence. People feel bullied. They feel intimidated, let us have a right.
Still on the coalition, we are seeing there is a gathering of people of heavyweights for a common purpose at the federal level, how are you galvanising for Lagos?
We are galvanising because there are a whole bunch of people that are coming together. We are having stakeholders meetings. We are interacting with people, we are building our structures, we are mobilising. And because again, the same thing is going to reflect down here even those that were upset with the ruling party, they have joined us. We have the intention to work together and we pray God will grant us the wisdom and unity of purpose to sail through.
So, the coalition has adopted ADC as its party for the coalition. So, whether you are from PDP, whether you are from APC, whether you are from SDP, this is the party we are adopting. So, you have to join the party. How are you going to participate in congress if you are not a member of the party? ADC has been adopted by the leaders of the coalition. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I think that even if other parties are registered, they will be brought into the coalition.
How are you preparing to face the challenge of thuggery, and the police, in various polling units, come the 2027 election?
We are letting people know from the beginning of our campaign that this is not a situation where you are going to vote and go home. All these thugs, all these Agberos, how many are they compared to us? The reason they can do these things is because they go after one person, and everybody else is going, and everybody’s running away. Look at what happened during #EndSARS when they brought buses of these thugs with matchets to Alausa, they were chased and they ran away.
So we must be organised, our campaign is going to sensitise people, and we are making a lot of arrangements, I assure you. It is very painful to understand that the people who have been in charge of the state for over 20 years have to resort to violence and intimidation to win an election. They have had the benefit of over 20 years, I should not even be a threat, I should not be a challenge, I am just 42 year old. I contested when I was 40 years old, right. I should not be a challenge no matter how smart I am if they have touched the lives of the people. They should be able to say omo boy, just sit down, ehn, these people are doing well for us, our life is better, our children are in good schools, let them continue. These people they are ruling over, what is it that they want? Do you think that the people in Ojo or Ajeromi or Amuwo do not like Tinubu, just because he is Yoruba? No, it is because they have been dealing with bad governance.
Badagry Local Government is made up of indigenous Lagosians, yet they consistently vote in favour of the opposition. Why? Because they have been abandoned for a long time, and they are also part of the state. For the longest time, what the government do is to punish them more. Oh! you did not vote for me, no development is coming to you. Now, it has built that resentment to the extent that it is now what it is. After a while, opposition is making issues, they now went and do that Badagry Road.
Issue-based politics is what we should be doing, even if you don’t like a politician, you should always encourage issue-based conversation, because it will put fire on under the ruling party that they need to do this thing. And when I think about it, you realize that these people have no desire. You see, they see Lagosians as an inconvenience. It’s unfortunate that need the Lagosians for elections.
Ideally, the APC is just a special purpose vehicle to generate a lot of money for the people in the APC corridors of power and their colleagues. This is because when you see the way they handle things, you realise that it’s not love. I mean, if I want to run for an election now, and Ikorodu people do not vote for me, or Epe people do not vote for me or I did not do well there, my reaction would be to go and make them fall in love with me. As soon as I get into office, I can build a satellite secretariat there, I will spend time there, I will be interacting with them, I will do their roads, I will do things that would make them fall in love with me. That’s the normal reaction because I am a Lagosian and I love Lagos. So you don’t like me, don’t worry I will make you fall in love with me.
It would not come to my mind to be beating you, punishing you, not bringing development to you, getting unemployed young men, empowering them with weapons and drugs, to come and be beating fellow Lagosians. What does that say about the kind of person you are? A lot of times you clap and you say it’s politics. No, no. It’s not politics. It is the crop of people and their behaviour. It is not politics. Politics does not have to be like that. I cannot imagine that, a well-behaved person, a well-brought up person should not think like that. Because if you are in politics, you are there to serve, to love, to shepherd, to guard.
So there is a lot of work we are doing at community level to make sure that people would not be out to intimidate our people in the next election.
