It may sound carnal but, as a Christian, the importance of ‘what if’ has never been lost on me. For instance, what if God chooses to destroy the world by flood again? What if a whole congregation chooses not to serve God again or a group of worshippers gets excommunicated from the church? What if, in dubious obedience to some devious predictions, Nigeria disintegrates this year? What if President Goodluck Jonathan, in spite of his perceived or confirmed cluelessness, wins the February 14, 2015 Nigeria’s presidential election? What if the table turns and Lagos State is off the grip of a mafia that has held it by the jugular for the past sixteen years? Walahi, the people will be better for it, more so as they will have been rescued from the bondage of political banditry.
Truth be told: I am not a member of any of Nigeria’s political parties but the choice of Jimi Agbaje as People’s Democratic Party, Lagos State governorship flag-bearer in next month’s General Elections has not only circumstantially changed my perception of Nigeria’s ruling, purportedly Africa’s largest political party but has also made its leadership in the Southwest Region earn my respect. In truth, Agbaje’s choice couldn’t have come at a more auspicious time than this, when the state is yearning for true development.
A fine gentleman and a visionary leader with rich knowledge, courage, grasp and appreciation of Lagos State’s religious and cultural diversity, JayKay, as he is fondly called, is an urbane politician and a great mind that is always willing to do his best for humanity. A peep into his ‘Masterplan For A New Lagos’ is an attestation that the pharmacist-turned-politician knows his onions and that he means well for Lagos State. He is a leader who, if elected, possesses the ‘can do’ spirit capable of clearing the Aegean’s table as well as redirect the state onto the path of greatness. His government will no doubt bring about the gathering of the state’s currently-scattered resources and their even distribution in a way that will leave all satisfied.
If, in Olusegun Obasanjo’s opinion, a leader is one who must “have the knowledge, vision, understanding, will, competence, integrity, courage and transparency, and engender trust, confidence and respect to lead” a “team without fear, favour or undue familiarity”, then, I see a Jimi Agbaje-led government not cowering to the dubious caprices of some principalities in a way that will jeopardize the hopes and aspirations of the electorate. Unlike some self-serving cult gods, Agbaje is not a leader who, for any reason, will reduce governance to a family affair just because he must remain relevant. He will neither wait drowsily nor watch idly while those he is elected to govern are slavishly driven out of where they struggle to make ends meet without providing them with alternatives on how to eke a living.
JayKay is pro-masses. He never delights in pleasing self at the expense of his followers. I have been told stories of how, following the abracadabra that attended the Lagos governorship election in 2007, rather than unceremoniously throw his campaign staff into the labour market, he used his monthly salaries as Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, JayKay Pharmacy, to pay their salaries as well as cater to their needs. And that lasted more than four straight years. According to my source, Agbaje would rather inconvenience himself than allow those around him to suffer unjustifiably.
My source also revealed that Agbaje was such a democrat who would never embarked on a mission without seeking input from members of staff, however lowly placed. A vivid example was when the now-rested Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, vice-presidential candidate slot pointed in his direction. Several meetings were held with his political constituency, including members of staff and, on each occasion, Agbaje would listen attentively and take notes. At the end of the day, he gladly preferred to “be in the cold for another period of four years” to hazarding the souls of those who’d all along stood by him.
That is why I consider All Progressive Congress, APC’s insinuation that Agbaje would sack workers if elected as a baseless, lazy, ridiculous and satanic attempt at giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it. It’s arrant nonsense; nothing but all bunkum and balderdash! It is one of the antics of a drowning leadership that is striving hard to source some lifeline. Indeed, I see a Jimi Agbaje government actually exploring and effectively exploiting “all avenues to create more jobs for the teeming masses of unemployed youths” currently “suffering under the APC government.
Speaking for myself, I have nothing against godfatherism as long as it tilts towards the betterment of the citizenry. Essentially, if it is well-intended, godfatherism could turn out to be the water at Marah. For example, the Biblical relationship between Moses and Jethro; and between Samuel and Prophet Elli in the Bible revolved around godfatherism. Karl Marx was an ardent believer in the principles of and tenets of godfatherism. The late a Senator Edward Kennedy was one of those Americans who godfathered President Barrack Obama to victory. Fidel Castro godfathered Raul, his younger brother while Hugo Chavez godfathered Nicolas Maduro. Here in Nigeria, the military godfathered Olusegun Obasanjo from the prison to the presidency while Obasanjo in turn godfathered the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, later, Goodluck Jonathan, as his successors.
However, unlike in some instances above where the godfather-godson relationship connotes ‘call to service’, godfatherism in Nigeria practically-yet-pathetically depicts politics of money whereby the godfather shamelessly demands financial and accompanying obeisance from the godson in return for some specific favours. Sadly, in our country, godfatherism is now synonymous with arson, intimidation and, sometimes, assassination. Essentially, therefore, when godfatherism not only upsets public peace but also becomes “a symptom and a cause of the violence and corruption that together permeate the political process”, I am totally opposed to it. When godfathers use their privileged positions to corner the resources of their states into their personal pockets, then, governance has become something else. When godfathers wilfully subvert the will of the electorate by allocating elective and appointive offices in ‘as the master pleases’ fashion, then the country is in a mess. When the “conventional civic sense of godfatherism of presenting credible candidates and granting them mentoral support to enhance good governance” becomes impudently jettisoned for entrepreneurial and predatory sense of politics, then, count me out!
It often amuses me to hear some politicians’ classification of selves as progressive politicians despite their glaring autocratic and anti-people credentials. In the real sense of it, who is a progressive? A Tunji Adebiyi who served Lagos State with all of his might and zeal only for the officiating priest at his burial to plead for contributions so that the children he left behind could complete their education? What manner of progressive will use people to attain power and position only to abandon them at the end of the day? Of course, that’s one area in which I disagree with anti-Bola Tinubu bashers who, in spite of genuine or perceived political frailties, has done pretty well by empowering his followers!
I may be wrong; but, on a ‘progressively’ good day, would a progressive politician like the late Obafemi Awolowo have, under whatever guise, gone cap-in-hand to solicit Olusegun Obasanjo’s help? Would a progressive leadership worth its nomenclature have attempted to lure, let alone admit, an Olagunsoye Oyinlola or a Segun Oni into its fold after the havoc they wreaked to progressive camps in Osun and Ekiti States? And, if one may ask: are the progressive legislators in the National Assembly not part of the rots that have become the defining characteristic of the Nigeria’s “Third Arm of Government”?
Still in the spirit of ‘progressive’ politicking, why did Agbaje leave the ‘progressive’ camp? Specifically, why did he leave the now-deceased and effectively-buried Action Congress, AC? Ambition? Or the quest to serve his people and leave them better than he met them? If ‘service’ is the answer, then, why did the ‘progressive’ leaders in AC allow such a valuable asset to ‘progressively’ exit its fold? Looking at it from another angle, were Agbaje to remain with these ‘progressive’ elements, would the party be having the nightmare that has now become its lot, following his choice as the PDP governorship candidate? On the other hand, if he had chosen to remain with this ‘progressive’ camp, would his democratic credentials have remained intact? Would he have remained relevant democratically? Would he have been able to find his voice? Would his dream of serving his people in truth have remained alive and kicking? What manner of development is it that leaves a greater percentage of its residents overtaxed, overburdened, pauperized and penurious? Whose Lagos is it where “God forsaken criminals” can “go to any length to achieve their set goals of wielding political power and nothing happens? Interestingly, Lateef Jakande, the first Executive Governor of Lagos State and one of the architects of modern Lagos State, is still alive. We may therefore wish to ask him if Lagos State, as it is at the moment, represents the dream of its founding fathers. For God’s sake, this ‘progressive’ camp should stop deceiving the now ‘can see’ Nigerians!
Power comes from God. The good thing about democracy and politics is that God uses the people, though the ballot box, to effect the desired change. As mortals, we can continue to discuss and strategize but, in truth, no progress can be made unless we are prepared to confront the myriad of problems presently facing us as a people, as a nation and as a state. For this reason, as February 28, 2015 draws nearer; and, as the choice between light and darkness; and between hypocrisy and sincerity stares Lagosians in the face, we all need to bear in mind that, for a better, safer and future-secured Lagos State, Jimi Agbaje as its Governor is the answer!
So, what if a ‘progressive’ losses Lagos governorship seat for a true progressive to take over?
* Ayodele Ayoola wrote in from Lagos, Nigeria.
