“Gbagaun, gidon, gbagaun…(Town crier rings)”
My people, the second round of elections is here and the battle is on (Town
crier leaves)! The race to see who will
become the Governor of the states is about to begin but of the thirty six, only
twenty nine will be holding gubernatorial elections this year. Previous election
results that were overturned by the courts are the reason for this state of
affairs but I do not believe that staggered elections hurt our democracy; on
the contrary, I believe they help it. Now, of those set to rumble, the polls seem
already decided in places like Delta and Katsina (judging from the massive
one-sidedness seen in round one, the presidential). That notwithstanding, there
are still those for whom the decision is far from made, their races are tight
and too close to call, for instance Plateau and Lagos. Alas, the tides have changed since the outcome
of the first round; allegiances have shifted, smiles have turned to frowns and
frowns to smiles, even new words have been created: jega – to be calm and
orubebe – to disturb/make noise, so we have to buckle up and hold on to our
seats, this is a wild election, and guns are blazing.
These 2015 elections have so far seen the
awakening of the average Nigerian; the nation just seems to have woken up from its
Snow White like slumber. If you ask me, I think it was hunger that woke the
people up, as I am sure you will agree, ‘hunger no dey allow man sleep’. So no
matter the evil witches (political parties) or their poison apples (stomach
infrastructure), hunger (no need for explanation) is sure to overcome all. The
war of the kings has been fought and now, would be generals are lining up, throwing
their hats in the ring, to see who will reign alongside the new king of
NairaLand. I have already written my letter to President Buhari, maybe he will hire me as a Dark Knight in his new administration.
The general (governor) of
Lagos as we should know is like the second president of Nigeria, he is one of
the only citizens, except the first lady of course, that can battle the number
one citizen and survive (ask Tinubu or Obasanjo). Lagos is a special state, not
only for its economic might but also for its vast collection of Nigerians. I
often like to believe that the 371 tribes and 521 languages in the country are well
represented within the borders of Las Gidi (Lagos). The population of the state
(about 21 million) rivals that of countries like Ghana (24 million) and
surpasses others like Belarus and Togo (about 9 million each) and the 3,577 sq.km
that is Lagos is probably one of the most densely African populated areas in
the world. So, permit me to focus on one particular showdown; the scuttle in
the South-West, the clash for the commercial capital, the battle for Lagos!
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| Lagos (Image Source) |
The contestants in this Lagos 2015
race are Mr Jimi Agbaje of the PDP and Mr Akinwunmi Ambode of the APC, both
with female deputies. The two sides have not relented in their campaigns,
reeling out slogans and theme songs at every turn, a lot of these are quite
catchy (I sing some of them in the shower). The battle for Eko has seen many accusations and counter accusations shot and
dodged but neither contestant has been seen to be losing his cool, both
feathers are completely unruffled, what poise! The only unfortunate phenomenon
in this chronicle is the wedge being driven into cracks that are tribal divides.
Indigenes are pitted against non-indigenes, Yoruba against Igbo; we will get to
that later.
First, let’s get to know
our candidates a bit better. Mr Jimi Agbaje aka uncle JK is a pharmacist by
profession, a business man who has risen up the ranks of his industry, owning
his own pharmaceutical and chemical company since 1982. He has been elected to
sensitive positions in Nigeria’s professional pharmaceutical bodies, working
with Lagos and has been a politician since 2005. Mr Akinwunmi Ambode aka uncle
Ambo is an accountant, an administrator and a public finance management expert.
He is a civil servant of many years and has been one of the key players in the affairs
of Lagos state since the times of the new evil genius (IBB is the old evil
genius), the godfather of APC himself, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Back to the divides, the Oba of Lagos,
Oba Rilwan Akiolu, recently generated some commotion in his domain with a
rather unbefitting statement from a traditional ruler. The retired police
officer was reported as saying that the Igbo people who are resident in the
state would drown in the Lagos Lagoons if they refused to vote for the
candidate of his choice. The statement expectedly drew criticism and ire,
bringing even the youths (like myself) into the discussion on facebook, twitter
and other social media platforms. Oba Rilwan Akiolu’s words were to say the
least very inciting but I hear he has tendered some apologies for his rancorous
words.
As we have seen from the presidential
elections, the polls in Lagos are divided almost equally between the two
leading political parties. Certain factions of the people want change in the
state just as they have seen in the presidential scenario; others are of the
opinion that this is potentially the first time Lagos will ally politically with
the Federal Government. As with Nigeria Decides there are pros and cons to each side of the divide. On one hand,
I believe a balance of powers is necessary. This balance of powers is what
allowed an opposition party such as the APC to rise and defeat the incumbent
government, a system of checks and balances is needed in any democratic
institution and what better check than the second president of Nigeria going to
the opposition. On the other hand, Lagos has honestly achieved a lot without
explicit support from Abuja, one can only imagine what possibilities lie ahead
of a Lagos receiving its due from the ‘oga on top’. A collusion of two great
powers has a potentially limitless bound; I even shudder at the thought of what
could be.
As JK mockingly calls for
‘Change’ in Lagos, Uncle Fash (Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola) writes his
citizens a letter where he claims that APC has a better track record than its
greatest opposition, the PDP. I must, however, cordially and unbiasedly remind
him that the APC is a new party and is not necessarily the same as ACN or AC
but I cannot argue with him on the issue on Fire service. Call them APC or
ACN, the fire on 23 Road - Festac Lagos is a testament to the Lagos fire service. So, should we trust Uncle
Fash?
The political season is
coming to an end, after this second round, the politics and all its attendant
fanfare will be gone with the wind. Will the third time runner, Jimi Agbaje win
or will four be his lucky number like Buhari, meaning that he will concede this
round to Asiwaju’s anointed, Akinwunmi Ambode. Whatever history will record
will be determined by your votes, however, I am disappointed to say that of the
about 5.8 million registered voters in Lagos, only 3.8 million collected their
Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVC) and even a more abysmal number, 1.5 million
actually turned up to vote for round one, out of a total population of about 21
million (7% turn out). Would you be happy if this was your child’s exam score?
Please for round two, don’t disappoint me, come out and vote. I leave you with
a quote from Uncle Fash:
“They have handed today to you and I,
can we secure tomorrow for the next generation” – Babatunde Raji Fashola.
Don’t disregard the labour of our
heroes past, may the man with the most votes win. Eku elections (Happy election)!
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| (Image Source) |
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