Re: Fashola’s signal of ingratitude

SIR: I read with amazement Mobolaji Sanusi’s article in The Nation of Friday, June 5. There’s no doubt Mobolaji Sanusi is a highly cerebral columnist.  You do not expect anything less from someone who has training in law and journalism.

However, in writing the piece in issue, I believe that Sanusi only succeeded in elevating pettiness into an art. I had to read the article twice to really discover the signal of ‘ingratitude’ that was the focus of Sanusi’s diatribe against Babatunde Fashola, SAN, the immediate past Governor of Lagos State.

Fashola’s crime that necessitated the said article was his ‘omission’ or ‘commission’ to publicly mention the name of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu during his address at the inauguration of Akinwunmi Ambode as the 14th Governor of Lagos State.

According to Sanusi, “Fashola consciously missed during Ambode’s inauguration, being his last public official opportunity, to show the entire world that he is capable of showing gratitude to whom it is robustly due. What a repulsive example-and indeed a bad signal-from a supposed former governor of example!”

Having worked with Fashola, first as his Senior Special Assistant on Taxation and Revenue during his first term in office, and later as his Senior Special Assistant on Justice Sector Reform in second and final term, I know without a shadow of doubt and without holding brief for him that Fashola is forever appreciative of every good deed.

It strikes me as very strange that Sanusi would devote an entire article to the omission of Fashola to mention our revered Asiwaju by name and thereby concluded magisterially that Fashola was ungrateful to his political benefactor and leader. If the article is Sanusi’s personal opinion, he is perfectly entitled to hold such.

However, the columnist went off tangent when he became the judge of people’s mood and facial expression when he declared with magisterial air that: “…At this point at the venue of inauguration of the new governor, the mood of the crowd and facial expressions of many showed stern disagreement to the ungrateful posturing of Fashola by skipping Tinubu’s name which could not have been an oversight.”

In the paragraph, Sanusi became the judge of people’s mood and expression. He was also able to read Fashola’s mind that the omission to mention Tinubu’s name could not have been an oversight. What an omniscient columnist!

It is very doubtful that Asiwaju Tinubu, our hero and leader, would conclude that Fashola is ungrateful by this oversight. It is my personal opinion that Asiwaju, like all other great leaders, did not attain Olympian height by dignifying molehills as mountains the way my brother sought to do in his article under discussion. Asiwaju has demonstrated in words and deeds that the politics and governance is not about individual but about the country, the state and the people.

Contrary to the picture that Sanusi seeks to paint of Fashola as an ingrate, BRF is not a stream that forgets its source. The best form of appreciation that BRF could have ever shown to Asiwaju is that he did not let him down as a worthy successor. It is a matter of common knowledge that Fashola stood out amongst successors. Whilst other successors became estranged from their benefactors immediately after entering the State House, Fashola is arguably one of the few that did not allow power to becloud his reasoning. Fashola was able to build upon the illustrious foundation laid by Asiwaju to raise the bar of governance in Lagos State.

Fashola also shows that he is forever grateful to his mentor by ensuring continuity of Asiwaju’s projects and lofty ideas. Unlike successors who thrive on dismantling the building blocks of their predecessors, Fashola consolidated and expanded the good works of Asiwaju. That Lagos today is a success story is due, in the main, to the combination of Asiwaju’s vision and Fashola’s dedication. Is it therefore surprising that Asiwaju himself observed that: “What we have achieved politically in Lagos and Nigeria is a result of team work, political compatibility and vision”?

Whilst Sanusi is entitled to his opinion and to express same in any manner he may deem fit, there is no need to be uncharitable to Fashola by crying wolf where there is none. Fashola will forever be appreciative to God who used the instrumentality of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to allow him to serve the good people of Lagos State.

• Lanre Akinsola,

Lagos