L’ojo Monday, Eko o ni gba-gba-kugba [On Monday morning, Lagos takes no nonsense] — Fela
Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu (BOS), who now wants to be called “Mr. Governor”, dropping the conventional prefix of “His Excellency”, seems condemned to the fickleness of Lagos.
That fickleness is rooted in the city’s proud impatience, as noted in Fela’s famous lyrics; itself drawn from a popular street lingo, with which the denizens of the fast-paced commercial hub serenade selves.
Lagos, a hustler’s paradise, simply brooks no sme-sme — the Lagos lingo for slackness!
Still, the ever busy traditional Eko isn’t quite the crazy sprawl of present Lagos: a tiny space hurtling with boisterous hustlers; pushing their democratic right to rudeness and petulance, in their zero tolerance for pain and allied discomfort.
When economic migrants from all over Nigeria rumble with the traditional Eko impatience, that impish fickleness is never far away!
Besides, it’s the season of the social media, at its anti-social worst! In that all-comer’s party, millions of voices rumble with irreverent thunder: from the honest, the earnest and the reasoned; to the bilious, the bigot and the diabolically partisan.
Poor BOS is caught in this fearsome flak — basically on the generally sorry state of Lagos roads — and it all appears to get to him!
This irreverent army has dismissed the governor as “point and kill” — the very caricature of his gubernatorial exertions and gesticulations, to fix the very problems they rage about.
But BOS need not be fazed. The fickle are driven by extremes. The one that rails loudest today will praise loudest tomorrow, when the problem is history; and is seen to be so.
Besides those who condemn first and think later, always belong to the garbage of history.
From 1999 to 2001 or thereabouts, when Governor Bola Tinubu and his cabinet were fixing the Lagos ruin, left behind by the departed military, they were not short of traducers.
Even further back, while working those epochal social and physical wonders, that made the pre-independent Western Region a clear Nigerian pacesetter, the great Chief Obafemi Awolowo was never short of caustic naysayers.
That is why the governor should take this solace: the offspring of those that rushed to mock Awo in the old Western Region, and even Tinubu back in 1999, are among those who sing the fulsome praise of both today.
BOS should, therefore, fix his eyes on the ball. Those who nail him today would, with equal zest, hail him tomorrow. But that is if he gets the job done.
Still, though not apparent to many, BOS appears to have imbued a vital lesson — how a governor relates with his predecessor. Akinwunmi Ambode was not that endowed. But see his comeuppance today, on that score?
Ambode’s predecessor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, now Works and Housing Minister, left a far better Lagos for Ambode, than Ambode bequeathed BOS.
Fashola earned high — and fair — praise for his high intellect and high-mindedness.
His parting records too were sparkling: the roads, which have all but gone to seeds, four years after his departure, were much better. The Okokomaiko-Mile 2-Orile-CMS light rail corridor seemed coming to life.
Under him too, Lagos thought it had won its notorious refuse war, a combat which Tinubu had fiercely launched; and which Fashola zestfully pushed, in the best tradition of continuity.
Even the Okada menace, Fashola seemed to have had under control, and would probably have won; had his tenure not been terminated, after his two constitutionally allowed four-year terms.
His only Achilles heels, however, was the legitimate charge that he was more elitist than populist, a charge that resonated with the bulk of the Lagos hoi polloi, in their Alagbado, Alakuko and Tabon-Tabon redoubts, even if they still revered the governor — and, of course, some intra-chamber rumblings, within the Lagos ruling bloc, as stalwarts push and pull to corral influence.
But despite all of Fashola’s parting goodwill, Ambode decided to throw him under the bus, on some state government-commissioned website, on alleged high costs.
Though the issue would appear more phantom than real, the ever distracted media, particularly the social media segment, ever sniffing for salacious tales, lapped on to the alleged rot. All, however, would peter out, after the initial, impassioned nosing for sleaze.
Read Also: Lagos seeks CBN partnership to boost SMEs growth
Still, see the tricks Karma is playing on Ambode today? No thanks to his kerfuffle with the Lagos legislature, the one that wanted to throw his predecessor under the bus, is being thrown under a moving train, but for a legal freeze!
Ay, many have claimed whatever is happening in Lagos is less Karma, and more of in-fighting within the ruling order, simply because Ambode has been, by far, the most disruptive in that chamber, since 1999. Maybe.
But the moral is clear: Ambode that assayed roasting another, is himself being badly roasted by others! This is rather unfortunate. Even with all his fair short-comings, Ambode appears condemned, at least for now, to being painted blacker than he really is.
That is neither fair to Ambode nor good for the Lagos ruling order. Despite some rotten personal choices, Ambode still chalked spectacular legacies in rural infrastructure upgrades: witness Epe and rural Alimoso. He therefore ought to get his due plaudits, even as he reels from fair knocks.
The good thing here though, is that BOS has refrained from undermining his predecessor, even if not a few feel much of his present challenges are due to Ambode’s tragic distraction.
Ambode’s shock of not nailing a second term, which should have been routine, led to a clear de-motivation, which has now put his successor in the hole.
That all but explains the governor’s present bind, and the roasting from his fickle traducers — hardly surprising! As ace musician Tu-Baba would croon, no paddy for (Lagos) jungle!
But that granite challenge also presents granite opportunities, for BOS to come good and earn his own pips.
The roads, of course, are the immediate focus — enforced low hanging fruits denizens of Lagos can’t wait to pluck and savour, now that the rains are abating! Ridding the streets of refuse is another.
Then, the light rail. That would take some tough cobbling together of scarce cash! But rail might well be the organic answer to the Okada and Marwa tricycle shuttle challenge, which should never have been part of the transport mix, in a bustling 21st century Lagos.
Of course, BOS must learn from the Ambode pitfall: always maintain a cool head; and, from fleeting power, learn to be least disruptive.
If he gets it right — and he has little choice — Lagos wailers will turn hailers; and in their hearts, don BOS in the garb of “His Excellency”, which he just shunned, in the searing heat, of the executive kitchen.
‘It’s the season of the social media, at its anti-social worst! In that all-comer’s party, millions of voices rumble with irreverent thunder’
Leave a Reply