The Oba of Lagos, was said to have threatened the Igbo community in
his domain with immediate destruction if they were found to have
worked against his ‘interest’ in the forthcoming gubernatorial
showing. In a message that had gone viral he was alleged to have said
threatened them with a ‘lagoon murder’ if they failed to vote for
Ambode, the APC’s flagbear and the monarch’s interest.
It was a dishonourable statement that sulled the royalty of a throne
and exposed the seething haughtiness of one who should be a father to
all but for partisanship, has lost sight of responsibility. The threat
even as it remains weightless as to make a fretting of those
referred, was a stride to dishonor; and should be meted with a
defiance. It should assume a reason Ambode shouldn’t be voted for; at
least to prove to the Oba the inalienability of the people’s right to
choose freely.
Sadly as that could be, it further brings to focus the inordinate
ambition of godfathers and how dirty they could be in manipulating
their stooges to uncoordinated obeisance.
The unpopularity which the reliance on the grace of some super-powers
for relevance has on our political culture is withering. This is
because, in whatever form it is, we discover that it’s anti-democratic
because it clearly robs the beneficiary of the liberty to exhibit to
the depth his obligation to serve the people in a holistic manner.
Whichever perspective we seek to ponder on the influence of
super-powers on Ambode we will never refute the implication of such to
the general well being of the ordinary people for who response
government is made.
Shall we consider it in the line of a rather welcoming basis of
ensuring continuity in the voyage of good governance. We could suggest
that perceivably the acclaimed owners of Lagos have mapped out a
stellar strategy of putting Lagos in the light as a city of great
aesthetics and so felt the need to project someone, whom they believe
will be subservient to key into the ‘Marshal Plan’ and consolidate the
journey begun.
Are we to consider it in the other more condemnable angle where the
sole intent of the godfathers is to plant the stooge for the
indecorous diversion of state’s resources to private pockets and bags.
This is often the more probable for the influence of godfatherism as
it has been the most obtainable in and around our political clime.
And in the above perspectives, I see one underlining one of the major
gladiators in the electoral game playing out in the Eko theatre on
Saturday, the 11th. With all modesty for the sake of truth, I see Mr
Ambode as a stooge; a candidate whose emergence was chiefly
oechestrated by perceived fathers and owners of today’s Lagos. These
are people, who by their influence and place values, consider
themselves as the hands that rock the boat of Lagos; they define it
and decide who it is that gives it the leading to the direction
they’ve so chosen. These are principally factors that have brought out
Mr. Ambode and widely projecting his candidature.
But it is undeniable the truth that he who pays the piper must dictate
the tune. We see clearly the inability of a disconnection of this fact
from what’s playing out if eventually Ambode emerges victorious at the
polls. It would be a drastic ingratiation to bite the fingers that
feeds him.
It’s certain that he would have to divide his loyalty to the course of
Lagosians and to the promoters of his course. The ultimate emergence
of Ambode would put Lagosians in a tight corner of having to contend,
in statutory democratic dividends, with the self-appointed
king-makers.
However, Jimi Agbaje, from onset, has proven to be a man on this
mission not to be responsive to any covert forces than the people,
whose mandate he seeks to wield. In Agbaje we see a strong contrast
between what a man with deep impulse for service can offer when
elected and what subservience to conflicting interests can cause to a
people.
The postulation of Jimi’s independence as a candidate with no subtle
projectionists has been reflected by the brandish of overzealousness
as exhibited by no other than a traditional ruler whose insistence on
a candidate is simply on the fact that he ‘picked him’ to represent
his interest.
Even as the symbolic battle for the soul of Lagos rages on, it is left
for the people of the commercial city to choose between one who would
have to respond to the biddings of his pay master, first, before
finding the convenience of focus on the electorates that made his
emergence possible or someone, whose commitment remains centrally and
significantly to the electorates from whom he drew mandate.
Ndigbo in Lagos and all Lagosians should disobey such egoistic
directive; they must prove to the Oba that only the electorates by
their votes can ‘pick’ a leader. The vote for Jimi should be decisive;
and when it happens, APC should find on Oba Akiolu the slab to lick
their wound.
Ahanonu Kingsley,
conscience4net@gmail.com