by Kolapo Olapoju

The war of words between Lagos state governor, Babatunde Fashola and Lagos PDP governorship aspirant, Jimi Agbaje, shows no sign of abating anytime soon.

Over the course of the political campaign, the pair have been locked in a verbal exchange, and the latest offering in their spat, comes from Agbaje, who goes out of his way to explain to Fashola- that experience is nothing without a ‘human face’.
1. “I’ve always maintained that knocking Governor B.R. Fashola (SAN) for his achievements all because I’m running for Governor on a different platform will just be playing mere politics – and that’s not what I’ve set out to do in this campaign. However, I like to think that Governor B.R. Fashola (SAN) and I have very different positions and ideologies when it comes to leadership and what we both think is critical to developing Lagos into a world class mega-city.”

2. “What’s the purpose of building schools, if our children cannot afford it? What’s the purpose of building bridges, if it doesn’t connect people to commercial activity? What’s the purpose of leadership, if there are no followers? What’s the purpose of such great prosperity, if it doesn’t trickle down to the least of us? This is where I think we fundamentally differ.”

3. “There’s a semblance of being progressive on the surface but the position and decisions that the honorable Governor has made over his tenure leaves us to wonder if truly he and the leaders in the Lagos’ ruling party, the APC, are true Progressives – in the footsteps of great Yoruba leaders like Awolowo and LK Jakande.”

4. “You see being progressive has nothing to do with your party. It’s in your lifestyle, in your instinct, it’s subconscious. I learnt this from my great mentor Pa Abraham Adesanya – A man that took me under his wings as a young politician and taught me all that I know about politics. He would say, “It’s about the people, Jimi. At the end of the day, no other metric counts, no validation is greater than the one you see on the faces and in the lives of our people. If they are hungry and without jobs; if they’re without a roof over their heads; if they’re uneducated and lack the basic life skills to compete; then we’ve all failed even if we build the tallest of skyscrapers or the longest of bridges.”

5. “So don’t lecture me on experience. If your so called experience doesn’t have a human face to it, it’s all for nothing. Let me assure Lagosians that hope is on the way. And being a Pharmacist myself and understanding the importance of a healthy people to national development, I intend to do more in this area. I have said under my watch, we shall introduce a free-health insurance scheme that would be beneficial to Lagosians and service providers, amongst other things. It’s bold – no doubt – but it’s possible. As long as we have the the political will to see it through, it will happen.”

6. “Government must begin to work not for a few elites that gather on the main streets of Bourdillon but for ALL people. Whether you’re a banker or a blacksmith, an electrician or an exporter, teachers, Okada riders, students and lecturers. We are all one people in pursuit of the basic needs in life: opportunity, liberty, dignity of work and the pursuit of happiness.”

7. “So in this election, let us make it clear to the opposition that when it comes to being Progressive: It is not in the size of the cap, it’s in the THOUGHTS. It’s not by the shape of the glasses, it’s in the VISION. And it’s definitely not for them to decide whose feet the shoes fit. Our progressiveness is about the PATH that Lagosians themselves choose to travel and our ability as leaders to harness that.”

Kolapo Olapoju