Ambode may be intelligent and an established civil servant but he is uninspiring and doesn’t come across as a man who will stand up to the excesses of the Asiwaju if shit hits the fan.
You cannot be more than what you are: Eziokwu! – Ikechukwu

In his well-structured article, my friend and business partner Edward Israel-Ayide [READ HERE] fails to make a compelling case for Jimi Agbaje’s gubernatorial bid beyond the usual rhetoric of “whatsoever a man purposes to achieve, that he can be.” Sadly, for a state as pivotal as Lagos in the grand scheme of things, that won’t cut it. Edward craftily meanders between critiquing Ambode’s campaign strategy and dispelling long standing APC propaganda – things I believe are not the most salient issues in this election. The most important point is: Why change a working government if you have not established that the new person can deliver above and beyond? At no point did Edward push forth a strong case for Jimi Agbaje’s amazing prowess which will put our minds at ease should we give him our mandate.

Let’s be clear: I am not very comfortable with Ambode being governor. As mooted by the author, a few issues worry me as well:

1. The highhandedness of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Lagos state and the SW is worrisome.
2. The APC in the last couple of years has seemingly disenfranchised the lower class and this serves as the entry point for the Jimi Agbaje train. The same consternation expressed by Godwin (ah yes, he is a real human being) has been expressed by many people I have interactions with – artisans, bus drivers, keke riders, okada riders etc.
3. Ambode may be intelligent and an established civil servant but he is uninspiring and doesn’t come across as a man who will stand up to the excesses of the Asiwaju if shit hits the fan.

Indeed it is mischievous to assert that Jimi Agbaje is a complete dunce. However, upon closer investigation, nothing suggests that Jimi Agbaje is a man that has demonstrated prolificacy in management of large-scale resource.

I don’t quite understand the insincerity Edward speaks of as per the APC Change chant. The premise is simple – a non-performing government should be changed. End of. In his article Edward admits that the APC led government has performed with “giant strides” in the last 16 years but goes on to advocate that there might be a better way to ‘consolidate’ on the work of the government by showing the party’s candidate the door. The inherent contradiction in this thinking is clear. What Edward is advocating is change for the sake of change and this is nothing short of a gamble.

Permit me to state my challenges with the Agbaje candidacy:

1. Agbaje strikes me as a man “having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof”. For all his panache and oratory, his track record is not littered with great and giant achievements. He has not delivered awe-inspiring results in his sojourn in corporate Nigeria. And please don’t tell me he’s a director at Vigeo. Let’s not even go there today.
2. Agbaje’s divisiveness worries me to no end. From the thinly veiled threats urging Nigerians to vote GEJ, to the infantile speech to Igbo traders to ‘Push APC into the Lagoon’, he is a man who will emphasize our precarious tensions for political gain.
3. Leading up to the elections, Jimi Agbaje conducted himself in a manner unbefitting of a potential governor of Lagos state. His swipes at the President Elect during the GEJ meet the Youth forum in Lagos suggests that he may be the kind of man to engage in petty squabbles with the FG instead of facing his duty squarely. He is a well polished; better speaking Fayose, for lack of better words.
4. While the APC has over stretched the argument of aligning with the centre such that it has broken the Bulk Modulus of Elasticity, the issue is a real and present worry. We cannot deny that the frictions between the FG and Lagos in the past 16 years. If we have achieved this level of success with that constant bickering, I can only wonder what we can if the two points align. No, let Jimi wait first.

The point I expected my friend to have made strenuously is the great worry about the far-reaching consequences of the APC being in control of the centre and Lagos. He merely glossed over it and this is, for me, the greatest negative for an Ambode ticket.

I can’t vote tomorrow – the small issue of not having a PVC. If I could however, I would err on the side of caution. There is absolutely no need to rock the boat and hand Lagos to someone whose antecedence doesn’t yell greatness.

The grass doesn’t appear to be greener on the other side.

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Uche Briggs tweets @UcheBriggs.

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.