Abimbola Adelakun: 2015 – It’s Bola Tinubu Vs Bode George in Lagos

by Abimbola Adelakun

The same ethical issues confronting Agbaje shackle Ambode too. How does one shake off a godfather like Tinubu? Will Ambode ever dare such? Can he even try and not expect to be shown the proverbial eraser that cleans “inexperienced” pencils like him?

Nigerian elections come with certain realities: “stomach infrastructure”; losers allege electoral irregularities; post-election agitation leading to the possibility of violence. The fourth, and a cardinal feature of Nigerian democracy, is the “godfather” syndrome.

The party primaries that took place for most of last week had some predictable outcomes and multiple ironies. Perhaps, one of the most dramatic ironies of the spate of events was one that threw up two godfathers – Olabode George and Bola Tinubu – with history of power tussle against each other.

The battle between both George and Tinubu will be fought through their proxies – Jimi Agbaje and Akinwumi Ambode – who won the governorship candidate ticket of their respective parties. For the governorship contest in Lagos, there are indices such as religion and indigeneship questions that will shape the voting pattern. The godfather factor, however, is tantamount to asking voters to choose which idol would be receiving their offerings.

Agbaje, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, is sponsored by George, a godfather whose pronouncements and public perception are forever tainted by his pilgrimage to Kirikiri. Agbaje cannot hide this fact even if he tries. When he is confronted with this inconvenient detail during interviews, you get the impression he tries to play it down as if it does not quite matter. His main challenger, Ambode of the All Progressives Congress, is backed by Tinubu. Long before the APC had a televised party primary, the endorsement and eventual emergence of Ambode had long been foretold by Tinubu’s yes-men.

Whatever the company both men keep, let me admit that I consider both of them viable candidates. Not many states in Nigeria – or even at the federal level – have such a luxury of choice like Lagos. I regard Agbaje rather highly. He is a businessman, professional and one of those politicians who do not come across as simply looking to eat. His opponent is equally formidable; Ambode’s CV shows a man who can be entrusted with the affairs of a cosmopolitan state like Lagos. Several analyses have pointed out to the “inexperience” of both candidates but if the years you have served in government are directly correlated to excellent performance in office, President Goodluck Jonathan would have been, indeed, “doing it” better than a Lee Kuan Yew by now. It would be exciting to watch both men debate when the time comes. One cannot say the same for the coming debate between Jonathan and the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.

While the election is a battle between two choice candidates, there is also the question of where to place their godfathers on the ballot box. For almost an election cycle, many of us have criticised the electoral choice based on an I-voted-Jonathan-not-the PDP ideology. If, however, one is voting in Lagos, one might soon find one’s criticism catching up with one when one is torn between I-voted-Agbaje-not-Bode George or, I-voted-Ambode-not-Bola Tinubu selections.

For a while, both godfathers have not had a public confrontation unlike when George returned from jail and kept blaming Tinubu for his travails. In fact, recently, he claimed Tinubu begged him and both men are now friends. Their new-found friendship, if true, will not stop George from going all out for his candidate because Agbaje’s victory might just be the career move that will make him another biblical Joseph – the chief servant who went from prison to the palace.

That line of thinking might also be an erroneous conclusion: that if Agbaje wins, he will not shake off his sponsor. Maybe, he will but then, the consequences of such actions are numerous. From the distraction of fighting the godfather to that of putting out fires he set just to frustrate you, the experience is never pleasant. Just ask ex-Governor Rasheed Ladoja who dared Lamidi Adedibu and found that it is not for nothing that the Oyinbo man who made the pencil also made the eraser.

Again, there may be the need to reconcile the moral burden message of a Better Lagos but that might sound idealistic. Didn’t Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, recently say that there is no morality in politics and those who want to live by the contents of their ethics textbook should head for church? I would have agreed with Amaechi but even the church is not the first place I would look if I needed to write a thesis on morality.

Perhaps, what is going on here is a case of using someone to achieve one’s purpose. Ponder the moral consequentialism of Agbaje riding on the strength of George who is equally interested in using Agbaje as both a battleaxe and as a garden tool to cultivate the patch of land he -George, that is- wants to possess.

The same ethical issues confronting Agbaje shackle Ambode too. How does one shake off a godfather like Tinubu? Will Ambode ever dare such? Can he even try and not expect to be shown the proverbial eraser that cleans “inexperienced” pencils like him? Apart from Tinubu’s tendency to inherit the very earth of Lagos, he has come so far by grounding adversaries into submission. So, what promises does Ambode’s victory hold – a continuation of the old order, to be managed by the longsuffering people of Lagos until the day dawns on its own? Or, will there be a break in Tinubu’s hold on Lagos? Will such a break mean genuine liberation or a mere replacement of Bourdillon with another location? For me, what is even more important than a revolution is post-revolution life. Why go all out to throw out an autocrat only for another one to take his place? In such cases, people’s fate has turned out to be worse that they beg for their former chains.

When the PDP spokesperson, Olisa Metuh, reminded us that a vote for the APC presidential candidate was a vote for Tinubu, he probably thought he could induce fear in us. What Metuh forgot is that a vote against Tinubu is also a vote for the numerous godfathers of the PDP – the Tony Anenihs, the Buruji Kashamus, the James Iboris, the Diepreye Alamayesieghas, the Bode Georges, even the Ayo Fayoses and Houdinis of our political sphere. One thing to not forget is this: There is no voting a candidate without his or her party. The logic in I-voted-Jonathan-not-the PDP is flawed because every vote cast for a candidate has a roborant effect on the party and all the undesirable elements affiliated with it.

For Lagos, whoever wins at the end of the day will be a referendum by Lagosians on whose reign they can tolerate more – Tinubu or George.

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

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