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Without slouching to sentiments, Lagos, arguably boasts one of the most battle-tested political structures in the country today. This is why, oftentimes, the anointed candidates of the ruling party in the state almost always walk into the waiting arms of their electoral victory each election year.
As it currently stands in Lagos, today, the core of the task for any intending office occupier is still in winning the party’s ticket. The general election remains a walkover for the lucky ones. The pattern could change with time; it is what it is for now.
This is not to say that some serious efforts are not often made to justify the choice of the establishment candidates and be seen to have ultimately earned the tickets, the truth is that the Lagos political system is still largely prebendal but functions effectively on a developed standard template.
What matters in the annals of the state’s body polity is that the eventual choice candidate suits the idea of the kingmaker-in-council, which of course would be sold to the rest of the immediate political family and funneled down to the rest of the state – the one but voting class.
Much as the Lagos political setting is essentially operative through this avowed template, the governance structure also follows an articulated development plan, which has thrived for many years and could survive even more days ahead. What this presupposes is that the chance that a governor of Lagos would perform below average is slim. It is a functional institution.
No doubt, style could either enhance the structure in place or refuse for it to be dynamic. It has never really limited the development focus of the state, because it has been designed to span many years and survive the evolving dynamism of governance and its projections. What could change significantly at the end of the day is the politics of the state, whose authority currently derives solely from somewhere.
In order words, attempts to meddle in the politics of the state through which other levers of power are controlled could alter the entire equation and make a mess of the development plan as it were.
Perhaps, the outgoing governor, Akinwunmi Ambode had a misstep here and which ultimately changed his trajectory as the first governor of the state, who didn’t cross the green line for a second term. Although the debate on whether his missteps were a personal misadventure or instigated by some unseen hands is still on, that his politics was grossly mishandled is the issue and its lessons are unavoidably abiding.
The most instructive of this is that despite not being handed a second term, Ambode could not be adjudged a failure in terms of performance delivery. Despite his perceived shortcomings, there were conscious moves to take the state many notches up and indeed, he left an impressive mark on the development strides of Lagos in just four years.
Yes, he started slow raising concerns about the fate of Lagos at the time and even drawing flaks from everywhere, when he eventually picked up, he changed the face of the state in many ways than one.
His approach and disposition to governance particularly, paying attention to little things despite his challenges, showed he was not oblivious of the development plan of the state, albeit with some modulations that spoke strictly to style. His performance record definitely poses a huge challenge to the new government that is being sworn in today.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his lieutenant, Obafemi Hamzat must know that nothing can be taken for granted in the cosmopolitan Lagos.
From former governors Bola Tinubu, dubbed the pathfinder (although Alhaji Lateef Jakande is the original pathfinder) to Babatunde Fashola, described as the actualiser, and outgoing Ambode nicknamed the consolidator, Lagos is a test case for serious development and focused leadership, even though it has not been totally insulated from some of the sleaze often associated with administrative malfeasance.
This duo is definitely coming into office with loads of expectations on their trail. Thankfully though, both Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat had held very sensitive and crucial offices in the state, spanning many years, opportunities that stand today as the testimonial to the expectations of their government. Thus, they are sworn in today, not as commissioners or aides to a governor but as the men directly in charge of the affairs of the state.
It is also understandable why the duo go by the appellation: two for the price of one, suggesting that Lagos has been gifted two governors, given the brains combined to lead the state for another four years.
Young, smart and intelligent, it is not by sheer words of mouth that many are confident that these two would ultimately etch their names in legible prints in the artery of the state’s historical growth and development; it is as a result of their past records. Yet, nothing can be taken for granted.
First is their style, which must be complementary. Their ticket prescribes a governor and a deputy. To that extent, there should be no room for unhealthy competitions. Sanwo-Olu is the governor and Hamzat his deputy.
They must avoid any form of rivalry or supremacy battle that could stifle development, because the tendency for supporters to stoke such an unsavoury situation is high. But with wisdom, they stand a good chance of surviving this seemingly inevitable minefield.
Hitting the ground running should not be taken for granted in their case. With their experiences and understanding of the workings of the state government, the average Lagosian would not indulge Ambode’s kind of slow start. Lagos has been long in coming and at this rate; it is not a turf for non-starters or their learning curve.
Whatever their development plans and ideas for the state, expectations are high that they would first complete all the projects left behind by the Ambode government to make Lagos a perfect fit for the current picture.
These are projects that are central to the vision of a new Lagos especially, that they seem to enhance her natural status as a mega city. From roads to schools, hospitals and other ambitious infrastructural initiatives, continuity must be redefined in this context and ensure it plays a pivotal role at the end of the day.
Security is another concern that the people of Lagos would like to see the new government pay attention to. Interestingly and unknown to many, this was one of the greatest achievements of the Babatunde Fashola administration. That feat must be sustained and taken many notches up. Lagos can only thrive and maximize her potential, when it is well secured. No investor puts his money where insecurity prevails.
This, of course, brings to the fore the issue of unemployment. There is staggering unemployment in the land being one of the enablers of general insecurity. Curiously, job creation is not a difficult venture. Given a sound partnership with the private sector and the ability to think outside the box, the new administration should gleefully waltz through this challenging terrain and change the place of Lagos in the general unemployment index.
There is also a need to pay deserving attention to the educational and health sectors of the state’s economy. With an educated and healthy population, investment in infrastructure becomes a calculated risk and an investment in the future of the state otherwise when infrastructure is built for a largely uneducated people; there is no greater waste as such a venture, because not only would they not appreciate the efforts, they would be unable to understand it either, let alone preserve it.
Overall is the need to have a relationship with the people and exhibit the kind of empathy that typifies the current struggle of the state. Such a disposition even allows the government to play a crucial role in the family, being a critical element of the society.
Some developed society like Singapore has made a huge success of this and has shown that discipline at the family level gives rise to a healthy and sane society, where mutual respect is observed as a religion.
Borrowing leaf from Philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, who once spoke dispassionately about a former US President, Abraham Lincoln, what Lagos requires now are leaders that are both “merciful and merciless, confident and humble, patient and persistent – able to mediate among factions, sustain our spirits and translate the meaning of the struggle into words of matchless force, clarity and beauty.”
Therefore, as Lagos opens a new chapter in her political and development sojourn today, it is pertinent to leave the new government of Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat with the words of Abigail Adams in a letter to her son, John Adams, in the midst of the American Revolution.
She wrote: “It is not in the still calm of life, or her repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed; the habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues.”
Definitely, only leaders, who confront great necessities, have the rare opportunities of deploying their great virtues to even greater uses. These two – Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat – had said so much in the course of the campaigns and so, the time is now to walk their talk and flaunt their inherent virtues as leadership directly falls on their laps.
But rather than rejoice and roll out the drums in celebration of these two as they are handed the leadership baton today, you’ll all do well by praying for them instead. The task ahead is not enviable!
The race can start now…
*Olawale is the Deputy Editor at THISDAY Newspapers on Sunday
