Lagos 2019 without Ambode

I was sad to see Governor Akinwunmi Ambode canned the way he was by the establishment players in Lagos State and hung on to see how the situation will pan-out. So much has been written in the press about the establishment players in Lagos. Whilst I am not a big fan of Nigerian politicians, I know that one cannot become a governor without the say-so of backbenchers. The backbenchers have the structure, the money which many outsiders do not have. Only a handful of governors in Nigeria past and present were insiders. The majorities were outsiders; some weren’t party men, never tested by the party. That is the bane of Nigeria’s political scene.

To run for office is the lowest-priced job nearby today. Gone are the days when men ran for political offices accomplishing feats pleasing in the eyes of the common people. Not any longer, Johnnys-come-lately are all over the place upholding chaotic disorder. Age, ability, experience, values and life’s interests in politics have been reserved for a Nigeria of another era and not the Nigeria of my time.

• Beware of your strengths

I expected him to fight till the end but he recanted quickly. Was he scared of impeachment or other Fabian tactics not known to bystanders? Here is a brilliant man who should have utilized that big moment to sell his application for re-election by mentioning his achievement to the establishment, speaking to the minds and hearts of the Lagos people, appealing to the sense of right and wrong. Isn’t this a waste of energy, ambition and talent? I might have appreciated him more if he had quit from the race not out of force but on principles.

After all, no-one, can take the history he had made away from him and posterity might have judged him fairly and won him respect across borders. I still think it was a disservice to let a fine gentleman go but I equally believe that his naivete as it concerns the understanding of establishment politics cost him the chance to be re-elected.

But forsaking a party man who didn’t derail on moral code is not my idea of democracy. When the sum of a politician’s weakness over-weighs the sum of his strengths, he becomes a liability to the party. I do not think Ambode a liability to his party. Leaders aren’t born; every man jack can lead but must be taught, motivated to lead and supported by people behind the scene and such players do not condemn, they rather ask questions, they listen and learn, not talk and tell. Ambode was left to hang out in the open to dry by the same establishment players that put him in office.

Simon Abah,

Abuja