LAST Monday, at the Lagos national dialogue on the future of Nigeria, in memoriam of celebrated constitutional lawyer, senior advocate and leader of The Patriots, Ben Nwabueze, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was uncharacteristically bullish in his disavowal of the central government literally dictating to states as currently allowed, by the 1999 constitution.
He even described himself as the Leader of the most populous state in the country, which also suffers the constitutional infradignitatem and anomalies (the latter, the governor’s word) being dished by the federal, to the federating units.
Expectedly, his submissions, including the one on Abuja politicians fighting their states and successors, immediately became a sensational news item from the event, which had an impressive attendance mix of political heavyweights, legal luminaries and both genuine and pseudo statesmen.
On the face value, it would seem the governor was throwing stones, first, at his undeniable and undisputed godfather, leader and patron, the president and secondly, to former governors like Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, ex-Rivers governor, who is in a loser-loses-all, with his estranged protege and incumbent, Sim Fubara.
But the discerning know Sanwo-Olu would not dare, in the direction of the president, when, as my ijesa people would put it, he doesn’t want to eat his pounded yam as just yam (e fe juyan re lusu). One, he doesn’t have the liver as the street would capture trepidation. Where would such confidence come for someone who was practically rescued panting laboriously when an ordinary speaker of the state assembly, tapped his jugular. Then, he said he is the leader of Lagos. Whenever someone close to me wants to have a hearty laugh, the fellow would say, “Jesus abeg o”. Everyone knows the real leader of Lagos and it is obvious to even the politically-blind that it is not the governor, though Sanwo-Olu could still thrash Wike and co, and get away with it, especially his assumed target, in the presidency.
So, who was Sanwo-Olu’s target in the diatribe against Abuja when his lord and master, is Abuja? A media leader believed the governor was programmed for the delivery, for effect and those thought to be the targets of the supposed Ogulutu (mud wall) could actually be the drummers deep under the waters, for his iromi (water bug). Exactly my sentiment!
On Thursday, Tinubu’s administration publicly spoke of its disappointment that the majority of the state governors are vacillating on the state police project agreed earlier by both sides, to kick start the first of the restructuring, being clamoured, by the outspoken segment of the populace. Only 16 of them reportedly presented their thoughts on the shared modalities for transferring power and authority on internal security, to states, thereby making the governors functional chief security officers of their respective domains.
You would expect the governors to jump at it, considering their years-long cries that they are all title and no mantle of authority to get Commissioners of Police in their states, do what they consider right for their people, without first clearing with the Inspector General in Abuja who in turn, would have to clear with Aso Rock and woe betide any governor whose domain is in trouble and he is not exactly a darling of the Commander-in-Chief. But it is also not a surprise majority are demurring. As the idea gained more traction and support at the beginning of 2024, Hope Uzodinma, governor of Imo and chair of APC governors said on January 29 that he and his colleagues can’t fund state police, expected to exist side-by-side with federal policing. The public expression of his view didn’t appear popular with his colleagues then, but with 20 governors now slow-walking what should be a national emergency, though definitely not a cure-all antidote to the raging insecurity, suggests that majority support for his stance, might have been muted not to be seen as anti-Villa, though there are likely more reasons to oppose, beyond financing,
In what would appear a fight-back, Hope was recently dashed and crushed in Edo where Villa humbled and hobbled him out of his desperation to deliver the party’s governorship ticket to the anointed of his friend, Adams Oshiomhole. Nothing could be more humiliating than being pulled out of such an assignment and replaced with a colleague, in an ignoble manner. Hope has been quietly licking his wounds.
His Lagos colleague is now the new salesman of the restructuring product he (Hope), tried to damage and in fairness to Sanwo-Olu, whether he is speaking his convictions or just being a flute, reproducing the air blown into it, records showed he has been consistent about the viability of state police. On October 14, 2021 at the Fountain Summit held in Ekiti state, he said, “One point that we should not drop is the issue around state police, we have talked about it.
“We believe the amount of resource each sub-national is spending on security is enough for them to have state police. We believe that after this Ekiti summit, the federal government will support the creation of state police”.
Buhari’s government was tone-deaf.
Though it would appear insulting suggesting the governor doesn’t have his own mind on national and local issues, the truth is that the restructuring politics, is bigger than the governor and predated his relevance in Lagos and national politics. Whatever would be the stance of Lagos on the proposed New Nigeria and the space of Yoruba race in the remodelled country is realistically beyond the governor. In fact a lot of non-state actors have much more say and stakes than him, because except for a miracle, even his political future after Alausa, doesn’t rest with him, unless he is retiring home.
But evidently he has possibly the most viable political platform in the country today as the governor of Lagos State to adumbrate messages, even if not his, and the way the governor forcefully stayed on the restructuring message last Monday, repeatedly querying the control of Lagos waterways from Abuja, is likely a signal that another relocation may be on the way. Nevertheless, it is encouraging that the backyard of this president is restructuring-compliant, unlike before.
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