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In a recent campaign stop and stump, Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. ObafemiHamzat, reportedly knocked the supporters of Peter Obi in the state, as ObiStupid. He was said to be pitching the re-election bid of his principal, BabajideSanwoolu and himself, to the Kwara community in Lagos, packaged by outgoing Minister of Information, Lai Moh’d, himself a Kwaran, thriving in Lagos.
The deputy governor warned of the dangers of handing the state, as important as it is to Africa, over to non-starters, who have no governance experience.
After the shocking but not totally-unexpected defeat of Obafemi’s APC in Lagos, in the presidential election, by Obi’s Labour Party, the desperation of Team Sanwoolu is understandable. If Tinubu is defeated in his own election, in a state where he has been governor, and he is the apex leader, then surely fire is on the mountain and desperate measures would definitely be required, including scaremongering.
But I think the angry masses are beyond being pacified with rhetoric on cognate experience. The street will likely fire back, with “who experience help”.
And it is not even about Lagos being cosmopolitan. Even rural dwellers will testify the experienced ones in government houses across the country and in other public offices, have no performance records to justify their long stay in office. And definitely no impacts on their lives too. If Hamzat wants to know how wronged people are feeling about how their leaders have dealt with them, he should reach out to his origin in AfoworaSogade in Ogun State and ask if all is well.
The current mood is ABI (Anybody But Incumbent). Angry voters just want to throw out, those they believe and not without justification, are responsible for their current woes and replace them with those who have caught their fancy. Does that make the voters right? Maybe there should be deeper engagement of those who are cutting messianic posture today, to avoid the frying-pan to fire situation, but you can’t blame the people for being disappointed in the current managers of trust.
And you can’t even accuse the people of impatience. How much space do the political class expect again, when all allowances and goodwill of the past, were remorselessly frittered? In his private business, can Hamzat tolerate an inch of the plundering the Nigerian people have taken from his constituency, without a whimper, for most of the times past, until recently when the O to ge consciousness (enough-is-enough), began spreading like a wildfire.
If Hamzat has a veteran accountant with accountability issues, in his private employment who keeps cooking the books and failing integrity test, won’t he rather change him for a quixotic fresh accounting graduate, without experience but ready to grow and above all, without filthy fingers. Is it not better to know that at least, your money is safe, even if the books are haphazardly worked? What is the essence of a well-laid paper trail, without the traces of the cash? Of what use is experience when it isn’t impacting lives? Yes, it is a valid argument that you don’t start seeking experience, working from the top, but is it not also a valid argument that an invalid at the top, is also a,liability? So, if an infirm can be argued as suitable for the top job, because governance is about grit and not grating and gyrating, then an accountable, able-bodied, lesser-experienced fellow, who is ready to learn, should also be suitable for a job that requires, first and foremost, trust. The deficits and deficiencies of same in today’s leadership, is the main reason people are agitating for something new, maybe not completely new, but not the rag-tag we have now.
Jesus in Mark 2:22 warned about pouring new into old.
“And no one pours a new wine in old wineskins, otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, the wine is spilled and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined” He admonishes, in a way that suggests whoever engages in such, lacks wisdom. Maybe, that is why Nigerians have been burdened by the lacklustre leadership that Hamzat and his kind, have so far, provided, because Jesus said no one, should put new in old. Renewing mandates for non-performing incumbent, is akin to pouring new in old, and the result, according to the Wisdom of God Himself, is disaster.
I love men of gentle mien like the deputy governor. My brother-in-Christ, Mr. TundeAlao minds his media. The veteran journalist is noble. In normal times, I won’t only vote Hamzat as governor, I will campaign for him. But these are dolorous times. It is unimaginable where the ruling establishment has driven the country. Baba Commander, Ebenezer Obey sang of not knowing if the driver was moving him forward or backward. The legendary musician was talking about doubt. But today’s case is doubtlessly being driven backward, when it should be forward ever.
Instead of going after the support base of Obi, which could be construed to mean Igbo in Lagos, Hamzat, regardless of the outcome of this weekend’s poll, being an intellectual with a PhD in System Process Engineering, would be adding value to Nigeria’s political development, by doing a systemic analysis of the process that threw up the current political reengineering in Lagos and elsewhere. Except he is in office for stomach infrastructure, which I doubt, considering the institutions he once worked, he must know that the changing times are beyond racism rants.
Nigerians, both educated and unlettered have been united by underwhelming capacity, greed, and the ungodliness of their leaders. Both, now buy Naira, with Naira. Both, have been queueing at filing stations for months. They interact at the level where Nigeria has happened to them. Except, those who want to deceive politicians on campaign trail, no potential voter listens to empty sermons from the soapbox again. Except, those who want to keep faith, even those who have received alert of N20,000 each, to vote a certain candidate, are jeering behind the sender and most are poised to vote candidates other than the sender’s. The maxim of who pays the piper, dictating the tune, is not even applicable again, further proving that times have indeed changed. The hunter is now the hunted and if INEC won’t mess up again this weekend, there will likely be a flip in Lagos and elsewhere.
I know Hamzat and Obidients have a history. Last year, a young man was foregrounded at one of the Obidients’ rallies, as his son. He issued a sharp rebuke. That should settle it. Even if he still carries a grudge, he should ventilate positively.
On September 9, 2016, at a fundraiser, Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton described Trump supporters as a basket of Deplorables. She tried walking it back, but the damage was major. She had helped Trump unify his base. Don went on, to shock the world, with many of his supporters donning the “Proudly Deplorable” shirt, for the rest of the campaign.
Clinton, admitted in her 2017 book, “What Happened” that the misspeak was one of her major undoings.
Imagine, Labour supporters hitting the street from tomorrow with “Proudly ObiStupid”. The effect could end up elect a Gbadebo Rhodes-Viviour, on Saturday and Hamzat, also writing, “What Happens”.
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