Lagos has known some development since the beginning of the latest republic but has it really been about most Lagosians?
How many slums have been turned into habitable places, just good enough for the masses to live, not in the splendor and luxury of wealth but enough to live a dignifying life?
The Local Government Structure that ought to be about taking governance to the grassroots has been about making people in the grassroots political tools of the ruling class. Instead of having local government councils that are about the people and indeed work for the people, we have local government councils that are only about the ruling elite; the structure exists to win elections.
Land speculators remain a challenge in a Lagos that wants to be seen as modern, respectable Lagosians earning their pay still have to pay both uniformed and plain clothe money collectors for sums that are never explained. Lagos can certainly do better than this and based on the realities on ground, Jimi Agbaje is the much-needed change Lagos needs.
If for nothing, Agbaje would offer Lagosians a chance to try something different from what we have had since 1999. Some people say Lagos has been better off since 1999 but how can we know if we would have had it better if the Bola Tinubu hegemony continues to reign supreme? It is no longer news that while the seat of government in Lagos is at Alausa, no one is in doubt about the seat of power, that is at Bourdillon in Ikoyi. One man’s voice has stayed the law and power in Lagos for too long. We need to change that.
Jimi Agbaje’s candidacy offers Lagos and Lagosians a chance to set the destiny of the state aright. We always cried about wanting good men in our politics, Agbaje is one of the few good men and we must support him. Without a doubt, Jimi Agbaje will make change happen while also ensuring that development in Lagos is not just the preserve of Ikoyi and Ikeja, Victoria Island and Lekki by taking development to the slums.
The elitist nature of governance in Lagos will certainly give way to a people focused leadership that respects the right of the masses to exist alongside the privileged. Wanton destruction of people’s means of existence in the name of road expansion will give way to genuine development that first of all caters to human development.
Jimi Agbaje is an accomplished technocrat whose candidacy, though hinged on godfatherism by his detractors, has indeed risen out of sheer love for him by party delegates, neutrals and indeed all who believe that the time had indeed come to put an end to the monarchial system in Lagos. The pomposity and pride of the Tinubu dynasty has been mostly because he has indeed ruled Lagos for 16 consecutive years now. The people of Lagos need to show that they can change their leadership without listening to what interests will continue to feed Tinubu’s personal business and political agenda.
Lagos needs a leader who will not be distracted by the godfather he has to please as soon as he gets into office. Lagos needs a newness that would help it break away from the past years of dependence on Bourdillon and its whims.
Lagos needs a true leader who will be true to his own voice, his own values and his own promise to the people of Lagos. Of the two major gubernatorial candidates, Jimi Agbaje ticks all the right boxes if the question is about the interest of the people of Lagos first of all before the interest of a few.
For once, we have a chance to help Lagos move to the next level. It is my wish that we all truly vote Jimi Agbaje and make that change happen for Lagos.
Written By “Yemi Adeyemi”