Lagos has long been the commercial hub of Nigeria. The same political framework established by Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the god-father of Lagos politics and the incumbent president-elect of Nigeria, has been in place since 1999. In the upcoming election for governor of Lagos, scheduled for March 11, 2023, Mr. Sanwo-Olu, the current governor, is running for reelection. Two political newcomers are taking on him: Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran, who represents the PDP, and Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivor, who represents the LP. The former is capitalizing on the current political movement that is ruthlessly eroding Nigeria’s political landscape. We will not be discussing PDP candidate in this article. The reason is obvious.

Before Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivor appeared on the political scene as a PDP candidate in an unsuccessful effort to win a seat in the Senate to represent Lagos West, I read a great deal about his previous and more recent generations of accomplished lawyers and judges. Therefore, I recognized his name when I first came across him in the political sphere in 2018. He is a descendantof one of the first and oldest generations of Nigerian lawyers and judges. To quote Wikipedia: “His grandfather was late Judge Akinwunmi Rhodes-Vivour, and his uncle is Bode Rhodes-Vivour, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and lawyer. He is Steven Bankole Rhodes’ great-grandson, Nigeria’s second native judge to be appointed.”

You will be impressed by the kinds of schools his covertly wealthy parents have chosen for him to attend if you look further into his profile. Prior to earning architecture degrees from MIT and Nothingham University, he attended expensive private elementary and secondary schools in NIgeria, Paris and Berlin. He then returned to Nigeria for his NYSC. Later, he earned a second master’s from UNILAG. On his Wikipedia page, he is listed as having worked for a few architectural firms, but no management or leadership positions are mentioned. He has no prior experience starting a business either. My concerns about this good-looking young man with an Ivy League degree and a reputable family background start here. He’s far too green.

The experience Jide Sanwo-Olu has in both the public and private financial sectors does not appear to be matched by Gbadebode Rhodes-Vivor. I won’t go into detail about Sanwo-Olu’s professional profile here. As a matter of fact, Jide Sanwo-Olu deputy, Femi Hamzat is also a heavy weight in the backgroud. He had experience in both the public and private sectors in both Nigeria and the USA before being chosen as the deputy governor of Sanwo-Olu. He is with a PhD in Process Engineering from Cranfied University, England after a BSC and MSc from University of Ibadan in Agricultural Engineering. Instead, you would think of him as the governor. What, however, can be done about this? The godfather had wanted it that way. But it’s critical to understand the context of a few points. I’ll start with the stability and leadership that Lagos and Nigeria require to accomplish their long-term economic development objectives. I’ll use Botswana as an illustration because it is Africa’s oldest and most stable democracy. When Botswana gained its independence in 1965, Seretse Karma served as the country’s first president for nearly 14 years. After his demise in office, his deputy succeeded him and oversaw the nation for another 17 years.

The shortest tenure for a president in Botswana is 10 years, and the current leader is serving his first five-year term. Up until now, Botswana’s stable, long-term economic development strategy has proven successful. In comparison to some European nations, it has a higher GDP per capita. We can list numerous other instances of comparable long-term development being led over a respectably long period of time by the same party and team. Rwanda is another illustration. ANC has has been in-charge of South Africa since exit of Nelson Mandela. Lagos must continue his current development, as well.

You see, Harvard educates great business leaders and human resources for public offices, while MIT educates great scientists and engineers. In one of his interviews, Rhodes-Vivor had mentioned sailing as his major reason for choosing MIT over Harvard. He didn’t go there for a legitimate reason related to the advancement of humanity. He went there because his parents could afford it. It is one of the reason one may not consider this MIT degree a serious requirement for measuring his capacity to run Lagos with a legitimate purpose.

Rhodes-Vivor does not seem to have a very clear strategy for Lagos, if you also listened to him. “Taking Lagos back from non-Lagosians” appears to be his main strategy. Although he is soft-spoken, he lacks the fluency in spoken English of an MIT or Nothingham University alum. His limited proficiency in Igbo and Yoruba may be an indicator of his low IQ. You are the son of a Yoruba father and an Igbo mother, but you are unable to speak either language well. This young man is wealthy; perhaps he hasn’t been residing in Lagos or Anambra. One must inquire as to whether he has a thorough understanding of the people he plans to lead. Although his campaign has been divisive, one would think that his multiethnic background would have been a unifying one among the ethnic groups he came from. He doesn’t comprehend the nuanced political divisions that exist between the two ethnic groups he belongs to. Again, he is too young to comprehend such things.

For the sake of the sustainability of current ongoing projects like city rail, it might make sense to support the continuation of the current leadership in office for a second term, but we also need to state some other facts. How well has Lagos’ current political establishment served the city’s citizens since 1999? Yes, you could mention the significant improvements in road infrastructure and environmental waste management that have been made in urban areas and some suburban areas. However, most Lagosians continue to live on unpaved streets. Lagos still lacks portable water despite its significant monthly IGR. The top 5 universities in Nigeria cannot include Lagos State University. For the majority of Lagos residents, healthcare is still out of reach. People in the middle class completely stop enrolling their kids in public elementary and secondary schools. A metropolis without housing initiatives for common Lagosians. If Lagos refuses to launch genuine people-oriented programs, Rhodes-Vivor may not win Lagos in the upcoming election, but it may happen very soon.

Samson Amosu