One would naturally feel proud to share the same alma mater with the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate for Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode. It is even double in our case because we did not only meet at the Federal Government College, Warri, but also at the University of Lagos, where he was my senior. As alumni comrades would normally put it, we are both a ‘Great Fedgocowosans’ for the FGCW connection and ‘Great Akokites’ for UNILAG. So much for alumni kinship that rekindles the good old days. For the goldfish that he’s become, as ace writer James Hadley Chase would say, Ambode no longer has a hiding place as his past would be rewound to the present but, thankfully, for good in this respect.
Hold on a minute. It is not for our being products of the same schools that I would cast my vote for Ambode in the April 11 election. I would only cast my vote for him because I am convinced that he’s the best guy to take over at Alausa from Governor Babatunde Fashola. I am convinced that he has the required competence, experience and administrative know-how to take Lagos to the next level for the reasons that I would adduce shortly.
I have followed Ambode’s career keenly for several years and I am least surprised he’s come this far. At FGCW, Ambode was an embodiment of discipline and efficiency. He was not only a prefect but as the head of school entertainment at the time, he brought a lot of smiles to the faces of students. UNILAG is a much larger academic community and being such an “ocean” of a setting, there is very little I know of his activities there. Besides, I came in just as he was leaving but I have no doubt he distinguished himself as usual. Our British principal, the late P. H. Davies, whom students fondly called ‘Papa’, prepared us very for life after FGCW, especially for leadership roles. If Ambode ever ran for the exalted positions of Students’ Representative Council secretary or assistant secretary at FGCW that were keenly contested with manifestoes, intensive campaigns and debates, all he probably needed to do was to play the students some of the popular “old school” songs and have them gyrating during the Saturday Night Entertainment. He would not need to say much, just give the students what they wanted and he would be their man. One could imagine the students screaming wildly, “Carry go, you don win!” in the aluta spirit.
As governor, Ambode can jog back such teenage experiences to bring about a huge entertainment industry in the state. Accepted that the stakes are higher now and much more is required than just being the students’ entertainer, fortunately for Ambode – as it’s often said, every great story begins with a humble beginning. His 27 years of meritorious and innovative service in Lagos State Civil Service are well documented and known by all that this writer needs not recount. He has more than paid his dues for the state’s number-one job.
My bet on Ambode is not because we share the same alma mater. I’m convinced he is competent, and Lagos deserves the very best. This writer is one heck of a self-opinionated person who is never swayed by what others are saying but rather by what he observes to be true. It is a lonely road to walk and co-travellers are few, made up of those who live by principles in a society that is patently lacking in idealism.
Ambode is a natural leader of men and a builder of bridges. At the time our Old Students’ Association (Lagos chapter) ran into a hiatus that came out of a major crisis when most ex-students were fast losing interest in the affairs of the association, it took the pragmatic leadership of a much younger Ambode with deft moves to revive the association. It was a feat which the senior members at the time could not achieve but a younger and junior Ambode succeeded as an interventionist president. Yours sincerely had to politely turn down the offer to serve in his executive having just served out a two-year term as general secretary because of not-too-pleasant memories.
Habitually, not one to go looking for the big men in power for what to get out of them, this writer kept a distance from Ambode at Alausa where he held several key positions, except when we met at association meetings. But many colleagues who regularly went to see him had much to say of how he had been of great help to them in several ways in resolving various issues. His acts of generosity and compassion are of immense proportions. There are many students at various levels that Ambode is paying their school fees, widows he is helping to get back their grove, area boys he is helping to rehabilitate, scores of problems he is taking upon himself every day to solve for others whether in service or out of service. Unless a leader has such compassion, he would steal so much in office and deny his people the needed service, the good things of life or dividends of democracy.
Ambode’s experience and competence as a public administrator, innovative accountant and technocrat are what a complex state like Lagos needs because he would hit the ground running once sworn in. The fears that his administration would multi-tax Lagosians (because of his background) are unfounded. In any case, he has even promised to address genuine cases of multiple taxation and high tax burden.
Another factor that stands in favour of Ambode is the APC ticket. Whatever critics would say, with every sense of objectivity, I daresay APC is still the most progressive party in the country today. All the APC states, especially in the South West, are doing quite well. Even the so-called poor ones have been able to navigate and adopt innovative ways to attract higher revenues for developmental projects. The evidence is there – be it in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun or Edo State, APC governments are performing. But one is not saying the party does not have its own share of the warts in the Nigerian system (if we are looking for saints, they are probably only in Rome after a hard search). Even Ekiti was choking in the steam of meaningful development before the shocking ouster that many were surprised the electorate turned out the way they did, but time will certainly tell. The same cannot be said for the PDP. Whether at the centre or in the states where PDP has held sway in the last 16 years of democracy, except in a handful including Akwa Ibom, Cross River and one or two others, the impact of progress hasn’t been as profound. It would be a big gamble for Lagos to lose out of the league of progressive states if it falls into the claws of the PDP, but that is also left to Lagosians to decide on April 11.
Paul Ojenagbon
