Presidential Snub…Gov. Ambode Shakes off Buhari’s Rebuff

•Plans low-key birthday party
•Warns favour-seekers and fair-weather friends against elaborate celebration

Governor Akinwumi Ambode is too old to cry. But it hurt too much for the Lagos governor to shrug off President Muhammadu Buhari’s snub with a laugh. There is no gainsaying distress and misery pierced the governor’s heart like poisoned darts from Pandora’s box as President Buhari gave him the cold-shoulder and refused to attend the commissioning of certain landmark projects in Lagos at the governor’s invite. Governor Ambode was undoubtedly heartbroken over Mr. President’s snub of his much publicised and celebrated invite to Lagos.

In the wake of the president’s snub, detractors of Ambode and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) went to town spreading malicious gossip. They also said that Mr. President snubbed him in order to hobnob with Ogun state governor, Ibikunle Amosun. This, in their estimation, was a cold, brutish message to Ambode and his godfather, Bola Tinubu, that he(Mr. President), wasn’t interested in being chummy with them. But whether Buhari came or not, Ambode has moved on.

“Itesiwaju Eko,” meaning ‘the progress of Lagos’ is his priority. The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode who at the beginning of his administration vowed to work tirelessly to deliver good governance for the collective good of Lagosians has indeed proven that his words are not mere promises. His good works are evident in every nooks and crannies of the State, it will only take a blind man to dispute that fact.

As the indefatigable governor smarts from the disappointment of the president’s snub, he is getting ready to celebrate his first birthday in the Lagos State House, he has issued a stern warning to political jobbers and fairweather friends to desist from blowing his low-key celebraiton out of proportion. The governor believes that power is transient, today you are there and tomorrow you are not. Those who celebrate you today will not be there when you are no longer in power, they will forget you.