Jide Adediran is Already Crossing the Line

Poverty of ambition kills progressive politics, reckons Lukman Erogbogbo

“We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community…Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.”

-Cesar Chavez

Perhaps, Cesar Chavez, an American civil rights activist, knew that characters like Mr. Jide Adediran, the visioner at Lagos4Lagos, a movement conceived to drive his poorly-put-together governorship bid, abound in Nigeria’s political turf.

Although as a former US President, Senator Barack Obama, once posited, “Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself, because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realise your true potential.” what is missing in that submission, however, is the fact that timing is as critical to every ambition or thought process.

Indeed, the Bible in the book of Ecclesiastes 9:11, submits that, “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, not the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

Sentiments aside and let’s sling the cards as plainly as possible on the table, how much chances, really, does a Jide stand in a fair contest with the current occupant of the seat of power in Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu? Sincerely, none! Even in a contrived political and electoral setting, he bears no consequences and this is speaking straight to the facts.

That he’s carried on as though he has a grudge match to settle with certain interests in the party and the state is the reason his desire to be governor of Lagos State, comes with a big question mark.

Bitterness and progression do not share space. One, ultimately, would have to yield and give cause to the other and this is where Jide and his co-travellers, have continued to miss the point.

The Yoruba have two contrasting sayings, both of which apply to the study of Jide with regards to his misguided ambition and in the political equation of Lagos – if at all he is considered in that shade.

The first, the Yoruba advise that a mad man should be allowed to savour the momentary joy of being addressed as the suitor, just so the real celebrants could have a free pass to their own event or doing.

However, in a flip, knowing that excessive freedom granted an unstable fellow could signpost harm for all, the Yoruba propose a second saying, which controverts the first. And what did they say? If you allowed a mad man to bury his mother whichever way he chooses, he might as well roast her for a meal if it pleases him.

This is the point Jide needs to be called to order except, truly, as he too has always promulgated, there is the absence of leadership in the state chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

He professes to be a member of the APC in Lagos and has stealthily sustained his governorship movement immediately after the current governor was elected into office, not minding the obvious fact that his activities constitute huge distraction to the mandate of the governor to deliver to all.

Jide cannot continue to take the piss with his ill thought out choices at the expense of the collective people of the state that he also seeks to govern. He has a lot to learn let alone strutting the turf as though it’s some drinking get-together.

You cannot be rooting for equity, justice and fairness in the party and at the same time, constituting nuisance to the big picture in the name of ambition. Those goading him on are certainly not doing him any favour, because at the end of the day, he would be alone to contend with the consequences of the path he has chosen.

How do you explain his going around seeking endorsements from individuals and institutions, when it’s not as if the incumbent governor is serving out his second term or has declared he was not interested in a re-election or has underperformed? Who does that?

Pause a moment and ponder this: what is the capacity of this new age politician and emergency big man to reflect deeply and speak truth to himself? He obviously lacks that endowment and unable to critically analyse both the simple and intricate political situations hence his disruptive choices all along.

From his first day in office, Sanwo-Olu has battled crises of different types and forms, coupled with those of leadership and performance and in all, he has always come out tops, surprising both his critics and cynics that, indeed, nothing is esoteric about leadership and governance – put together.

How then, does a Jide, who sauntered from nowhere, because he was privileged to be close to a former chairman of a federal agency, through whom he made some money to set up a rather struggling Core Media, think the governor of Lagos is for his ilk at a time like this?

Or shall we remind him of Sanwo-Olu’s rising profile, just so he knows what he is up against? The facts do not even show a promising, much less a fair competition between them. As a matter-of-factly, it would be unjust, if not wicked, for a Sanwo-Olu, with his present rating and well-off resume to stand in a competition with a non-starter like Jide.

That some greedy and inane few enjoy the lucre of the emergency wealth you throw around is not a proof of your qualification, not to talk of acceptability before even pondering validation. Jide is not a factor and would not be one for now in the subsisting Lagos equation.

Lagos has transcended his infantile disposition and he should therefore grow up first, learning to crawl before walking and running. No feeding-bottle politician is a preference in the state of aquatic splendour, even if there’s a godfather somewhere remote-controlling his missteps.

Lagos does not have the patience for the suasion of his like, which often submits: “He’ll learn on the job.” Hell no! Only the ready-to-hit-the-ground-running is eligible for the office of the governor of Lagos. It’s important to sink that in.

But, even more important is that, Jide’s actions, utterances and activities, are not only a distraction to the current focus of the emerging mega Lagos, they are no less anti-party movements, liable to reprimands.

This is where, without prodding, the leadership of the party in the state should call such abnormality to order, except of course, they are a part of the plan to make the state more difficult for Sanwo-Olu to superintend.

It might be difficult to say but does not make it less the truth: Jide’s activities are becoming some form of irritation and Sanwo-Olu’s cosmopolitan disposition should, therefore, not be taken for granted or considered a sign of weakness. It’s strength – way beyond Jide’s comprehension.

From the North West to the South-east and South-south, we have seen instances, where incumbents weighed down heavily on detractors like Jide, by either demolishing their properties and also distracting them or handing them some ‘assignments’ that took them away from the stage and kept them busy elsewhere.

Sanwo-Olu has shown leadership. He has delivered maturity. He has and is still providing good governance. He has put his exposure, education and Omoluabi values to play in the face of provocation by his adversaries. But, he should not be taken for granted, still.

The dog bites its puppies with the same set of teeth it uses to play with them. Jide should stop the deliberate orchestration of his avarice, distraction and public disorder and stop gallivanting about as if he has it all covered, even when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not declared the space open. Honestly, he has nothing covered.

If there’s a takeaway from all of these, it is the fact that Jide has proven beyond all doubts, that he is not a progressive but a mere opportunist, aiming at what is, in all intent and purposes, beyond and above him.

A word is enough, not just for the wise, but the smart and intelligent.

*Erogbogbo lives in Ikorodu