Has Akinwunmi Ambode Quit Politics?

Ah, politics! What other profession in the world throws one into the limelight in one minute and under a bus in the next? Every time the ups and downs of the game come to mind, former Lagos Governor Akinwunmi Ambode also comes to mind. The man will be recorded in the history books as trying but failing to bear the weight of politics. Perhaps not, since there is still time for a reversal. But it does not at all look like Ambode is interested in reversing anything.

There is no question about Ambode’s loyalty to Lagos. The state is known for tying its people to a crucifix of devotion, leading them to want to die for its cause if that would help matters. So it used to be for Ambode also, the man that almost gave up everything to serve Lagos. But he appears to have learned his lesson: endless possibilities await the living. Thus, from recent developments, Ambode is either waiting out his turn or leaving the stage for others to work their magic.

During the last National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC), many people were looking out to see Ambode. His appearance would prove that he still held some form of candlelight hope to join the gubernatorial or senatorial contest shortly and perhaps recover the years that the cankerworms stole from him. Alas, Ambode was absent from the convention.

If it was anybody else, there would be discussions about whether party defection was the main reason. But not when it is Ambode. Nobody is talking about the possibility that the man has decided to join a different political party, only that he might have lost interest in politics. And this is a valid conclusion given Ambode’s history.

So, has Ambode quit politics? That is unlikely, but nobody can rule out the possibility. After all, as recent reports have shown, there might be something in the works that would turn him into a solid and successful hotelier in a few months. So, to remain a politician or not is a choice that Ambode can now make.