#NIGERIA DECIDES: THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF LAGOS…

Akinwunmi Ambode (APC)

Jimi Agbaje (PDP)

Now that the presidential elections have come and gone relatively peacefully (I hope it stays that way, I just read that some ijaw youths are threatening fire and brimstone and I say to those ones that they should desist else they would be the ones to be very very sorry), it is time for the governorship and state house of assembly elections on the 11^th of April, 2015.

I am concerned about the next leader for Lagos. Why? Because I am a lagosian and I would love for Lagos to continue to move forward. We have two major party candidates, APC’s Akinwunmi Ambode and PDP’s Jimi Agbaje. For me as a person, my preferred candidate is Akinwunmi Ambode and it is not because we both have ‘wunmi’ in our names even though it is a cool enough reason to vote him......lol

Here are my own reasons and they are in no way trying to sway anybody’s opinion. I am writing them because I feel like it. Everyone is entitled to their choice or opinion. What I won’t tolerate is insults. I just deleted someone from my facebook page because he went too far and now that I have started I am ready to start deleting people from my social media time lines and delete comments. You can state your point without insulting me or any other person.

So let us go:

Personally I think that a great leader should have integrity and one way I measure integrity in a politicians is for the politician to stick to one party. The PDP candidate has been in 4 parties in the last 8 years I think (please feel free to correct me if I am wrong) all in a bid to be the Governor of Lagos. Jumping to PDP last year, a party that already has its image in the mud (for now) was just it for me. 

A leader is as good as the people around him. The people around you can make or mar you. It doesn’t matter how principled or intelligent or smart or charismatic you are, if the people around you are greedy, selfish, stupid or dumb it would reflect in your leadership. One of the major failures of President Jonathan was that he never knew the kind of people around him. He was misled by his aides and advisers. The APC candidate has been accused of all sorts (which I don’t care to believe because I am yet to see proofs that are not propaganda produced) but I would rather choose him over the PDP candidate. On his corner we have people like Governor Babatunde Fashola, Tinubu, Fayemi, Rotimi Amaechi, Amosun, Buhari, Osinbajo. On the PDP’s candidate side, we have Bode George, Obanikoro, Goodluck Jonathan, Akpabio, Fayose, Sambo, Wike, Okupe, Reuben Abati and the rest.  The men especially Fayose and Obanikoro (that my family know as a man of questionable character from their Lagos Island living days) who are still been questioned for their roles in the rigging of Ekiti’s elections termed Ekitigate are not people to have in your corner right now.

APC won the presidential elections and right now understand that it was Nigerians that made that possible and that now in the new Nigeria we are not standing for rubbish. You don’t perform, you get out and they can’t even think of rigging it because they have learned a lesson from PDP’s failure. So right now the spirit in the APC’s camp (I believe) would be a ‘we must perform so as not to suffer the same fate as PDP’. With that belief I know that Ambode would try his best to listen to the right people and also do his own research on the best way forward. On the PDP’s side, there is a ‘we must not lose states’ (as stated by them) and considering that they have lost access to the presidential treasury, the largest self sufficient treasury in Nigeria is that of Lagos. For them to build their party they need an illegal source of income because unlike the way ordinary people donated to fund the campaign of APC people are not willing to give anything to the PDP camp. I laugh when people say that APC governors have stolen all that is in the lagos treasury. If they knew the definition of stealing they would know that right now it is not advisable to elect someone from a party that still has some explaining to do about the money that are missing in the federal treasury.

Personally I have hated the way the campaign of the PDP party as a whole has been done. They have tried to divide us as a country with their hate and character assassination stories and documentaries. I have asked some people why they want to vote for the PDP candidate and immediately they begin to attack the personalities of the APC candidate, the present governor and the party Chairman and I am like is that why? They bring out documentaries that was produced and edited by PDP as proof of what they are saying and to say I am disappointed is an understatement. If I was talking to an illiterate or semi illiterate I wouldn’t be so disappointed but a literate with a degree saying that is unacceptable. Where are your critical thinking and research skills uhn? If you are unable to state what your candidate would do without attacking someone then I am sorry your candidate is not the right person for the job. And if the candidate is also a party to malicious propaganda being spread about then that person lacks the fair play spirit needed right now in Nigeria.

I had the opportunity to listen to a statement no I call it a threat that was accredited to the PDP candidate who said that it was better that Nigerians voted for President Jonathan so that the south south people would not destroy our oil wells (and as he threatened the bomb blasts has started happening). And I could not believe it. When I read the story, I was like ‘these fake stories have started again’. There was a link to a video where it was claimed he said it and unfortunately it was true. I couldn’t believe that a respected Member of the Pharmaceutical society of Nigeria (I believe he is even a fellow) could say that. Yes, he is a pharmacist like me and if I had wanted to believe in him, there was no way I could do that anymore.

The fact that you desire to be the governor of Lagos should not make you lose your core values. You had a life and a reputation before joining politics. But when you critically look at it, he is in the company of people who don’t see anything wrong in stuff like that. This shows that bad company corrupts good manners. And at this point in time when they have lost the presidential seat, their energy would be used in trying to discredit APC and all the efforts of its members(I didn’t even have to think so, a lot of the PDP members have stated that they would try to frustrate the efforts of APC) just to prove a point. I am sorry if I don’t trust any of their members to hold any position right now. If you don’t believe that this country is bigger than you then you have no choice being a leader. I know that some members of the APC party have said some stuff lately but I can’t really blame them. There has been so many lies said about them and not everybody can have calm spirit of Prof Jega. 

Well, these are my personal reasons after carefully thinking about it. A lot of people especially pharmacists are shocked that I am not in support of the PDP candidate but they need to realise that Lagos is bigger than any profession. A governor should take care of everybody not just those in his profession. Who knows a non pharmacist may be better for the pharmacy profession? I also like the radio jingles of Ambode, clean, catchy and produced without insulting anyone (at least the ones I listened to while I was in Lagos).

It would also be nice to see how far Lagos can go as part of the ruling party instead of always being an opposition party. Anyone who says APC and its governors have not tried for Lagos is clearly a liar. And I can prove beyond doubt that Lagos has improved drastically. However since I don’t have a PVC and I am not in Lagos I can only explain why I support my candidate and pray and hope that he wins. I want the continuous improvement in Lagos and I believe Ambode with the right team can do it.

Thanks for reading my political yapping today. I think I am going to like being a fake political activist….lol.

Happy Easter guys, May the power of resurrection be manifested in every aspect of your lives.

Luv ya,

Petite Diva……