BY OSBORNE IWEKA
The current travails of Akinwunmi Ambode is a pointer to the emptiness that prevails in our political practice and space. Our political clime is devoid of ideologies. What is prevalent across board is politics of sentiments and emotions. Rightly put Politics of Sentimentality and Personality. Personalities of individuals and percurniary overtures takes prominence over all else. No blue print by way of party manifestos are needed to sway the populace. Contenders just come and talk of the top of their heads; I/we will provide employment, I/we will end power outages, infrastructural upgrade will be given priority, healthcare will be top notch, there will be housing for all, the dollar and naira will be at par, industries will be reborn. These wishes are reeled out without plans on how they would be accomplished, just tell them what they want to hear.
Some say Ambo no long enjoys the warm embrace of the lion of Bourdillon, so he has to give way. Performance or not if favoured by the lion he would have returned. If a formal document detailing deliverables to the people by way of service was available, inventories can be taken to ascertain performance. With what to guage against sentimentality and personality politics will be thrown out the window. Merit will then count for something.
Slogans are brandied without substance, ‘itise waju eko’, ‘eko Oni baje o!’, and so on. How eko will tesiwaju (progress) or not baje (spoil) is never well articulated. The new anointed one is coming to restore the lost glory of Lagos. The question is what glory? Lagos is endowed and privileged. It is the economic hub of the country. With the resources available to Lagos it has underachieved and is still underachieving.
We need to step back and demand better from our political office holders. We need to demand clear, measurable blue prints detailing what they are offering, enough of the wishy-washy ways of operation. Sentimentality and Personality Politics needs to be done away with. We really need a paradigm shift. Only a mad being will keep doing something same way and expect different results. Eko Oni baje o!
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