by @FemiMP
The Biola Kazeem I know is a sports
journalist who I admire – young and articulate. I even enjoy his
pro-Manchester united banters with fellow EPL team supporters.
It was however refreshing to see him
write a political piece/opinion – not that he didn’t have a right to
write one, but again that attests to the dexterity of this
multi-talented sports aficionado.
One cannot deny that the 2015
electioneering process has been an interesting one, with more youths
becoming more politically conscious. Biola’s piece on “Why Jimi Agbaje
cannot be the smart person’s choice” has also galvanized me to do
something I rarely do – write a political rejoinder.
I have taken my time to write this
rejoinder to address the issues raised in Biola’s piece to ensure that
the public is enlightened and all mis-information (from whoever) is
cleared in a civil, apolitical manner –this is my mere contribution to
the political discourse as a Lagosian. I am not a writer, so pardon my
long response.
The profile of JK is in public custody,
so I will not bore anyone with details. Let me however acknowledge
Biola’s assertion, of the well-run, fresh air campaign that JK ran in
2007; the Lagos political landscape was truly redefined by JK’s entry
into the elective political office contest of 2007. If not for anything,
it identified JK as a different kind of charismatic leader – the one
Lagosians and by extension Nigerians can trust and identify with.
But this is the 2015 elections and
‘Biola has raised some issues about this quintessential activist and
fine gentleman, which I would now attempt to address:
First he accuses JK of a “readiness and
willingness to do anything to win the race, which flies in the face of
his pretensions of being different”. To support his line of thought,
‘Biola refers to the controversial Lagos PDP Guber primaries which
produced JK as the party’s flag bearer further hammering on the quick
withdrawal of the campaign team’s response to the media on that matter.
‘Biola would however gloss over JK’s
personal apology on behalf of his media to the other contestants for the
embarrassment the media release caused! If that single action does not
underline a departure from the typical Nigerian politician, please tell
me what then is! Most Nigerian politicians as we all know would rather
sweep an issue under the carpet, point accusing fingers to another
rather than take the blame or even apologize! JK, a man of transparent
integrity and humility rather apologized! Biola sadly missed this,
deliberately?
‘Biola would further ask how JK colluded
with other elements in the PDP to abuse a democratic system (the
primaries) and claim to be a different Nigerian politician? This
self-serving question would make one think: Is ‘Biola a PDP member in
the first place to have first-hand knowledge of JK’s collusion to abuse
the democratic process of a party’s primary?
However since I am not a member of the
PDP, Biola would need to give more facts as to how he arrived at this
conclusion. One may however wish to take cognizance of the information
by the PDP in the public domain concerning the excess votes at the PDP
primary as an innocent mistake of the clerical omission of some ad hoc
and statutory delegates.
His second issue is the lack of
substance in JK’s Bold Ideas. ‘Biola discountenances them as being mere
populist lacking in real value! Sadly, ‘Biola has not mentioned what is
wrong in being populist. I am also tempted to think that the intelligent
‘Biola did not or refused to go through JK’s manifesto of ‘Bold Ideas’
(christened the SHELTER framework) before arriving at this warped
conclusion. Biola must not forget one of Sun Tzu’s famed war quote –
Know thine enemy!(paraphrased), which underlines the fact
that you cannot fight (or disprove) what you do not know! I advise
Biola to go through JK’s manifesto and educate himself – here’s a link
to it:http://jimiagbaje.com/manifesto/
Specifically, ‘Biola mentioned the LCC
toll gate along Lekki-Epe expressway. The expansion of this expressway,
reputed to be one of the busiest in the West Africa sub-region is a
laudable PPP project. But I will attempt to enumerate my understanding
of JK’s position on the tolling of this expressway:
- In the first place, the road was merely upgraded not a new construction (unlike the Ikoyi-Lekki link bridge) and putting 3 tolls (as proposed) on the 50km road was unexplainable
- There are no better road alternatives for the masses to using the expanded expressway.
- The LASG has paid-off the concessionaire, making the LCC a solely owned government enterprise.
- The entire process/transaction was at best opaque and riddled with vested interests
To put it clearly, JK’s decision to
cancel the toll at the Lekki-Epe expressway is actually a progressive
initiative – and the masses have clearly identified with this! The
refurbished expressway indeed may have added value, but certainly,
without the tolls, government would have added a face!
It is also erroneous to compare tolling
at the Lekki-Epe expressway to the FAAN toll gate or MM2 PPP, which is
under the FG’s purview.
I don’t understand ‘Biola’s aversion to
free Wi-Fi, maybe the LASG should explain better to him why they
commissioned 100 new buses, that are Wi-Fi enabled! It seems though
while ‘Biola is not reading JK’s manifestos, some people are reading
JK’s lips!
On the motorcycle (okada) issue, JK’s position is well known. JK started by interrogating why an aspirant would dole out crash helmets for okada riders at his campaign prior to the elections, only to assume office and clamp down on these okada riders.
Indeed, the LASG has restricted the movement of Okada to certain roads
as a result of reckless driving causing accidents and robbery incidents,
and this is commendable; however JK averred again that the entire
clampdown lacked a human face! People lost their means of livelihood as
their okadas were confiscated and destroyed! Most of them were
not criminals, just people looking for an honest source of livelihood!
Some of these Okada riders were pensioners who have not been paid their
pensions! Some of them were intending tertiary education students who
couldn’t afford school fees yet!
And taxes? JK identified a leak in the
tax structure and mainly proffered to: eliminate multiple taxation,
widen the tax net, remove vested interests and stop the conversion of
government-owned regulatory/social agencies into tax-monitoring or
revenue generating agencies. I’m sure that the idea of a courteous
LASTMA official volunteering to help you remove your broken down car in
the middle of the road rather asking for your tax clearance certificate
at such a dire circumstance puts a smile on your face already! These are
not valueless promises, rather a bold message to bring a human face to
governance.
I would not want to contribute to your
personality attack – so I would refrain from your opinion on JK and
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. These are great Lagosians, but you would agree that
the interest of Lagos and Lagosians is bigger than both of them
combined.
I find your insinuation that JK is a man
of unreasonable thoughts very disturbing too. JK has at various fora
clarified his statement on the South-South militancy – it would be
mischievous for you to quote that statement out of context. On President
Jonathan’s fight against corruption, I can hazard a guess that JK was
referring to Transparency’s International Corruption index of Nigeria –
98 out of 99 countries in 1999, to 136 out of 175 countries in 2014.
At the youth event for Mr. President
recently in Lagos, I missed what ‘Biola saw in JK’s speech that points
out that JK is not in the race for himself. ‘Biola seemed to forget that
it was an event for the President not for JK’s gubernatorial
aspiration.
And then to JK’s purported empty CV! I
sincerely doubt if ‘Biola has seen JK’s CV. Suffice to say he’s read
some mumbo-jumbo on JK being peddled around. I would advice ‘Biola to
look at the right places. Here’s a link to JK’s profile: http://jimiagbaje.com/team-member/olujimi-agbaje/ . JK even has a documentary, here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1620408851512408.
I am tempted to ask if ‘Biola knows what
to look for in the CV of an aspirant for public service or he’s just
looking for an avenue to launch a diatribe against this social activist,
thorough professional and fine gentleman? However, I take consolation
in the fact that my understanding of ‘Biola as an avid but fickle
football fan (and most football fans are fickle), explains his
confession of being un-inspired by JK’s achievements!
In conclusion, it is evident that
‘Biola’s piece is one littered with lack of information or
mis-information garnished with a lot of concocted ideas and virulent
statements. ‘Biola’s microscope which he uses to scrutinize JK, has
sadly been fixed with the wrong lenses! In his last paragraph, his
attempt to paint JK as a puppet is strange and if one had not been
reading the article from the beginning, his conspiracy theory was
actually AKIN to another gubernatorial candidate (no pun intended). In
all sincerity, a truly smart person would easily see through ‘Biola’s
poisoned chalice of an article.
#JKisOK
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