Politics In Nigeria: Top 3 Lessons Learnt From Akinwunmi Ambode’s Rise And Fall As Governor Of Lagos State

The numbers are rapidly adding up in the official All Progressives Congress (APC) Party of Nigeria 2019 Lagos State Primary Elections. It looks like current governor, Akinwunmi Ambode is loosing to new potential governor on the block, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Ambode has pleaded, black-mailed, spent thousands of dollars printing campaign materials, flying across the country, among other activities to ensure he is re-elected and not booted out; all to no avail as most APC leaders seem to be strongly backing Sanwo-Olu for 2019. We applaud his ‘fight to the finish’ but it looks like he is losing the battle for next Governor of Lagos State under APC in the most recent numbers that have come in to [email protected] as at 2pm on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2018. Regardless of if Ambode wins or loses, the below are 3 lessons that if well practiced, would have prevented the last 2 months of his eventual downfall.

1. Every leader must be humble till the last hour. Ambode and his wife were said to have been very arrogant upon assuming power in 2015. His wife once championed the firing of the pastor of the official state church apparently because he did not give her the respect she expected as he recognized other distinguished guests before recognizing her. Ambode also mis-affected a lot of policies that his predecessor had put in place. For instance, he destabilized and ended many working contracts of Lagos State’s Waste Management Services. Ambode was also said to have once kept the Governor of another southern Nigeria state waiting for over 8 hours before he met with him.
2. Every leader must be the center of Unity. His party members have said that Ambode caused lots of disagreements between party members during his tenure. Knowing how Nigeria’s political system works, this might also be based on the fact that he limited corruption within the state and many didn’t have as much access to funds that they previously had access to. It is possible that Ambode ruled for the good of the state but he did not carry others along with him. To lead change strategically, one must lead change with unity. Speaking at one of the polling wards on the day of the primary elections, former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu said “Ambode did well in office but he isn’t a good party man.”
3. In absense of humility and unity, don’t expect loyalty. On the day of the primaries, Ambode’s deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Adebule, was seen with her assistants carrying banners promoting the election of Ambode’s opponent, Sanwo-olu for Governor. This is a blatant example of disloyalty. Nigerians are rarely loyal – once you fall, they run. When questioned by reporters, Adebule said “The party has chosen a man and it is that man that I will support and follow” thereby insinuating that she is no longer for Ambode, she is all for Sanwo-olu despite the fact that her tenure as Deputy Governor is still on and the official APC primary election results are not yet finalized.  Adebule is still employed under Ambode’s leadership, yet she’s all ready to betray him – disloyal.

Ambitious Ambode should not see this as a total defeat – he still has time to move over to another party and contest against APC to continue his tenure as Governor of Lagos State of Nigeria from 2019-2023. Otherwise, we wish him all the best living life again as a common citizen.  What will Lagos decide?