Fasola's gaffe, PDP's gains
By Kayode Ojo
It is not exactly clear what the Lagos Governor, Babatunde Fasola, was thinking but his comments to Lagosians that his friend and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate, Jimmy Agbaje, was too old at 57 to rule the state, was a hit below the belt of his own All Progressives Congress (APC), which is fielding a 72-year old retired General, Muhammadu Buhari, to run a country of nearly 170 million persons.
Fashola said: “You know what you must do. Open your eyes clearly. When I took this job, at the age of 44, I was counting the number of white hair on my head. Today, at 52, I am counting the number of black hair on my head. Akinwunmi (Ambode) is younger than me. You need youthfulness to do this job. That man (Mr. Agbaje) is already 60; he cannot cope with this job. If you call him at night he will not take your phone.”
Since Fashola is a lawyer, he can be forgiven for adding more than two years to his friend's age, but he cannot be forgiven for forgetting that his party peopled by gerontocrats has been working the social media with a lot of falsehood and tweaked information to try to win the young generation of persons who largely do not vote on Election Day.
If Agbaje, a 57- year old Pharmacist, businessman and politician with a well rounded educational background is not able to run a state of about 20 million, how can a former dictator with questionable secondary school leaving certificate that dates back nearly five decades, with a spattering of military education and attitude, be trusted with the most populous and complex black nation in the world?
While all the 72-year old Buhari has to show for corporate governance is a military career that was based on a command and control structure, and a failed 20-month administration that was all about militarising a civil populace, Agbaje boasts of a rich background that included fighting dictators.
According to Wikipedia, “in a 2013 interview with The Punch Newspaper, Agbaje talked about how he began in politics: 'It had to do with the Moshood Abiola/Bashir Tofa presidential election', he said. 'I saw the annulment as a personal insult and an assault on the Nigerian people. This led to my first entry into what I would call activism, working with other concerned professionals such as Prof. Pat Utomi, Dr Ayo Ighodaro, Asue Ighodalo, Billy Lawson, Oby Ezekwesili, Tola Mobolurin and Hassan Odukale. Jimi was in one form of resistance group or the other which ultimately led him to join the socio-political organization, Afenifere, where he served as national treasurer.[10]
“Based on his affiliation with Afenifere, Jimi Agbaje joined the Action Congress (AC) – his first political party. In 2007, Agbaje who had initially aspired to contest for the Governor of Lagos State on the platform of the Action Congress (AC) left the party to join the Democratic People's Alliance (DPA). He was among the 11 aspirants that turned their back to the Action Congress (AC) when it was alleged that Governor Bola Tinubu had already anointed someone else to succeed him even before the party primaries. Widely believed to have conducted the best campaign in 2007, Agbaje contested in gubernatorial election on the Democratic People's Alliance (DPA) platform, but eventually, alongside other major contenders – Musiliu Obanikoro of PDP, Femi Pedro of Labour Party (Nigeria) – lost to Babatunde Raji Fashola of the Action Congress (AC).
“He left DPA in 2011 and went on to join the ruling party, the People's Democratic Party, PDP, following the de-registration of DPA by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). On October 29, 2014, he officially indicated his interest in giving the Lagos State gubernatorial elections another shot by picking up the PDP nomination form. On 8 December 2014, it was reported that he emerged as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the 2015 Lagos State gubernatorial election, having defeated Musiliu Obanikoro in the primary. Musiliu Obanikoro is the former Minister of State for Defence who is also a member of the ruling party, People's Democratic Party, PDP.”
It may be unfair to continue to compare Agbaje with Buhari, because both men are vying to run separate entities; so it may be necessary to compare the 72-year old general with questionable credentials with the zoologist, President Goodluck Jonathan, with a Ph.D. In terms of age, the retired general has all it takes to be a traditional ruler before any consideration will be given to President Jonathan, but unfortunately they are not both from the same district either in Fulani land or Ijaw land. While Buhari has lived more than 26,300 days on earth, Jonathan has spent about 20,860 days, giving the general an upper hand.
But that is where it ends. Jonathan has been commander-in-chief for 1,850 days in a country of 170 million persons, but Buhari was there for about 605 days when the country's population was just 84 million. So in terms of experience, Jonathan is better qualified. Again, it will be extremely unfair to compare both men's educational qualifications, but suffice it to say that while Jonathan, from his poor background, saw himself through school by hard work, most of Buhari's fees and bills were paid for by the state. Even today, the state still pays him and foots some of his bills.
While this writer views with skepticism the talk about the retired general's health until genuine documents as to his illness or otherwise are made available, it will be clearly irresponsible to ask both men to a game of squash! All said and done, and based on Fasola's own logic, it is clear where he will cast his vote in a secret ballot. However, barring any underhand deal as witnessed in 2011, it is clear where Fasola's godfather will cast his vote. As for me and my house, we will adopt Fasola's logic: consider who has requisite experience; a more developed thinking faculty; and vote for continuity.
Mr Ojo contributed this piece from Ketu, Lagos via [email protected]
The post Fasola's gaffe, PDP's gains appeared first on Pointblank News .