Gboyega Akosile, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has described as laughable the comparison of his principal and his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike.
Many on social media had described Sanwo-Olu as weak following a viral video that showed the moment a Chief Superintendent of Police disregarded the Governor’s order for him and his men to vacate the Magodo Phase 2 Estate area of Lagos.
There is currently a tussle between Magodo residents and some judgment creditors over some plots of land in the estate.
The CSP and some armed police operatives had been deployed in the area on the orders of the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN.
Their presence led to a protest by residents on Wednesday, with Sanwo-Olu visiting the scene to calm all parties.
The Governor’s appeal to the CSP and his men to vacate the scene pending a meeting of interested parties was ignored as the armed police officers failed to leave the estate.
Some Nigerians on social media had claimed that had it been it was Governor Wike, the CSP would have obeyed the order for him and his men to vacate the estate.
Akosile, in a post titled, ‘Magodo fiasco, Governor Sanwo-Olu and genuine Leadership By Gboyega Akosile,’ wondered if Wike would have slapped the CSP if he was the one in the situation.
He wrote, “A few opinion writers had rushed to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to paint a picture of what appeared like a “weak” Governor. In fact, I saw some laughable comparisons of Governor Sanwo-Olu with Nyesom Wike, his River State counterpart. Pray, what would the latter have done under such circumstances? Would he have slapped the CSP for answering his question, however condescending, or ordered his arrest? Which arm of the security would carry out the instruction? Does River State, like Lagos State, have its own Police, DSS, or the Army? The writer that did this comparison needs to be reminded that all security apparatus is controlled by the Federal Government in Abuja and their officers are not answerable to any state government. What we have had in Nigeria is collaboration between the State and Federal Government. The structure is weak, lopsided and not in the best interest of the federal system of government that we practice in Nigeria. For emphasis, Governor Sanwo-Olu is not weak. He is a democrat, a gentleman, who will follow the due process in every situation and what happened between him and the CSP at Magodo should be a good reason why well-meaning Nigerians need to increase the tempo of the call for true federalism, where all the Federating units will have their security arrangements and would not need the Federal Police to carry out a lot of duties in their domains.
“Some argued that the Governor should have worked behind the scenes and should not necessarily have visited Magodo. This line of thought is at its best funny. Do you go to sleep when your roof is on fire? I believe no one will do that. Refer to the “invasion” of Magodo by mean-looking, gun-wielding police officers in large numbers, who laid siege to the estate on December 21, creating chaos in the area and fear among the landlords and residents. It took the intervention of the Governor for those police officers to stand down the following day. He did not have to visit Magodo before the situation was brought under control. He has continued to engage with the law enforcers in Abuja over the matter up till Tuesday morning when another round of crisis occurred. This time, the Governor could not and would not sit back in his office and watch some persons disturb the peace that is being enjoyed in his State to be threatened. That, to me, is leadership.
“I sympathise with those who shared the above opinions, especially those who feel strongly about the Governor’s engagement with the police officer. I understand their plight and rightly so because Nigerians are not used to civil engagements between elected officials, who are usually lords and their citizens. We are sorry to disappoint you as Governor Sanwo-Olu will continue to engage the citizens, who he considers as the major stakeholders in his bid to take Lagos to her Eldorado.”
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