OPINION: What Can Kadiri Hamzat Do?

Nothing really. Yes, for one who has watched Lagos evolve from Baba Lateef Kayode Jakande, the inimitable LKJ, to the current charade in the Round House, we can confidently say nothing.

Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat, KOH, who will be the next governor of Lagos State in 2027 if our Lord tarries, may never be able to impact the mega state appropriately no matter how hard he tries.

THE MONSTER THAT VANQUISHED LAGOS…

Let’s start from the beginning. As we say in my place when a problem becomes intractable and defies all solutions, it is said that the monster that vanquished him is still holding him. In street parlance, we say: the thing wey kill am, still hol’ am. More appropriately, the thing wey kill Lagos no gree release am!

Femi Hamzat as we knew him is the current deputy governor of Lagos State. He’s a hard-core Lagos establishment fella having been in the system since 2005. He is a dyed-in-the-wool Tinubu acolyte though more educated and technocratic than the ‘apes obey’ kind. Though a naturalised Lagosian, he’s of Ogun roots and indeed, he’s royalty.

Well read, studied up to doctoral level in IT and Computing in England, he is steeped in the Lagos state bureaucracy. Femi is

arguably the best man for the Lagos top job come 2027.

But as the whole world knows, the big job in Lagos has long ceased to be owned by the man on the seat. Since 1999, this most important subnational assignment in Nigeria has been hijacked by a godfather, a leviathan who determines whom to hand it to each election circuit.

Right now, Femi has been graciously given the nod. He’s the anointed one and it’s a fait accompli. By hook or by crook, Femi will be the next governor of Lagos State.

So long as there’s a semblance of an election, whether the people want him or not. If you don’t vote, they will vote on your behalf. This has been the pattern since 1999. The owner of Lagos has seized the entire space. He commands all the strongholds in the state so much so that no opposing party can win election in Lagos state today. It’s doubly difficult now that Baba is the lord of Asia Rock, Abuja.

It’s not enough to be in his party, you will do well to be in his corner, then in his good books and finally, work your pants off to earn his approval for the guber diadem.

This is what Femi has achieved. He has Baba’s nod, he has the party ticket in his suit pocket.

Odds are that he will win the election.