Rhodes-Vivour: Before governing Lagos, learn to understand Lagos – by Seye Oladejo

Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour’s latest outing on Politics Today was revealing-not necessarily because of the familiar catalogue of criticisms against Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, but because Candidate Rhodes-Vivour inadvertently provided Lagosians with another subject for reflection.

Earlier on live television on Arise TV, Rhodes-Vivour proudly disclosed that he recently engaged a Yoruba language teacher to learn Yoruba.

Good.

We welcome the development. After all, there is nothing wrong with learning the language of the people one seeks to govern. Indeed, it is commendable.

But it does raise one rather obvious and curious question:

If a man aspiring to govern Lagos is only now taking lessons in the language, how deeply has he engaged with the culture, worldview, history, traditions and everyday aspirations of the people he seeks to lead?

This is not an ethnic question. Lagos is proudly cosmopolitan and home to Nigerians from every part of the country.

But governance is not conducted in a vacuum.

Language is one of the gateways to understanding people. It carries history, humour, values, idioms, traditions and ways of seeing the world.

So, Candidate Rhodes-Vivour, welcome to Yoruba 101!

We hope the lessons are intensive.And when the Yoruba alphabet has been mastered, perhaps the next course should be “Understanding Lagos 101.”

After that, perhaps “Thinking in Yoruba” should follow. Because there is a difference between speaking a language and understanding the people who speak it.

Hamzat cannot be erased with sound bites 

It is therefore curious that the same Candidate Rhodes-Vivour who is still openly learning the language of a substantial part of the people he seeks to govern is so confident in dismissing the experience of Dr. Hamzat.

Let us be clear: Rhodes-Vivour has every right to criticise Hamzat. But criticism does not erase experience. Dr. Hamzat has served Lagos in several capacities, including as Commissioner, Deputy Governor for two terms and in other public-sector and professional roles.

Rhodes-Vivour may argue that the administration has not done enough. He may identify areas where he believes Hamzat’s record should have been better.

That is politics. But to suggest that experience has no value simply because Lagos still has challenges is a rather curious argument.

By that logic, every city that still has traffic, housing challenges, infrastructure deficits or unemployment should periodically sack everyone with experience and replace them with people who are still taking introductory lessons in the system.

Lagos deserves a more serious conversation.

Traffic is not a one-line examination 

Rhodes-Vivour’s treatment of Lagos’ traffic challenge was another example of the temptation to turn complex governance problems into convenient political ammunition.

Yes, traffic is a serious challenge. Yes, Lagos must continue to improve mobility.

But Lagos is not a village road network. It is one of Africa’s largest urban and economic centres, with enormous population pressure, intense commercial activity and rapidly expanding transportation demands.

The serious question is not whether traffic exists.

The serious question is: What is your alternative? Where are the roads?Where is the financing? Where is the mass-transit plan?

Where is the implementation framework What is the timeline? What are the measurable targets? And how will you pay for it?

It is easy to criticise a moving train from the television studio. Governance begins when you have to drive the train.

From “I will fix Lagos” to ” I am still learning Lagos”

Perhaps the most interesting contradiction in this emerging campaign is the confidence with which Candidate Rhodes-Vivour presents himself as the solution to virtually every problem in Lagos, while simultaneously acknowledging that he is only recently beginning to learn the language of a significant part of the population.

There is no shame in learning. But there is wisdom in acknowledging that learning a language is only the beginning of understanding a people.

Lagos is not governed by Instagram posts, television appearances or campaign slogans.

Lagos is governed through institutions, budgets, planning, infrastructure, security coordination, transportation systems, economic policy and thousands of daily administrative decisions.

That is why experience matters. That is why competence matters.

And that is why a candidate’s promises must be examined alongside his capacity to deliver them.

Welcome to the classroom, candidate 

So, Candidate Rhodes-Vivour, we sincerely welcome you to the Yoruba classroom.

Learn the words, learn the idioms, learn the proverbs, learn the history and learn the culture.

And, hopefully, before the 2027 campaign reaches its climax, you will graduate from speaking Yoruba to thinking in Yoruba.

But while the Yoruba teacher handles the language lessons, Lagosians will be looking for something else:

A comprehensive understanding of Lagos, a credible programme for governing Lagos, and demonstrable capacity to turn campaign promises into public policy.

Because Lagos is not merely a place to govern.

Lagos is a living organism with a history, a culture, an economy and a people whose expectations cannot be reduced to political sound bites.

Candidate Rhodes-Vivour should therefore spend less time trying to define Hamzat and more time allowing Lagosians to examine the candidate himself.

After all, 2027 is not an audition for television. It is a conversation about the future of Lagos.

And Lagosians deserve to know not merely who can criticise Lagos, but who understands Lagos-and who can govern it.

Mogaji (Hon) Oladejo, Spokesman for the Lagos APC