Reactions Trail Agbaje's Civil Service Inexperience

Though the date of the general elections have been moved, the frontrunners in the Lagos Gubernetorial polls still remain. 

Jimi Agbaje Of the People’s Democratic Party and Akinwunmi Ambode of the All Progressive Congress are regarded as the front runners of the Lagos governorship polls. 

Agbaje and Ambode

To run a feasibility poll, correspondents have compiled responses from various Lagosians (even Agbaje himself) to know what Lagosians think.

A lot of people have been saying Agbaje isn’t suitable to be the governor of Lagos State because he doesn’t have experience in government or public administration. This is one of the attacks of the main opposition in the state. But is Jay Kay okay even though he lacks public office experience?

Agbaje himself thinks this kind of experience doesn’t matter, and he often refers to some of our legendary leaders who didn’t have the experience before they got to the top position they occupied.

 

He says, “Chief Lateef Jakande was neither a commissioner nor minister before he became governor on October 1, 1979. Yet he successfully abolished the obnoxious shift system in public schools. He was never a permanent secretary, but he conceived the metro line and ferry services to resolve the traffic challenges of the then Lagos population of five million.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo was never a councillor or a civil servant before he became leader of the government in 1952. Without any previous experience, he pioneered general access to primary education. He built the Liberty stadium, the first in Africa, and erected Cocoa House, the first skyscraper in tropical Africa.”

Agbaje’s main opponent, Akinwunmi Ambode, has had a remarkable 27 years of experience in public administration. He began his career as an accountant with the Lagos State Waste Disposal Board and then as an assistant treasurer at Badagry local government. From there he rose to be accountant-general of the state during the Tinubu tenure. He’s believed to have reformed the way the government raised, budgeted and managed funds to improve financial performance. So experience is clearly one of his strong points.

On the other hand, Agbaje has had experience mainly in healthcare and business alone. He set up his pharmaceutical company in 1982 and ran it for 23 years before he went into politics to prepare for the 2007 governorship election. He’s been a leader with some professional unions and sits on the board of several companies in the country. Moreover, he’s quite popular among ordinary people in Lagos.

Samuel says for instance, “Experience truly matters but I don’t think it should be a problem for Agbaje. There’s always a first time. Ambode has been in government work for 27 years but it doesn’t still make him the better candidate to me. A lot of people have experience and they fumble. Besides Agbaje has been in politics for a long time too. I believe he’ll do well. It’s just about working with the right people and having the right people around him.”

Titi says though, “I feel Agbaje’s party is a more serious disadvantage than his lack of experience in public administration. People like me think he’s the right man who’s in the wrong party. Lagos has made progress under APC and we want someone who will continue the good works. But I don’t trust PDP to do that. More people would definitely be supporting Agbaje right now if he was in a different party. But then he could still win the election.”

Agbaje believes his education and business experience is sufficient for the work and that he’ll deliver if he gets the chance.

He says, “We will not realise the Lagos of our dreams if the experience we’re counting on is one proficient in cornering the resources of the state, for squandering by a few. Lagos deserves a new kind of leadership — one driven to irrevocably ensure that the resources of Lagos are deployed maximally and prudently in the interest of, not just a few, but the greater good.

My life experience grounds my humanity — having run successful businesses while working as a pharmacist and supporting ordinary people at a community level. The innate values that I imbibed as a young man and the tenets that I’ve learnt over the years as an activist with the Afenifere — working side by side my hero and mentor, late Pa Abraham Adesanya — continually reminds me of the importance of a leader’s duty to his people.”

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