Dear Readers
Last week, after a very long hybrid session hosted by CIAPS on “strategic elements of efficient policy-making” attended by students from 6 countries across the globe that started on time but lasted about one hour more than scheduled time (due to questions and desire of the students), I had another one-hour conversation with a group of young Nigerian students that went beyond the theme of their intended dialogue. Their original theme of conversation was my voting choice in the last electoral election in Lagos state and my intention was just to tell them who I voted for and move on but the chat led to areas that opened our reasoning around but beyond voting in general.
Looking back at my life so far, with all its ups and downs, I have come to the very informed conclusion that a major privilege of the many privileges that has influenced my way of viewing the world and responding to events and people is the privilege of growing in an environment where reason and communication mattered more than most things. It is imperative at this point that I openly take time to pay tribute to my late papa who, whilst I was growing up, always took his time to not only explain things but also to reason, listen and converse. It is with great pain and sadness that I have to admit that, contrary to my plan and promise, when I gauge what I have been able to offer my own children, I do not honestly believe I have been to surpass what my own papa offered me. C’est la vie…
The students that stopped me to engage me after my lesson with them were lucky because I had time to spare that day and they had no class after the session we shared but there were something about them that went beyond luck. Though they were deeply concerned and even very passionate, the first thing that struck me about them was their soberness in mood, depth of knowledge and professionalism in approach. Unlike many of the young people and not so young that one reads or endure on social media, this lot took their time to ask if I could spare some time to talk Nigerian politics with them and they even “warned” me that I might find them invasive. They perambulated their questions with long interventions for context but I think the crux of their question and maybe accusation can be summed as why did I vote for Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in Lagos when I tend to posit that Nigeria needs change. I cannot over emphasis how impressed I was with this group of people who had data and history at hand, anxiety and disappointment in their mind but still had poise and were open to understating the reason for a choice they deem wrong.
Like I explained to them, my relationship with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is a very pragmatic one and my electoral choice is an offshoot of my consideration for politics. Unlike many people in the country, I belong to the minority tribe of those that do not see politics or politicians as the key to what I think matter most for a society: peace progress and prosperity. To achieve these three desirable elements, I put my hope on innovation, knowledge and private enterprise. In assessing politics and politicians I do not seek a messiah, all I look for is someone that will not destroy or make worse what they have meet, that will not make us miss who they are taking over from, that will not appear confused or overwhelmed by issues they have to deal with. As you can see, I am more about what they should not be not what they ought to be. When elections come, my mode of deciding who to vote for or vote against is based on character, experience and company of candidates. I think of those jostling for office as choosing a CEO that will manage a company wherein, I am a shareholder or a school I want to send my child.
In the case of Lagos state in the 2023 elections, it was not difficult for me settle for Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu because based on the analysis and comparison of some us, he seemed to be the only viable candidate that appeared to have a good understanding of the system of government in Lagos. He also had going for him evidence of concrete accomplishment in the state in terms of infrastructures, security and stability of polity. All these without mentioning how the administration was able to manage the pandemic called COVID. He also had around him an array of known and tested professionals as cabinet members and advisers. Do all these make Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu a perfect politician or candidate? No and far from it, but when compared to those that stood against him, the choice was not a difficult one. The company kept and presented by other candidates did not make them attractive to me and others.
Naturally, it was not easy to convince these young people who think the best thing to do is to change everything and everybody in government but the concept of choosing a CEO amongst only candidates that applied for the job helped me make a case on my choice and in the end, we found a compromise. We agreed to monitor and provide input for good governance regardless of our ideology and party affiliation. My biggest immediate joy however is to find out that the case of Sanwo-Olu and I gave me the opportunity to engage with young people who truly care about what is right and wrong, citizens that have their own opinion and that are not led by just proximity to power or where they can benefit from and that can disagree, be expressive without been rude or confused and yet be open to learning.
Join me if you can on twitter @anthonykila to continue these conversations.
Anthony Kila is Institute Director at CIAPS. www.ciaps.org.
