I want to end cartel holding Lagos down – LP guber candidate, Rhodes-Vivour
A lot has been said and/or insinuated about Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State ahead of the March 18 polls. Critics have said he is not an indigene of Lagos, and that he will hand the state over to the Igbo if he is elected governor of Lagos State. However, in this interview with Daily Sun, GRV, as he is fondly called, lays everything bare and the history of his family in Lagos, including how they donated the parcel of land on which City Hall is built. He also denounces the claim that Lagos is a ‘No Man’s Land’ or that he would hand the Igbo the state on a platter.
According to him, while there are indigenes of Lagos who deserve their right of place, there are also non-indigenes who are contributing in building the state through payment of taxes that also deserve a sense of belonging in the affairs of the state.
Excerpts:
As the governorship election approaches, especially since you emerged as one of the major contenders, a lot has been said about you and how you are not an indigene of Lagos State, how do you respond to this?
It is sickening that people who we don’t know where their fathers and grandfathers come from will come out to question my pedigree and say I am not from Lagos; it is most unfortunate. I come from a family line that dates back over 200 years, both on the Rhodes and Vivour sides, and it is well documented. My family married the Adeniyi Jones and the Akran of Badagry families and they were then in Lagos as guests. I am a firm believer that Lagos State is not a ‘No Man’s Land’, you cannot say Lagos is a ‘No Man’s Land’, my great, great, grandfather lived here, they built Lagos. Rather, what I would say is that the culture of Lagos State is welcoming, the culture sees beyond tribe. Lagos has always been cosmopolitan and has a lot of tolerance, because of all the interaction Lagos has been exposed to. You can see this in people like Nnamdi Azikiwe, who were closest allies of thorough breed Lagosians like Adeniji Adele and Herbert Macaulay.
I think we have gone past all the talk that I am not a Lagosian with people like former deputy governor of Lagos State, Kofoworola Bucknor endorsing me.
What I know is that these people saying I am not from Lagos only remember they are Yoruba during elections. When Fulani herdsmen were killing people in Oyo and the army and the police were quiet when the crime was reported to them, it was only people like Sunday Igboho that stood up, the likes of Bola Tinubu and Babajide Sanwo-Olu were quiet. Even when Tinubu finally released a statement after a long period of pressure, he was political and amorphous about it and did not take a stand.
Again, when they were shooting young people at the Lekki Toll Gate, they did not make a distinction between the Yoruba and the Igbo; they did not say let’s rehabilitate the Yoruba agberos in the streets. When Alpha Beta was stealing money, they did not say we will take the money we collected from the Igbo and use it to build schools for the Yoruba but when it comes to politics, they remember they are Yoruba.
My family produced the second indigenous judge of Lagos State, they donated the parcel of land on which City Hall is built and somebody from Ijebu in Ogun State is questioning my pedigree in Lagos State, it is sickening.
Where did this talk that you will hand Lagos over to the Igbo come from?
My mother is Igbo, she is a wonderful and inspiring mother, and I love her till death; I have great uncles and aunts and that has allowed me to see more of what joins us as opposed to what separates us. When you visit a Yoruba man and he breaks kola nut and you visit an Igbo man and see all the wonderful things he does while breaking kola nut, you will see they both came from the same source.
We must understand that indigenes of Lagos State have been marginalised over the years and they are tired of it; but there are also non-Lagosians that have contributed immensely to building Lagos, they have lived in Lagos for a long time, they have investments and pay taxes in Lagos. These people must be given a sense of belonging in Lagos State. They can be rest assured that when I become Governor of Lagos State up to 60 per cent of appointments in Lagos will be looked at from the angle of excellence, merit, indigeneship and contribution to the state’s economy. There should be no fear that any one group will take over Lagos State because the state is cosmopolitan in nature and my mission is to provide opportunity for everyone to thrive and excel in what they do.
There is this fear that a pending suit against your candidacy at the Supreme Court would weigh against you at the polls as your victory if you win could be truncated by the matter?
I can tell you that there is no such thing as a Supreme Court suit hanging over my head. I competed in a Substitution Primary of the Labour Party where the placeholders had already sent a consent letter to the Independent National electoral commission (INEC) to withdraw their names from the list of candidates for the election. You must also understand that the placeholders did not pay for any nomination or expression of interest forms; if you are contesting for an elective office, you must buy a form. I paid the sum of N15 million for the nomination or expression of interest forms; Moshood Salvador who contested against me in the keenly contested primary also paid. I won the primary with nine votes difference.
What happened was that after I emerged, the man who was the placeholder had second thoughts and went to court and asked to be declared the rightful candidate; he was defeated, he went further to the Court of Appeal and his case was thrown out. As it is today, he did not file any case at the Supreme Court and the timeline has closed. The governorship election would have been held on March 11, if not for the postponement.
You are just 40 years old; some people believe you are too young and inexperienced to become governor of Lagos State, how do you react?
Yes, I am 40, if you think I am too young, ask yourself how old was Chief Obafemi Awolowo when he started taking the reins of power; how old was Herbert Macaulay, how old was Yakubu Gowon when he became Head of State and even oversaw the Civil War, how old was Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu when he led Biafra? It is not about age. Donald Duke was Governor of Cross River State at 36, Orji Uzor Kalu was governor at 39. So, becoming governor is not about age, it is about passion, having the energy to serve, preparedness and willingness to make a difference.
Today, the ruling party expends all their energy on state capture and maintaining the status quo. Whether it is the Blueline, the BRT, Orange Island or anything you want to do in Lagos State, you must give a certain percentage to the cartel holding Lagos captive. We want to change this culture and set Lagos State free.
How do you intend to defeat this cartel holding Lagos captive?
I will chip in this quote of Margaret Mead. She said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
So, we have the determination, and we are committed to making a change in Lagos.
Yes, there is determination among your supporters, and if you win it would be due to this mass support but how do you intend to manage power? In 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari won on popular support but had no cabinet for a long time; someone even said that Buhari didn’t expect to win thus could not find his bearing. How would you manage power if you win?
Before I joined the governorship race, I gave out 15 copies of the book ‘How To Live In A Fractured Society’ to people, including members of this present government in the state and none of them read the book. I believe we had a fractured environment because there were different political parties then and no one was willing to work with the other. I believe that because we are living in a fractured society there is a need to know how to address the needs and aspirations of every group in society for the benefit of all. The Yoruba are worried that their Lagos is going to be taken away from them and the Igbo are worried that they are not given a sense of belonging. I want every group in Lagos, Hausa, the Kanuri, and people from other places to know that Lagos is one for all and all for one.
How prepared are you for the election on March 18?
I am confident that I will win the governorship election on March 18. I think we will do a documentary after the election. I said in all my past interviews that Lagos would experience an election like never before, and it is happening. We beat the ruling party in many places, we won the capital of Lagos, Ikeja, it is unprecedented.
We have been able to create a new voter demographic, a demographic of voters that vote based on hope for the future and change, and not those that are induced with money, noodles, or rice before they come out to vote.
What are your big pictures for a new Lagos?
My plan for Lagos is to build pillars that are aimed at increasing the derivative index of Lagos State. Lagos State currently ranks among the least liveable states in the world. So, we want to improve the index and make it easier for people to move around. You don’t need to wake up by 4am because you must be at work by 8am. We are looking at a maximum of 45 minutes travel time.
We want to decentralise Lagos so that everyone is not travelling in one direction. We want to have relationship with neighbouring states so that we can develop northwards; developing into the sea leaves many people behind because they cannot afford the accommodations built in the sea. We are also looking at increasing wages in the civil service and improving waste management. What we have in Lagos now is waste pick and dump. We need a system whereby local governments benefit from the waste they generate. We need a cleaner, all-inclusive Lagos that is tourist-friendly. We now have an agbero system that generates N300 billion and the Iya lojas that generate billions every year but the money is not accounted for and has no bearing on the quality of life of those contributing the money, we are going to get rid of that.
We would run a government that is rooted in the grassroots because it focuses on the grassroots, and building a robust local government system because the local government is the engine room of our movement. The people at the grassroots should be people who love the party and should be potential governors.
We would also focus on an open Lagos in terms of accounts and procurement and contracts which must be benchmarked to World bank standard. There should be a standard in road construction and the cost and not this scam they do now where you charge what you like and after six months, the road will wash away. An open Lagos will stop this.
We need a Lagos run by date so that we know how to dredge our waterways. Our water transportation is very mediocre, people don’t feel safe in boats because they fear it will capsize.
What is your party doing about winning the House of Assembly seats, because if you win the governorship and LP loses the House of Assembly it will be difficult to govern?
The problem we had with the National Assembly polls was that the contestants were fighting till the last minute. But for the House of Assembly, we have a complete set of 40 candidates going into the election and we are confident.
