28th March, 2011
Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora was the only flamboyant casualty of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, power-game in Lagos State. There were two other victims: Sarah Sosan, the incumbent Deputy Governor and Senator Muniru Muse. In all honesty, the exit of these two eclipsed flourishing redundancies and garmentary arrogance from the state political theatre. Their matter, nay ousting, did not provoke an outrage from the goats and chickens on their streets, talkless of the army of despondents thronging their constituencies. In a mild pronouncement, their abandonment was good riddance to bad rubbish.
The uproar about Mamora’s exit was understandable but too complex to appreciate. Right from the day he ascended the political podium in the state and eventually emerged the speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, he left no one in doubt of his leadership potential. His tenure as Speaker during the Bola Tinubu era was very peaceful with the Legislature and the Executive working in perfect harmony. Never for once did any disagreement between the Assembly and the executive escalate to an all-out-war scenario as we used to have now even between the Ikuforiji-led Assembly and Fashola’s Executive.
It was in appreciation of his sterling performance as the Speaker of the House that the party leadership threw him up for the Senate seat vacated by Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe who sold out to Olusegun Obasanjo by moving to the PDP with an outrageous funfare and outlandish ministerial portfolio in trail. It was sad and shameful that the Ikorodu Chief celebrated his betrayal with a carnival. Anyway, both Ogunlewe and the episode rapidly became history as Mamora glided to the National Assembly for his unflinching loyalty to the party leadership in Lagos. The departure of Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi from the National Assembly facilitated Mamora’s ubiquity in the Senate as he soon became the Minority Leader. His contributions to national discourse and law-making made him a good friend of the media. In no time, he became a national champion but still manifesting traits of subservience to the party hierarchy in Lagos.
The complexity of the Mamora saga was shrouded in the bifurcation of Lagos power between Bola Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola. Mamora failed to appreciate the enigmatic personage of Tinubu, forgeting that both of them (Mamora and Fashola) were thrusted into political limelight single-handedly by Tinubu. In a move that has become very costly to his political career, he sided with Fashola believing that the godfather did not know. It is a paradox that a man who rose to fame on the crest of loyalty soon became a victim of diluted loyalty.
Considering the circumstances of Mamora’s exit and the anticipated fallout, the party leadership had to bring in a very strong candidate who can wipe off every crumb of rage in the senatorial district. So, the choice of Bareehu Olugbenga Ashafa, the former Permanent Secretary (Lands) became propitious. The 56-year-old Asafa is from two prominent families in Lagos: Lawal Asafa and Elemoro. He was a product of CMS Grammar School and holds a master’s degree in Public Health Administration from the University of Tennessee. He worked in Lagos State Local Government Service for eight years and left for a brief period only to stage a come-back in 1999 when Bola Tinubu appointed him the Director of Planning and later, the Executive Secretary of Land Use and Allocation Committee. Consequent upon his impressive performance in this office, he was elevated to the post of Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau in January, 2005. One major achievement that possibly endeared him to both Tinubu and Fashola was that he succeeded in increasing the revenue generation base of the Bureau from N3.3billion in 2001 to N21 billion as at December, 2010.
Though Asafa’s many years in the civil service could have limited his leverage in the political circles, what most people were not aware of was that his position as PS (Lands) exposed him to most communities in Lagos State and in the course of his interactions with them, he must have cultivated a large reservoir of admirers and followers. These indeed are the people that now form the nucleus of his support-base. Besides, Asafa’s extensive social networking and his philanthropic activities are complimentary to his political aspiration.
A man with these family antecedents, professional pedigree and educational profile obviously possesses the requisite capability to offset any outstanding political liability and legislative unfamiliarity. The template is that whatever fury Mamora’s exit has caused should be well managed by Asafa by ensuring that there is a visible and guaranteed harmony among the various constituents through a genuine process of reconciliation and re-alignments.
Unlike Senator Muniru Muse who is still bitter with the way he was replaced with Mrs Remi Tinubu and has isolated himself from the Party, I am aware that Senator Mamora has been supportive of Asafa’s campaign and has even followed him to some of the rallies to demonstrate to the party leadership that his removal has not in anyway affected his loyalty to the party.
This is the hallmark of leadership. This action will show Mamora as a mature politician because after spending 12 years in both state and national assemblies, there would be no excuse to betray the party that gave him the platform for national prominence. The victory of Asafa would further reinforce the belief that Mamora’s support is real and true. Contemporary politics does not provide facility for capstone of betrayal and judasious signage. Our word should be our bond.
•Dapo Thomas was a Senior Special Assistant to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu from 1999 to 2007.