By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
This is Lagos.
Walk the Marina in the evening and get refreshed by the cool breeze lapping up the waters of the lagoon, fed by the majestic inexhaustible Atlantic.
Look up from the flowerbeds of tulips and roses in the lawn and take in a panoramic view with your own natural eyes.
This city soars like an eagle with powerful long-span wings, and perches up there. Different. Elegant. Relentless. Lagos is like London. Like New York.
What makes it work?
All countries in the world are represented in London, United Kingdom. Nationals of every nation on earth are in New York, the immigrant gateway to the United States.
Residents of Lagos come from every state, city, town, and every village in Nigeria. This is a melting pot of anyone seeking to strike it big, and shine.
A city which does not hate or discriminate. It is too busy doing business. Get a good business plan. Pitch it well. You sell.
Once you have the means, you can live or set up shop in any part of Lagos – and rise up to any social level, public and private – without the hindrance of where you come from.
Native or foreign, you can simply disappear into any side of the bowels of the city-state and run your own race and live in peace and quiet for life.
Erect your tent anywhere. From Epe, all the way to Badagry. From Ajah, across the Lagos Island, down to Ikorodu.
Making the most of plurality
Lagos is a land of opportunities for everyone to excel. Residents attest that indigeneship or state of origin is not a requirement for social mobility.
There is also religious freedom.
For Nigeria to develop, therefore, it has to adopt the Lagos Model. Every state aspiring to develop also has to use the Lagos success blueprint.
A multitude of ethnic groups in one location can hinder or help growth; it depends on how you handle it.
London and New York are two favourite global cities. London has a population of 10.6 million. New York, 8.5 million.
Lagos, also a global city in its own right, dwarfs all of that combined, with an estimated population of 20 million, the most of any state in Nigeria.
In the mix are nationals of different nations. They savour with old residents the sunshine, the lagoon, and the hospitality without complaint from anyone.
Professionals from Europe, Japan, Korea, and the Americas who are very well off, nestle in gated compounds in the leafy suburbs of Ikoyi, Victoria Island (VI), and Lekki; attended by servants.
Investors and manufacturers from Lebanon, India, and China live as next door neighbours to the locals in places such as Ilupeju and Ikeja.
The regulars, who blend easily with the crowd, especially women from neighbouring countries, hawk potfuls of beans and stew or fry yam and bean balls on street corners in the morning or from the evening to the late hours to keep their heads above water.
Black. White. Brown. Colours in between.
Others are from Nigeria’s North, Middle Belt, and the Deep South.
Yet, all live in harmony and are making their contribution to the Lagos economy.
Except for particular human features, no one would notice that residents of this city that never sleeps are from the four corners of the earth, near and far flung.
There are Nigerian ethnicities in Lagos, but there is no single ethnic enclave someone needs a tribal visa to enter, live, and work.
Old ghetto Maroko thrived without discrimination before it was pulled down, upgraded, and annexed by rich VI.
Shantytowns still left standing in Ajegunle, Ijora, and Amukoko make a living daily without regard for where neighbours come from.
Between the old gentries, Ikoyi and VI; old upper class, Ikeja GRA; new upper class, Lekki; and the new middle class, Magodo; are several kilometres of road but there is a common thread of affluence and peaceful co-existence among residents.
We have the old middle class clusters in Onike-Yaba. Also in the Masha, Adeniran Ogunsaya, and Akerele axis. And the new ones in public and private housing estates dotted all over the state.
Except for more compound space these settlements do not lack the basic amenities in the posh residential homes in Ikoyi and VI.
“I have lived all my life in Lagos from birth. My kind of business is elitist and can only thrive very well in a city,” said Biodun Durodola, an insurance broker in the Berger area of the city, whose parents were not from Lagos.
Durodola told TheNiche that “the economic activity of Nigeria revolves around Lagos. More than 60 per cent of federal non-oil revenue, especially tax, is generated in Lagos, followed by Ogun.
“In terms of security, Lagos has health scheme incentive and insurance for policemen, apart from paying them extra money.
“Lagos is different because any business that does not do well in other states, if you bring it to Lagos and package it well, it will work.
“The standard of living and welfare is higher in Lagos than other states. Research has shown that, compared to other states, 85 per cent of Lagosians and 65 per cent of other South Westerners have access to clean water.
“This is why people come to Lagos.
“Lagos works because of infrastructure which improves every day. Good road network and transportation. Most parts of Lagos have regular power supply than other states.”
Best brains on board
To make it work at the federal level, as Lagos has shown, all you need is tap the best brains, from Nasarawa to Cross River.
Even if you must pick by zoning, the one doing the choosing – if he means well – can appoint the best from each zone on merit.
Employing in the public sector the brightest from anywhere, and encouraging the most brilliant business ideas to flourish, have kept Lagos on top of the pack since it was carved out from Western Region 50 years ago.
Lagos blessed with good leaders
For over several decades, God has especially blessed Lagos with good Governors, indigenes and non-indigenes. Those of them who governed before 1999 include
Mobolaji Johnson: First Military Governor (1967-1975)
Built middle class housing in the Masha, Adeniran Ogunsanya, and Akerele areas of Surulere in a scheme called New Lagos.
Ndubuisi Kanu (from Abia): Military Governor (1977-1978)
Ended the unhygienic bucket toilet.
With that, he also removed the disgust and the danger of having to pass by night soil men wriggling their way through human traffic at 7pm to carry excrement to sewage tanks hooked to tractors parked on the roadside.
The Kanu regime gave loans to landlords with a deadline to build flush toilets.
Lateef Jakande : Civilian Governor (1979-1983)
Introduced free secondary education, built schools, hospitals, and affordable middle class housing in several estates in different locations.
Jakande established Lagos Television (LTV) in 1980 and Lagos State University (LASU) in 1983.
Gbolahan Mudasiru : Military Governor (1984-1986)
Did not sign death warrants to approve death sentences passed by the courts, insisting that shedding human blood through capital punishment does not solve the problem of crime.
Buba Marwa (from Adamawa) Military Governor (1996-1999)
The last military Governor, who handed over to Tinubu in 1999 to begin the current civilian era.
Marwa started the new phase of good governance by appointing the best hands to manage state affairs.
He revamped many parts of Lagos. Mobil Road (formerly Malu Road) in Ajegunle Boundary is one testament.
Composition of government
Even before Nigeria’s independence in 1960, Lagos had had a history of picking government officials from different parts of the country, partly because of it being the capital city until Abuja took on that mantle in 1991.
In 1951, the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC), led by Nnamdi Azikiwe (from part of the old Eastern Region now called Anambra State), was second in the election to the Western Region House of Assembly, of which Lagos was part.
The Action Group (AG) won the majority seats and formed the government. AG was headed by Obafemi Awolowo (from part of the old Western Region now called Ogun State).
Ebube Dike (Anambra) was elected by Lagos in 1962, in the First Republic, to represent Ajeromi/Ifelodu/Badagry in the Federal House of Representatives in Lagos.
However, all of this is a token compared with what has happened in Lagos in the past two decades of civil rule.
Since 1999, Lagos has elected or appointed people without Lagos ancestry into senior government positions in the state or to represent it at the federal level. Such people would not have been given the opportunity by other states.
They include
- Akinwunmi Ambode, Governor. Born in Lagos, but his father was from Ondo State.
- Bola Tinubu, Governor. Born in Lagos, but his father was from Osun State.
- Rauf Aregbesola, Works Commissioner. From Osun. Not born in Lagos. Now Osun State Governor.
- Bamidele Opeyemi, Information Commissioner. From Ekiti.
- Enoch Ajibosho, Agriculture Commissioner. From Oyo.
- Ben Akabueze, Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning. From Anambra. Now Director General of federal Budget Office in Abuja.
- Yemi Osinbajo, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice. From Ogun. Now Vice President.
- Steve Ayorinde, Commissioner for Tourism. From Oyo.
- Lai Mohammed, Governor’s Chief of Staff. From Kwara. Now Information and Culture Minister in Abuja.
- Joe Igbokwe, Chairman, Wharf Landing Fees Collecting Authority (WLFCA). From Anambra.
- Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, Chairman, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (ETF). From Edo.
- Oye Hassan-Odukale, Chairman, Lagos State Security Trust Fund (STF). From Ogun.
- Olorunnimbe Mamora, Speaker, House of Assembly. He later became Senator representing Lagos East. Born in Lagos. But his parents were not from Lagos.
- Olamilekan Yayi, Senator representing Lagos West. From Ogun.
- Jide Omoworare, two-term House of Assembly member. From Osun. Now Senator representing Ife/Ijesha Senatorial District, Osun State.
- Julius Faleke, Chairman, Ojodu Local Council Development Agency. Now House of Representatives member representing Ikeja Federal Constituency, Lagos. From Kogi.
- Rita Orji (Imo). House of Representatives member representing Ifelodun/Ajeromi Federal Constituency, Lagos. She won election in 2015 as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a state ruled by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
- Emmanuel Oghene (Edo). House of Representatives member representing Amuwo-Odofin Federal Constituency, Lagos. He won election in 2015 as a member of the PDP in a state ruled by the APC.
- Most members of the current Lagos House of Assembly do not have Lagos ancestry.
Vision, leadership continuity
Of the three men who have governed Lagos since 1999, only Tinubu is a core politician. Both Babatunde Fashola and Ambode are technocrats.
Lagos has especially prospered in the last two decades, hinged on two planks – (a) its vision of transforming itself into the centre of excellence and (b) a continuous quality leadership that buys into the vision and runs with it.
Tinubu laid the foundation in 1999 and walked the dream eight years. He expanded the scope of internally generated revenue (IGR), built Millennial Schools, and upgraded medical facilities.
He had taken over from where Marwa left off in good governance and also latched back two decades to build on, and expand, the initiatives of Jakande.
Fashola then became Governor and ran with the same vision for another eight years.
He won wide acclaim for welcoming to Alausa anyone from anywhere who had ideas to turn Lagos into a megacity with efficient public services. He topped up IGR.
Fashola went after ghettos. He built roads – with street lights. He expanded all public services. He initiated the Lagos-Badagry railway project.
He restored the beauty and the pride of monuments on Lagos Island, including the streets and alleys around Marina, CMS, and Tinubu Square that had declined into embarrassing eyesores.
Other governors visited Fashola when he was in office to learn the Lagos template.
Before Ambode mounted the saddle in 2015, he had written an essay back in 1998 expressing desire to become Lagos Governor. He nursed that personal dream and jotted down success tips for 17 years before he got the job.
Like Barack Obama who wrote at the age of six in primary school that he wanted to become President of the U.S., and prayed and planned and studied and disciplined himself for the rigours of the Oval Office to make a mark.
Ambode has served about three years as Governor. Within this period, every part of Lagos has felt his drive, his touch.
Visit Berger bus stop in Ojodu and behold its transformation. Drive from Abule-Egba to Oshodi/Mushin and see how the road is being reconstructed for a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane.
At Oshodi bus stop, look right and see the additional edifices being mounted for smooth public transportation.
This is just to mention a few.
Ambode has up-scaled one of Fashola’s public transport poster projects, BRT, to an air conditioned joy ride, sparing passengers the sweltering heat Lagos sometimes exudes.
His ambition is to surpass all of his predecessors in achievements. If he continues at this pace, his second term is as good as a home run. Simply his is on a platter of gold.
“I choose to live and set up business in Lagos because it has the opportunities. Lagos has a greener pasture. There is more social and economic life in Lagos than most other states I have lived in or visited,” Gloria Eneh told TheNiche.
“Lagos State is more organised,” explained Eneh, who has lived in Lagos for 10 years, where she now operates a business centre in the Ojodu area of the city.
“There is more infrastructure that one can easily key into, such as housing, accessible roads in some parts, schools, and especially hospitals.”
A wine merchant in the Allen Avenue area of Ikeja, Edwin Okafor, had lived in Italy for 18 years before he relocated back to Nigeria 11 years ago.
“Lagos is the main commercial city in Nigeria. Lagos is like a multi-nation state. People from all parts of the world – China, India, Sweden, Italy, et cetera – come here for business,” he said in an interview with TheNiche.
“Lagos is a city where business can flourish within a short period of time. It is not a place where people discriminate. You can come and do your business without fear or favour.
“Lagos is more developed than other states in Nigeria. It has Infrastructure, a seaport, an international airport.
“The interest of the federal government is more focused on Lagos, being the former federal capital. The federal government has invested in Lagos.
“Lagos is the only state that can survive without federal allocation.
“Lagos works because it has all the resources. A lot of revenue is being generated. The people elected to become Governors are progressive-minded, and have the interest of the masses at heart.
“Because of the commercial nature of Lagos, it cannot afford to fail. It has to keep going to retain investment.
“Lagosians are highly literate and politically aware, such that if the Governor is not performing he will be exposed and rejected. Lagos picks the best technocrats to manage state affairs.”
Lapses in administration
Lagos is not all pretty, however.
While in office, Tinubu encouraged the ascendancy of social miscreants called area boys. He allowed lawlessness among motor cycle taxi operators (Okada riders) because he used them to win elections.
There are still question marks over some contracts awarded during the Fashola years.
The owners of the homes and offices Ambode demolished in the ongoing expansion of the road from Mangoro on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway through Capitol Road to Agege Pen Cinema were not paid compensation before the demolition.
There is nothing so urgent in the construction that should have prevented the proper thing of paying compensation before homes and livelihoods were flattened.
Ambode may not realise it, but in the usual Nigerian situation, many victims may now have to beg and bribe officials in Alausa to get their entitlement to piece lives back together.
And, of course, no one can rule out corruption from the administration of Tinubu to Fashola to Ambode. Financial corruption, especially, is a Nigerian disease.
Lapses in social provision
“Lagos should continue to improve on its facilities. It has to reduce the cost of doing business and improve on processing of permits and various approvals. By doing that, more people will be willing to come in and invest,” counselled Durodola.
“However, over-taxation may cause investors to relocate to neighbouring states, Oyo and Ogun. Some are already thinking about it.”
In Eneh’s view, “improvement is needed in the health care sector in terms of more hospitals and equipment. Hospitals should be located closer to the people and easily accessible.
“More drugs should be provided at cheaper prices and accessible. Free drugs are not easily accessible in hospitals.
“I took a pregnant friend to Ojodu Health Centre where I noticed all these problems.
“Also, state education is not properly funded. Teachers need to be upgraded. Most of them are not properly trained. There should be more training for teachers.”
Okafor added: “The road network needs to be improved to ease up different locations for business transactions. Lagos needs to do more. Power supply needs to be improved. Unstable power supply prevents people from achieving their best.
“In some parts of Lagos, businesses cannot open till late in the night because of fear of robbery attack. There should be more street lights.
“Lagos can generate more funds by building car parks for people to park their cars at a fee. There are hardly public car parks, and traffic wardens arrest and fine or collect bribe from those who park cars on sidewalks.
“There should be more leisure centres and functional and safe public toilets with proper hygiene. The drainage system is too bad, filled with debris and silt.”
Progress, regardless
Despite the lapses, Lagos is a standout. It is better governed than any other state in Nigeria. Its scorecard is far better than that of the federal government.
Since 1999, the ruling political party in the state has transitioned from Alliance for Democracy (AC) to Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to the APC.
But the brain trust remains intact.
Fashola served as Tinubu’s Chief of Staff. Ambode was Fashola’s Accountant General. Despite occasional friction between these men, the chain of quality leadership is not broken, the vision of a better Lagos is not derailed.
Each successor to Alausa Round House seeks to achieve more than his predecessor.
Lagos economy
The Lagos economy is larger than those of many countries in Africa. It does not depend on handouts from Abuja to survive. Lagos is never broke.
Its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is about $100 billion, and if taken as a country, it is the fifth largest economy in Africa.
Lagos collects about N40 billion IGR monthly, more than that of 30 other states combined.
Yet Ambode, an accountant and technocrat by profession, targets N150 billion monthly IGR by the end of 2018.
IGR is generated through Pay-As-You-Earn Tax (PAYE), Direct Assessment, Road Tax, and revenues from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Most foreign companies in Nigeria have their headquarters or branch offices in Lagos, attracting to it a huge chunk of the country’s capital inflows, which stood at $12.2 billion in 2017.
Unlike the other 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the government in Lagos is not the single largest employer of labour.
The Lagos economy revolves around manufacturing and services, both industries operated by Nigerians and foreigners.
Manufacturing includes industrial goods, food processing, household items.
The pillars of the service industry are banks, insurance and allied sectors, international airports and seaports. A bit of tourism along with the hospitability sector, including hotels.
There is a booming computer village in the heart of Ikeja which partly provides the imported Information Communication Technology (ICT) needs of Nigeria, Cameroon, Benin Republic and other neighbouring countries.
Cells of IT startups are blossoming in Onike-Yaba, nicknamed Nigeria’s Silicon Valley, with significant foreign interest.
To boost that, Ambode announced in 2017 plans to create coding centres for residents to learn computer programming for free – and establish coding firms to get some of the international IT business concerned up by Mumbai in India.
He has created a Trust Fund of N25 billion from which any Lagos resident with any viable business plan can access startup finance or acquire skills for better jobs or grow Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
The fund is accessible to all residents regardless of state of origin.
Lagosians are employed mostly by the private sector or run their own businesses, small and big, in an environment facilitated and regulated by the government.
In turn, Alausa collects taxes to fund a network of social provision and support. This is the proper role of any responsible government, federal or state.
Most Lagosians do not look up to the government for provision, except in education, health care, security, and other collective necessities.
Even with the opportunities for public sector employment, and housing and free education scheme, one can go entirely private in Lagos and get by for life without directly drawing on state facilities for self or family.
In fact, the middle class hardly seeks anything from Alausa – not even drinking water – except permits to build, and licences to run, things. The government simply taxes the middle and upper classes to cater for the poor.
Media concentration, searchlight
A free and active press also contributes to the ‘Lagos success story’. It keeps the Governor’s feet to the fire without anywhere to hide incompetence.
As London has the largest media concentration in the United Kingdom and New York is the most mediated state in the U.S., so also Lagos has the largest local and foreign media concentration in Nigeria.
When Ambode did not get a grip on things in his first few months in office, The Economist of London was one of the first media outlets to write a scathing article against him, stressing how well Fashola, whom he took over from, had performed.
Ambode took the criticism in good faith, and turned it into a positive turning point. He got cracking and has not looked back ever since.
Enlightened populace
In 2017, members of the Environmental Rights Agenda (ERA) converged on Alausa to protest the proposed privatisation of water supply in the state.
They carried placards, chanted slogans, and blocked all roads leading to and from the Governor’s Office.
They demanded to see Ambode.
A government official, who came to speak to the protesters, said Ambode was not in the office. They did not buy it. A more senior official came to speak to them. They refused to listen.
When Mudashiru Obasa, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, pleaded with them, they told him – as they had told the other officials – that it was Ambode they voted for as Governor, not anyone else, and he must show up to hear their complaint.
“You represent only your constituency, but Ambode represents the whole state, and it was him we voted for as Governor, not you. After voting him into office, is he now trying to avoid speaking to us?”, they asked, dismissing Obasa.
The agitators threatened to continue their protest, sleeping over in Alausa if necessary, until Ambode showed up in person.
After two hours of standoff, Ambode sensed a potential political damage. He came out of his office to listen to the protesters, then reassured them that the proposal to privatise Lagos water would be reviewed.
ERA protested that the proposal would raise the price of a glass of water. Ambode got the message. Since the confrontation, the proposal has been dead in the water.
This is a state with the most educated and diverse population in Nigeria.
This is the home of the wealthiest Nigerians in old money – Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Folorunsho Alakija, and the Ibrus.
In the mix, too, are wealthy foreign nationals who have lived and done business in Lagos for decades and are now citizens – the owners of Chellarams, Kewalram, Boulos Enterprises, and the Vaswani brothers.
So, anyone who governs Lagos must deliver. Or crash under the weight of criticism and clamour by an enlightened, socially aware, and highly influential population.
Practical adaptation of Lagos Model countrywide
All of Nigeria can be all of what Lagos is. Educated. Vibrant. Creative. Industrious. Resilient. Very rich by IGR. Even without oil.
You get there by choosing the brightest man or woman into a public office for which he or she is most suited. You will not get there if you sacrifice competence for ethnic sentiments.
In Sokoto State in the North West, Aminu Tambuwal is facing grumbling from those who think he is not ‘caliphate’ or blue blood enough to be Governor, having risen from what they regard as the Talakawa or working class.
Tambuwal had first made his mark as a progressive House of Representatives Speaker, which piloted him to national recognition and made it easy for him to win the governorship with the vote of the grassroots.
In this instance, the Sokoto cabal, which prefers kinship to competence, failed in the 2015 election to neuteralise the momentum that followed Tambuwal from Abuja.
However, such retarding emotions still hold forth across the country.
In the South East, a man from Anambra State cannot win a councillorship ballot in neighbouring Enugu State, despite a common history, ethnicity, and language.
Oyo in the South West will not elect a man from its neighbour, Osun, as Governor, even as the states speak the same native language and have no religious or cultural dichotomy.
This is the same ground rule in the North East and North Central. Bauchi indigenes barely tolerate those from Adamawa. Someone from Kogi cannot step into public office in Kwara without stirring up hackles.
The mentality in the South South is no different. The mere fact you were born in Rivers seals your public office ambition in Akwa Ibom.
However, when these antagonists from different states come to Lagos, the land of freedom, they all bury the hatchet for the common good – and live in harmony, and prosper.
The reasons for accommodating co-existence include the fact
- Residents of all parts of Lagos have access to the same basic facilities – education, health care, power supply, water supply, transportation, et cetera.
- Despite the disease of financial gratification on the national landscape, one can still get on merit in Lagos a school admission, a job, a home, a business premises, a political office, et cetera.
- Whatever you have to offer, good or service, sells when pitched to the right market at a competitive rate.
- Whatever lawful thing you want, you get; once you have the means. There is no class discrimination in the buying and selling of goods and services.
- Easy social mobility. Anyone can aspire to any status without barrier of ethnicity or statesm. Find your way through the maze of social networks to your desired point.
- Good security. Lagos has a joint Security Trust Fund (STF) with the private sector, managed by the private sector. The government provides logistics support for federal security personnel posted to the state.
- The support includes vehicles and communication equipment. Police officers are paid extra benefits from the STF, some receive N30,000 per month. All receive health scheme incentive and insurance.
- Therefore, Lagos provides incentives for federal personnel to secure its residents. Everywhere is generally safe for everyone to run around for business or pleasure.
These form part of the main thrust of the Lagos Model for this and upcoming generations to adopt to rule Nigeria well from Abuja.
Attempts by military at national integration
During military rule (1966-1979) and (1983 to 1999), attempts at national integration included encouragement of inter-ethnic marriage.
Former Head of State, Murtala Mohammed (North West), married Ajoke (South West).
Former Head of State and former President, Olusegun Obasanjo (South West), married Stella (South South).
Former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida (North Central), married Miriam (South South).
There have been more inter-ethnic marriages since the 1980s, including the one between current Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu (South West) and Betty (South East).
But inter-ethnic marriages have not provided the real solution to bad governance. Marriage is a personal relationship between the husband and wife, which may not necessarily have regional or national effect on social life.
The real solution begins with deliberate election or appointment into senior government offices.
As done in Lagos, a state government should headhunt a competent person from anywhere for the job of Commissioner or any other senior position.
Attempts by Oyo, Ogun
Adebayo Alao-Akala, former Oyo State Governor (2007-2011), appointed a Commissioner from Osun.
In 2017, Ogun promoted some civil servants from the South East to the post of Permanent Secretary.
But none of this is on the same general scale as in Lagos.
Improving the Lagos Model
The current constitutional requirement in Nigeria is for someone to have a five-year residency in a state to contest for election.
This should be reduced to two years for elective offices – or removed altogether, as is the practice in the United Kingdom.
In the United States, someone also has to be a “resident” of a state to be eligible for election. But the residency period is not specified by law – which means, in practice, one could live in a state for one day or one month and seek election.
Except for the posts of President and Vice President for which a candidate is required to be at least 35 years old, a natural-born citizen, and a U.S. resident for at least 14 years.
Hillary Clinton and Bill her husband lived in Arkansas when he was Governor and then in Washington when he was U.S. President.
From the White House, they relocated to New York, and after living there for a year, Hillary won two elections representing the state in the U.S. Senate from 2001-2009.
The system in the UK is even better. There, it is not required for one to be a resident of a constituency to represent it in Parliament.
The Conservative Party (also called the Tory Party) began in the 1990s to field election candidates from anywhere in the country to represent any constituency.
One does not have to be born or resident in a constituency to represent it in Parliament. After winning election, all you need is an office (also called surgery) in the constituency to attend to the needs of locals.
A prominent beneficiary of this policy is Boris Johnson, the current British Foreign Secretary. He was born in New York in the U.S. to British parents.
After crossing the Atlantic, Johnson was elected London Mayor from 2008 to 2016. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley Constituency from 2001 to 2008 and has been an MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip Constituency since 2015.
The policy of the Tory Party has also been adopted by the Labour Party in the UK.
Something similar to the British system operates in Lagos.
Adeyemi Ikuforiji, former Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, represented Epe Constituency in the Assembly from 2003 to 2011 then represented Ikeja Constituency from 2011 to 2015.
A system based on merit such as this is the way forward if a region or country is to develop. Currently in Nigeria, however, ground politics and tribal feelings override the Constitution in large swathes of the country.
For example, Imo. The state has three Senatorial Districts – North, East, West.
A man with birth or ancestral link with Imo North is stoutly opposed in his bid to represent Imo East in the Senate, no matter his good plans for Imo East, backed up with a track record.
This is the same situation in the three Senatorial Districts in Kebbi – North, Central, and South.
Competence, rather than place of birth or residency, should be considered in making appointments to non-elective posts, federal and state. Anyone from anywhere can be appointed, provided he or she can deliver results.
Lagos is already doing this. But it can increase the number of those appointed on merit from other states or even poach technocrats from abroad.
Then that becomes the template for all the three tiers of government nationally.
At both state and federal levels, a well qualified person does not even have to be a Nigerian to be appointed to a non-elective post.
After independence, Darnley Alexander (from St Lucia, West Indies) served as Nigeria’s Chief Justice (CJ) between 1975 and 1979. Two Nigerians had been CJ before him – Adetokunbo Ademola (1958-1972) and Taslim Elias (1972-1975).
The current Chief Justice of The Gambia, Emmanuel Fagbenle, is a Nigerian.
Of politicians…
Elect or appoint core politicians who are competent, keen, and caring to mount projects for posterity. Like Tinubu. Like former Governors Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Sule Lamido (Jigawa).
…And of technocrats
Elect or appoint technocrats and professionals driven to have their footprints on the sands of timelessness, etched on hearts and minds with social provision.
Think of Fashola, Ambode.
And former Cross River State Governor, Donald Duke. Under his watch, Calabar became the cleanest state capital in Nigeria. Eleven years after he left office, the Canaan City still retains the prize, beating Lagos to that.
Also, any state in the country can go North or South for a Peter Obi, former Anambra State Governor. With a skillful hand acquired in the private sector, he vanquished god-fatherism that once bred a riotous Anambra politics.
Obi elevated Anambra through heartfelt governance and enduring projects into the jewel of the South East. The foundation Obi laid for good governance in Anambra had been nurtured to something even better by his successor, Winnie Obiano.
Besides, there are still in this land, and in the Diaspora, plenty folks inspired to the good cause, with skills proven or yet to be discovered.
They join the likes of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (former Finance Minister); Charles Soludo and Lamido Sanusi (former Central Bank of Nigeria Governors).
Umaru Altine won the first mayoral election in Enugu, in the then Eastern Region, in 1956. Altine was from part of the old Northern Region now called Zamfara State.
How it can work, not why it can’t
Lagos is using the merit system with great success. The thinking, then, should change from why it cannot work elsewhere in the country to how it can and should work to achieve progress.
Leadership qualities
Leadership entails vision. A leader consults the led in formulating policy, but the final decision in the blueprint and its implementation lies with the leader.
A leader carries the people along in his dream for the country, as he is led by God, the Maker and Owner of “the earth … and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1 NKJV).
This was how Moses, the first great leader of a nation, led the Israelites. He led the people according to the vision God gave him.
Some who disagreed with Moses eventually fell into line when they did not have a better vision (Exodus 17:1-6; Deuteronomy 34:10-12).
Since Moses, every good leader everywhere on earth has had to carry the people along in their aspiration for a country. They choose options that provide the greatest benefit for all. They reject regional ethnic ideas that hinder growth.
A good leader rises above tribal, ethnic, or even national sentiments that keep society perpetually underdeveloped. He does not feed such addiction.
Just as zoning can be abused by picking incompetent officials who approach the job with the feeling of entitlement, choosing non-natives can also be abused through cronyism. It all depends on the person making the appointment.
A leader with vision and a heart for the common good will emphasise merit over mediocrity in appointments to achieve his overall goal of improving society for an enduring legacy.
This and upcoming generations should learn from the success of Lagos. And also improve on its blueprint.
You have the solution, right in your backyard. The choice is yours – to apply it, and develop, or remain an armchair critic and do nothing else except contribute to the Nigerian malaise from your own little corner.
