Sanusi's deceitful nonsense

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By Akintunde Akinwande-Albert

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Democracy flourishes when public officials and governments at all levels are subjected to scrutiny. Criticism is healthy. Dissent is necessary. Yet, criticism acquires value only when it is rooted in facts, consistency and intellectual honesty.

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On the other hand, when it abandons those foundations, it becomes little more than drivel dressed up as political commentary.

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It is for this reason that a recent intervention by Mobolaji Sanusi, one time head of the Lagos State Advertising Agency (LASAA), deserves a response.

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Not because every political opinion merits one, but because there are moments when misleading narratives must be confronted before they harden into accepted falsehoods.

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Sanusi’s attempt to diminish the record of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu while simultaneously promoting his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat is one of such narratives.

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Even more atrocious is the fact that he doubled down after his first missile was shot down by the whole of Lagos, who had eyes and could see the wonders around them. What he called his second and final word was an absolute twadddle, and representing without equivocation, the school of thoughts he belongs.

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It is an argument riddled with contradictions. It is the product of a combination of political short-sightedness, inherent bile, and a remarkable disregard for facts that are visible across Lagos for all to see.

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The first problem with Sanusi’s treatise is that it requires Lagosians to ignore reality. For nearly seven years, Lagos has witnessed some of the most ambitious infrastructure and governance interventions in its history.

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The Blue Rail Line moved from decades of promises to actual operation. The Red Rail Line followed shortly thereafter. Road networks have been expanded and rehabilitated.

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Housing projects have been delivered. Healthcare infrastructure has improved. Digital governance initiatives have expanded. Environmental interventions have intensified. Institutional reforms have strengthened public service delivery.

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Perhaps nowhere is this transformation more visible than in the redevelopment of the Tolu Schools Complex in Ajegunle. What was once a symbol of neglect has been transformed into one of the largest and most modern public education facilities in Nigeria and perhaps, first of its kind in Africa in terms of student population and size.

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With modern classrooms, ICT centres, science laboratories, robotics hubs, vocational training facilities, sporting infrastructure and dedicated facilities for persons living with disabilities, the project represents a powerful statement about the possibilities of public-sector investment in education.

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These are not political slogans. They are tangible achievements. Nor are these accomplishments merely the products of partisan self-congratulation. Independent assessments have also recognised Lagos’ performance.

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The 2025 Phillips Consulting State Performance Index ranked Lagos as Nigeria’s highest-performing state and awarded it the distinction of being the only state in the federation to attain a five-star rating.

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Such recognition was based on measurable indicators including governance, infrastructure, healthcare, education, economic management and service delivery. Then, you may ask Sanusi how he arrived at the outright trash he thought was an intervention?

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No serious observer is suggesting that Lagos is perfect. No administration is without shortcomings. Not even the almighty United States of America.

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But while the pressures of population growth, housing demand, transportation needs and urban management remain formidable, acknowledging them as challenges does not require the denial of achievements that are evident to residents and visitors alike. Yet this is precisely what Sanusi’s argument attempts to do.

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More curiously, it does so while elevating Obafemi Hamzat as the preferred beneficiary of its conclusions. Herein lies the greatest contradiction. Hamzat has served at the highest levels of the administration throughout this period.

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He has been a central participant in policy formulation, implementation and governance. If the administration deserves credit for its achievements, Hamzat shares in that credit. If the administration deserves condemnation, he cannot be insulated from responsibility.

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Sanusi, therefore, cannot simultaneously market Hamzat as an experienced insider qualified for higher office and portray the government he helped lead as a monumental disappointment. Such a position is politically convenient but intellectually unsustainable.

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More importantly, it is strategically reckless. The timing of this kind of rhetoric raises serious questions about political judgment, particularly given the realities currently confronting the All Progressives Congress.

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Evidently across Nigeria, citizens continue to grapple with economic hardship and social frustrations. The rising cost of living, inflationary pressures and the painful consequences of ongoing reforms have generated understandable public discontent.

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Whether justified or not, much of that frustration is directed at the ruling party and, by extension, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This is not an observation born of partisanship. It is a political reality.

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Indeed, anyone paying attention to recent political history should recognise the dangers of complacency. The 2023 elections delivered a sobering lesson.

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Lagos, long regarded as APC’s political fortress, experienced one of the most fiercely contested electoral cycles in its history. For the first time in many years, the assumption of automatic political dominance was seriously challenged. The message was unmistakable.

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Public sentiment matters. Voter frustration matters. Political goodwill cannot be taken for granted.

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As the nation gradually moves towards another election cycle, those realities remain as relevant as ever. If anything, prevailing economic conditions make them even more significant.

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This is precisely why Sanusi’s intervention is so perplexing “anti-party” in nature.

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At a time when the APC requires credible examples of governance performance to reconnect with sections of the electorate, he appears determined to undermine one of the party’s strongest governance assets.

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At a time when the party must persuade voters that it remains capable of delivering tangible results, he seeks to diminish one of the administrations that has the most substantial record of visible accomplishments.

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Politics is ultimately about evidence. Political parties do not win elections solely by making promises. They win elections by demonstrating competence, pointing to achievements and persuading voters that they deserve another opportunity to govern.

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In Lagos, Sanwo-Olu’s administration provides precisely such evidence.

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The completion of the Blue and Red Rail Lines alone represents a transformational achievement that previous administrations discussed but could not fully deliver. The integration of rail, road and water transportation systems has fundamentally altered the conversation about mobility in Africa’s largest city. Lagos is living its true megacity status.

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Beyond transportation, the administration has accumulated a record of notable firsts and significant milestones. Lagos emerged as the only five-star state in the 2025 Phillips Consulting State Performance Index. It has continued to consolidate its position as Nigeria’s leading technology and innovation hub.

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It remains the nation’s economic nerve centre and the leader in internally generated revenue. It has delivered one of the most ambitious public education infrastructure projects in the country and expanded governance systems capable of managing an increasingly complex megacity.

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These achievements are not merely personal victories for Sanwo-Olu. They are political assets for the APC itself. That is why any politically astute stakeholder should be concerned by attempts to trivialise them.

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The lesson of 2023 should not be forgotten. Political parties rarely benefit from attacking their own successes. They certainly do not strengthen their electoral prospects by persuading voters that some of their most visible governance achievements are unworthy of recognition.

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If the APC is to navigate the political challenges ahead, it must do so with a clear understanding of the current mood of the electorate. The party cannot afford unnecessary self-inflicted wounds. It cannot afford to weaken its strongest examples of governance delivery.

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Most importantly, it cannot afford to embrace narratives that erode political capital painstakingly built over years of performance.

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This is where Sanusi’s intervention becomes more than a mere exercise in flawed analysis. It becomes an example of the kind of political carelessness that can damage both the party he claims to support and the individuals he ostensibly seeks to promote.

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The irony is that his argument ultimately harms Hamzat as much as it targets Sanwo-Olu. Every attempt to portray the administration as unsuccessful inevitably diminishes the credentials of those who served within it.

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Every effort to separate Hamzat from the successes of the government weakens one of the strongest arguments available to him as a potential governor of the state. In this case, it is not Catch 22. It is glorified stupidity.

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The truth remains simple. Lagosians are capable of forming their own judgments. They see the roads they drive on. They see the trains that now move passengers across the city. They see the schools, hospitals and public infrastructure projects that have emerged over the last seven years. They also understand that challenges remain.

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What they do not require is commentary that asks them to disregard observable realities in favour of politically convenient narratives.

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Unarguably, criticism remains essential to democracy. Distortion

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does not. And that is why Sanusi’s intervention deserves to be recognised for what it is: not a serious contribution to public discourse, but a disingenuous attempt to rewrite a record that remains visible across Lagos for anyone willing to look. As public frustration continues to test the fortunes of the APC nationally, one lesson should be obvious. The party’s path forward lies not in diminishing its strongest examples of governance performance but in defending and building upon them.

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In that regard, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s record is not a burden to be hidden. It is an asset to be protected, a record to be defended and an achievement portfolio that the APC would be unwise to undermine through the repetition of any political drivel.

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•Akinwande-Albert works and lives in Lagos

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QUOTE

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Even more atrocious is the fact that he doubled down after his first missile was shot down by the whole of Lagos, who had eyes and could see the wonders around them. What he called his second and final word was an absolute twadddle, and representing without equivocation, the school of thoughts he belongs

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