By Steve Omolale
American author of many Christian fiction novels and serial award winner Lynn Austin once said, “Bitterness is like a weed. Remember how hard it always was to pull out thistles once they rooted? Remember how deep those roots grow, and how if you just snapped off the end of it, the plant would grow right back? You have to dig down deep inside. Let God search your heart. Let Him show you what’s there and help you root out all that bitterness. Then you can pray for forgiveness.”
Bitterness is a very dangerous disease. If not quickly tackled, it can damage the heart. This disease is what Bolaji Sanusi, a lawyer and former managing director/chief executive officer of Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAAA), suffers from. Pitifully enough, Sanusi has refused to take the healing pill in the wise counsel of Austin by unburdening his heart of bitterness.
Those who know the trajectory of his interesting career, including a few associates who still find him redeemable, are now shocked to discover that his deep bitterness and frustration may have turned him into a dunderhead who has lost his mind.
This, he glaringly displayed in a write-up titled, “Hamzat and the future of Lagos”, which was run by some online platforms on May 29. A follow-up came yesterday, titled, “Re – Hamzat and the future of Lagos. Sycophants at work – my final words.” Final words? Not so fast Sir.
Sanusi’s first article was delivered partly in faltering English in which the attention-seeking lawyer and political wannabe launched vitriolic and multi-pronged attacks on the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration, Hon James Faleke, as well as the general political system in Lagos State. As expected, the Faleke camp responded with a sledge hammer, pounding some sense into Sanusi’s head.
He was unsparing in his attack on Governor Sanwo-Olu. What exactly is the source of Sanusi’s bitterness against the governor, the one many have hailed as a true “Omoluabi” whose sterling performance has been widely acknowledged by discerning commentators.
Well, Mobolaji Sanusi was removed from office by Sanwo-Olu in December 2019. Officially, his exit was framed as a tenure expiration. Sanusi was appointed by former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in September 2015 for a four-year term that technically wound down on September 13, 2019.
Rather than renewing his appointment for a second term, Sanwo-Olu replaced him with Prince Adedamola Docemo. Do you now see why the hatchet writer is so bitter about the governor?
While the government cited the natural end of his tenure, reports from the political and marketing sectors highlighted several underlying conflicts and controversies that contributed to his unceremonious exit.
Sanusi’s tenure was heavily criticised by the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) and the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON). Stakeholders accused him of high-handedness, refusing to settle outstanding debts owed to practitioners, and introducing hefty fees that threatened local businesses.
Having lost his seat at LASAA, the ever-desperate guy that he is, Sanusi attempted to become the Chairman of Ojokoro LCDA. Knowing his unsavoury and toxic antecedents, political leaders and stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) frustrated the plan. Can you now see why the stomach infrastructure writer is so bitter with the party structure in Lagos State?
Now, back to the trash in which he tried to be clever by half, the nincompoop and arrogant fellow took a swipe at the Sanwo-Olu administration, accusing it of non-performance. Nonetheless, he praised the Deputy Governor and APC governorship candidate in next year’s election, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, to high heavens, as if both men were running different administrations. He did this because he lost out in the political chess game in Lagos. Who would want to associate with a man without any political value anyway?
Sanusi shamelessly displayed his sycophantic behavior, obviously with the hope that Dr. Hamzat would offer him an appointment when he (by the grace of God) eventually becomes the governor from May 29, next year, and as if the deputy governor cannot read between the lines. Sanusi is like a double-faced rodent, biting somebody’s foot and blowing breeze at the wound!
While pretending to be a lover of Hamzat and a hater of Sanwo-Olu, he could also be called “Ganusi” (apologies to Fuji maestro Wasiu Ayinde) because of the gluttonous behaviour he displayed.
He writes, “Now, whether or not Sanwo-Olu likes it, Hamzat is, God willing, going to be his successor. Such is the unpredictability of life’s trajectory!”.
Anyone who is not really versed in the political makeup of the state might think that Sanwo-Olu is against Hamzat’s candidacy. But that is far from the fact. Affirming his support for Hamzat’s nomination after the governorship primary that eventually endorsed him, Sanwo-Olu said, “We have worked side by side for years, and I know first-hand his deep love for Lagosians, his brilliance, and his unwavering dedication to progress. The work ahead is massive, but with Femi, I am absolutely confident that our state will reach even greater heights. Let us stay united and keep moving Lagos forward.” It is, therefore, the figment of Sanusi’s wonky imagination that Sanwo-Olu does not want Hamzat to succeed him.
In another display of tomfoolery, he writes, “Shockingly, the Sanwo-Olu administration in which he (Hamzat) is currently serving as deputy governor does not possess the endearing sterling legacies of the three daring governors (sic); referring to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and former governors Akinwunmi Ambode and Babatunde Fashola, SAN)… Nothing is infrastructurally new or socio-economically remarkable about Sanwo-Olu’s tenure, so far.”
In his demented mind, Sanusi has forgotten that Sanwo-Olu was backed to be governor by Asiwaju’s indefatigable political machine in Lagos. Therefore, every attack on Sanwo-Olu is indirectly an attack on Tinubu. Simple logic. As they say, you cannot love me and hate my dog!
To claim that “nothing is infrastructurally new or socio-economically remarkable about Sanwo-Olu’s tenure” is the highest level of feebleness from a demented head who claims to be living in Lagos.
Only a frustrated devil’s advocate like Sanusi would not see the giant strides of the Sanwo-Olu administration in all facets of life. Until his deep-seated delusion abates and he wakes up from the slumber he was thrown into by obstinacy, Sanusi will never know that the Sanwo-Olu administration has grown the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to a staggering $259 billion in the last seven years, representing 20 per cent of the country’s total GDP, and making Lagos the second largest city economy in Africa, after Cairo, Egypt.
Since he pretends not to see any infrastructure development in the Centre of Excellence, the dumbhead needs to be told that several new housing estates have sprung up in different parts of Lagos in the last seven years, courtesy of the Sanwo-Olu administration. They include the housing estates at Sangotedo, Amuwo-Odofin, Ikate, Lekki, Igando, Ogba, Agbowa, Lekki Phase Two, Surulere, Ikorodu, and others.
Sanusi mischievously refused to acknowledge Sanwo-Olu’s great achievements in transportation, where he has completed and commissioned the Lagos Blue Line rail as well as the Lagos Red Line Rail. Tinubu laid the foundation, Fashola built on it, and Sanwo-Olu completed it. The two lines have since been moving over 100,000 Lagosians daily.
This is complemented by the building of 362 roads (approximately 347.17 km) and bridges, such as the iconic Opebi-Ojota link bridge, a record 23 housing estates (10, 623 home units), 433 classroom blocks and the provision of hundreds of new BRT buses. Twenty-eight jetties have been completed. Ogombo Community Schools in Eti-Osa and Vetland in Agege are a testimony to the creativity of the Sanwo-Olu administration. The beautiful Tolu Group of Schools (36 in one community) are unrivalled in aesthetics, a true reflection of architectural and engineering ingenuity.
Hypocritical writers like Sanusi will never see or feel the establishment of nine schools with a combined population of 4,588 pupils, the recruitment of over 2,000 teachers, the building of the largest school complex in Africa, the rehabilitation of 433 school buildings and the establishment of two more universities.
In the health sector, the story is also great. The Sanwo-Olu administration has built five Mother and Child Centres (MCCs). This is in addition to the ongoing construction of a General Hospital in Iba, as well as the ongoing construction of the Massey Street Children Hospital, which, on completion, will be the biggest pediatric centre in West Africa. Over 2,200 health professionals have been recruited to man the state’s health facilities.
Food security is also a priority of the administration, as it completed the Lagos Rice Mill in Imota, Ikorodu, the biggest in Africa. The Food and Logistics hub in Epe is on.
In terms of security, Lagos remains the safest – thanks to the Sanwo-Olu administration’s unflinching support for security agencies.
The administration’s achievements are so multitudinous that one is shocked by the deliberate stupidity of Sanusi not to acknowledge them. It is a display of intellectual dumbness on his part.
According to Dr. Martin Luther King (Jr), “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” His views also tally with Albert Einstein’s: “The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.”
Unfortunately, Sanusi combines both infamous qualities of ignorance and arrogance! Whoever knows any cure for these debilitating ailments should lend him. He is in dire need of redemption.*Omolale, a journalist, sent this piece from Lagos.
