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This week, something of a rare debate
flared up in Lagos. The state governor, Babatunde Fashula, perhaps
needlessly, accused the People’s Democratic Party of planning to rig in
Lagos. It is a rare occurrence because, up until now, citizens would be
forgiven for believing that the candidates of other parties have ceded
the field to the incumbent governor of the state.

This is understandable. Governor
Fashola has garnered acclaim from inside the country and outside for
model governance – for a canny ability to make governance seem easy, to
inspire an entire generation of Nigerians to believe that government
can work for them again. Mr Fashola’s engagement with the issues of
local transportation and beautification have endeared many Nigerians to
him, so much so that a PDP governor this month announced to the nation
that the Action Congress will win in Lagos State.

Still, this is a democracy – and
democracy involves, indeed requires, a relentless engagement of ideas
and platforms. It is a contact sport – one that requires people of a
certain strong character, and a willingness to fight for what they
believe in to compete for the trust of the public. Even more to the
point, the very nature of democracy abhors comfort, abhors a situation
where a public office holder becomes too comfortable in his seat.

That is the situation in Lagos State,
unfortunately. The PDP’s campaign has been halfhearted, almost a play
for a ministerial position rather than a serious-minded effort to win
the state, and the other candidates are barely registering their
presence. Unfortunately, the only two candidates who actually raised
questions that would have put this governor on the hot seat have bowed
out of the race.

Jimi Agbaje, an impressive candidate
from the last election cycle, had made it a point of duty to raise
alarms about waste and corruption in the state, however, amid rumours
of a failed bid to get a Bola Tinubu endorsement, he slinked out of the
race. Femi Pedro, former deputy governor of the state, raised a bold
question via bill boards and other material in Lagos State: Lagosians,
have your lives really changed? – but quickly crashed out of the race.

The debate in Lagos also showed
Lagosians the absolute dearth of choice that they are faced with. The
other candidates couldn’t provide data about many of the state’s
indicators; one candidate spent half the period settling a personal
score, and when the governor announced incorrectly that contracts
awarded in the state are available up-to-date online, no one was
informed and engaged enough to challenge him on the falseness of that
statement.

This is sad. It is sad because, for all
of his bright spots, there are many dark circles right under the
governor’s eyes. The healthcare system has been wracked by a series of
strikes, the education system – most especially the physical state of
schools – as a special report by NEXT showed last year, is suffering a
worrisome abandonment, the inner parts of the Lagos metropolis have
communities who can only be amused by the spectacle of flowers and
paint in Marina, and the housing crisis in Lagos continues to mount.

These are questions that a credible and
vibrant opposition would have raised to the governor, and which he
would have been forced to answer to allow Lagosians the opportunity to
vigorously assess his stewardship and the ability to make a choice: to
settle for what Mr Fashola offers or to reach for a brand of governance
that reaches the people at the point of their needs. When one also
considers the fact that Mr Fashola seems to have chosen for himself an
elitist brand of governance that has little empathy for the ‘common
man’ and doesn’t seem to be engaged with common realities of poverty in
his state, the tragedy of a lack of choice is emphasised.

Lagosians deserve a robust conversation about who can best serve
their interests. We hope the other candidates can finally step up to
the plate – in driving the conversation and firing up the people – and
give the present governor a run for his money. Even if the incumbent
wins re-election, Lagos will be the better for it.