Governor Ambode’s rise and fall is a lesson for students of politics and power

To paraphrase the great man of letters, Chinua Achebe, the “rain started beating” Ambode as soon as he took over the reins from his predecessor Babatunde Fashola.

Fashola and Ambode have an unsavory past between them. Legend has it that Fashola once fired Ambode who was serving in his administration as an Accountant General. Ambode, it has been said, made sure not to forgive Fashola for his ordeal afterwards.

So, he took to dismantling all Fashola-era policies, personnel and vestiges once he took over as Lagos governor. Once, Ambode even engaged Fashola in a public spat over the decrepit Airport Road and other crumbling federal infrastructure in Lagos.

It is said of Ambode that he is vindictive, cocky, prude and set in his own ways. These character flaws would prove his undoing months before the Lagos primary elections, party loyalists shared.

APC members simply waited for Ambode to indicate his intention to seek a second term in office before showing their hands. Once he did, they reached for the whip on the rafters and went for the governor’s back. Once he did, Babajide Sanwoolu was revealed as the joker in the pack.

APC chieftains and members would regale this writer with tales of Ambode’s shortcomings and character flaws in the days leading to the primary election. They had had enough, they said.

Local government chairmen shared stories of how they could no longer reach Ambode. Aides shared tales bordering on Ambode’s high handedness and arrogant disposition. Political allies of Ambode explained why a second tenure for Ambode would be bad for Lagos, and Bourdillon told of how frosty the relationship between Tinubu and Ambode had become. Everyone just couldn’t wait to sing.

While putting together some of these stories for Pulse, I would reach out to the governor’s spokespersons or aides for a response. None came. I was later told that Ambode’s media aides don’t pick the calls of ‘random persons’ and that Team Ambode doesn’t use a smartphone for security reasons.

In three and a half years of Ambode’s reign, he would not engage the press directly or hold an interactive session with the online media. He offered no explanations for policy somersaults or overreach and his team gave away very little to the press.

Meanwhile, Ambode would go on to fall out with his godfather, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and alienate party members from the decision making process APC members told me that they couldn’t reach Ambode because he wouldn’t share his phone number with them. On the streets, waste piled up, Lagos became filthier, clogged drainage channels resulted in constant floods, roads caved in, inner city roads ceased to exist and street urchins returned as Lords of the Manor.

The Lagos State government had no feedback mechanism to assimilate complaints from the people because Alausa had built a wall around itself and slammed the door shut in people’s faces.

I do not subscribe to the idea of a godfather handpicking leaders of a cosmopolitan city like Lagos from the comfort of his gated estate. But even the meanest and cruelest of godfathers feed off the energy, vibes, sentiments and emotions of the people. Ambode didn’t just fall out with Tinubu, he fell out with Lagosians due to his under-performance on the job. He fell out with party members for his poor politics.

The jury is still out on Ambode’s legacy as the May 29 handover date draws ever so close. But he has looked as poor in his politics as he has been in the fine art of governance. His defeat this week at the APC primary was long in coming--except that he never saw it coming because he didn't bother to look up.

Ambode’s fall is a lesson in unbridled power, overreach and pride. Years from now, students of power and politics will return to this time in Nigeria’s history for lessons on loyalty to the party, people and godfather.

Ambode’s second term bid didn’t crash and burn last week. This has been an accumulation of unforced errors and own goals from Lagos’ number one citizen. The rain started beating Ambode months ago.