The confirmation of Mrs. Roli Olabode-George as a member of the National Population Commission (NPC) has once again thrown up the dirty side of Nigerian politics.The confirmation of her nomination by the Senate did not go without serious opposition from the three Senators representing Lagos State. The dispute over her nomination was reported to have generated an exchange of communication between President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Babatunde Fasola of Lagos State.The Lagos State senators believed that the matter was resolved between the President and the State Governor. They therefore expected the nomination to have been substituted with another more acceptable to the Lagos State Governor and by extension, the people of Lagos State.That acceptability cannot be solely determined by the indigeneship of Roli. She is by virtue of marriage to Chief Olabode George an indigene of Lagos State. Can she by virtue of her acquired indigeneship be relied upon to adequately represent the interests of Lagos State at the National Population Commission' Going by precedents she should be able to adequately represent, the interests of the state.The unique position of Lagos State as a culture melting pot has made it accommodative of the citizens of other states in the country. Many of those citizens have occupied both elective and appointive political offices in the state. Many of them are prominent members of the Executive and the Legislature in the state even today as it was in the past. Even during the military era, many non-indigenes held positions in the State Executive Council.As for the State Civil Service, Lagos State stands out as the only state in the Federation that does not discriminate against non-indigenes in career prospects. Thus, the state can boast of many retired Permanent Secretaries and serving ones that are not of Lagos State origin.Ironically, many of the Nigerians who played or still play active roles in the political life of Lagos State never pretended to be indigenes of the State. But the interests of the State are permanent and ably defended by those that served in the past and even now.The bitter opposition to Roli's nomination goes beyond politics. It is based on an objection to the person of her husband, .Chief Olabode George and his politics. As the Deputy National Chairman of the PDP for the South-West, George is not averse to throwing his weight around to tout his connection to the Federal Government and to the highest hierarchy of the PDP .He demonstrated this during the governorship of Ayo Fayose in Ekiti State. Through a call to former President Olusegun Obasanjo then ,he secured the drafting of security men to Iyin-Ekiti to literally place AD leaders under house arrest.When he fell out with the leadership of the PDP, he was arraigned in Court on corruption charges. He was found guilty and jailed. Rather than trace his traducers to the PDP, he claimed that former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu sent him to prison. This was because a Lagos State High Court jailed him.A man who purportedly sent another to jail in Yorubaland is an eternal enemy. The disagreement between the two politicians has gone beyond ideology. It has the added colour of personal enmity.In the political arena, each strives to rout the other. Tinubu has always got the upper hand in political contests in Lagos State notwithstanding his rumoured non-indigene status in the state. This galls the minds of the likes of George.The nomination and confirmation of Roli is the first resounding victory ever recorded by the retired naval officer over his political foes. including those within the PDP.This is happening at a time the leadership of George in the PDP in Lagos State is being challenged and ridiculed within. George has been bruised in many battles within the PDP since the party's poor showing in the 2007 governorship election in the state. He was bitter at the defeat which he saw as a let-down by the PDP gubernatorial candidate.Such a proud political leader needed this victory desperately to assuage his hurt feelings. It is a medal to dangle in front of enemies within and without that George remains an important national figure in the PDP. No one can rightly blame Jonathan for obliging him this victory. A political leader that has a baggage of a catalogue of defeats is not fit to be one.
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