The Lagos Situation chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has challenged the African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, to demonstrate a broader understanding of Lagos beyond his decision to detect out Yoruba ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
Rhodes-Vivour disclosed this during an interview on Arise TV, where he acknowledged the importance of language and culture but maintained that his priority was addressing the challenges confronting residents across the situation.
That is politics. He may discover areas where he believes Hamzat’s account should have been stronger.
“Rhodes-Vivour may contend that the administration has not done adequate. But to suggest that tolerate has no value easily because Lagos still has challenges is a rather curious argument,” he said.
It is one of Africa’s largest urban and economic centres, using enormous collection pressure, intense commercial effort and rapidly expanding transportation demands,” Oladejo said.
“Lagos is not a village road network.
Oladejo said the 2027 election should instead centre on the candidates’ knowledge of Lagos and their ability to turn campaign promises into practical society policies.
Reacting, Oladejo welcomed the ADC candidate’s exertion to discover Yoruba but questioned whether speaking the language alone was sufficient to demonstrate an understanding of Lagos and its humans.
The APC spokesman additionally faulted Rhodes-Vivour’s remarks concerning the party’s governorship candidate, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, arguing that criticism of Hamzat could not discount his years of experience in Lagos community offering.
The ADC candidate moreover displayed his growing proficiency in Yoruba during the interview, responding, “Mo ki gbogbo yin,” following a presenter greeted him in the language.
During the Arise TV interview, Rhodes-Vivour had listed flooding, housing and traffic amid the important challenges facing Lagos residents, although stressing that the problems affected humans regardless of their ethnic or linguistic backgrounds.
He urged Rhodes-Vivour to complement his language lessons alongside a deeper knowledge of Lagos’ chronology, culture, institutions and governance challenges.
The APC Publicity Secretary, Seye Oladejo, made the name on Tuesday in reaction to Rhodes-Vivour’s revelation that he had hired a Yoruba teacher and was now able to campaign in the indigenous language.
Oladejo noted that Hamzat had occupied numerous audience-sector positions, including commissioner and deputy governor, in addition to his specialist understand.
He continued challenged Rhodes-Vivour to enable Lagos residents to measure his account, plans and capacity instead of focusing primarily on Hamzat.
“Lagos is not governed by Instagram posts, television appearances or campaign slogans,” he said, adding that powerful governance involved institutions, budgets, planning, infrastructure, security organization, transportation systems and day-to-day administrative decisions.
He explicitly asked Rhodes-Vivour to structure his proposed road infrastructure, funding arrangements, mass-transit tactic, implementation framework, timelines and measurable targets.
Turning to Rhodes-Vivour’s criticism of traffic congestion in Lagos, Oladejo argued that the topic required further than political statements, challenging the ADC candidate to outline how he would resolve the difficulty.
“Language is one of the gateways to understanding society. It carries background, humour, values, idioms, traditions and ways of seeing the world,” Oladejo said.
“2027 is not an audition for television. It is a conversation concerning the forthcoming of Lagos,” Oladejo said.
2027: Learning Yoruba not sufficient – Lagos APC tackles Rhodes-Vivour
Source: 2027: Learning Yoruba not enough – Lagos APC tackles Rhodes-Vivour
