Lagos Cannot Afford a Governor Learning on the Job

Lagos Cannot Afford a Governor Learning on the Job

Lagos is not a state where political experimentation can be afforded the luxury of time.

It is a sprawling economic powerhouse, a complex legality and the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria. Every decision taken by its government has consequences that extend far beyond the state's borders. For that reason, the question confronting Lagosians in the coming governorship election should not simply be who has the most appealing manifesto, the loudest supporters or the most attractive political narrative. The more consequential question is: who is ready to govern Lagos from day one?

Governance in Lagos is an unusually demanding assignment. The next governor will inherit a metropolis grappling simultaneously with traffic congestion, flooding, inadequate housing, environmental degradation, pressure on public infrastructure, rising living costs, unemployment, insecurity, an expanding population and the perennial challenge of coordinating multiple layers of government. Lagos continues to attract people and businesses because of its economic opportunities, but that growth places enormous pressure on transportation, housing, and other urban services. Recent reporting, for instance, has highlighted the worsening housing affordability crisis and the increasingly punishing commuting times experienced by residents.

In such an environment, good intentions are necessary but insufficient.

A Governor cannot spend the first two years discovering how the state bureaucracy works, understanding its finances, identifying the power centres within government or learning how to move projects from policy documents to physical reality. Those are lessons that should largely have been learned before occupying the office.

This is why experience matters.

The argument is not that a candidate must have spent decades in politics. Political experience by itself is no guarantee of competence. What Lagos requires is a combination of intellectual capacity, administrative understanding, economic literacy, institutional knowledge and, most importantly, evidence that the candidate can actually execute.

The recent debate surrounding the governorship contest makes this distinction particularly important. Candidates have presented ambitious proposals on housing, education, healthcare, transportation, infrastructure and social welfare. These are issues that deserve serious attention. But the credibility of any proposal ultimately depends on the machinery behind it: How much will it cost? Where will the money come from? Which agency will implement it? How long will it take? What legal or institutional obstacles could prevent it? And, perhaps most importantly, has the candidate demonstrated an ability to overcome such obstacles before?

That is where experience becomes more than a line on a curriculum vitae.

Consider Lagos's transportation problem. It is not simply a matter of constructing more roads or adding more buses. It involves land use, urban planning, public transportation, traffic management, enforcement, intergovernmental cooperation and the integration of different transport modes. Similarly, solving the housing crisis requires more than announcing a target number of houses. It requires access to land, financing, planning approval, infrastructure, mortgage systems and mechanisms that ensure that supposedly affordable homes are actually affordable to the people who need them.

The same principle applies to education and healthcare. Promising free services may sound politically compelling, but a responsible government must demonstrate how those services will be financed and sustained. A policy that cannot survive beyond its launch ceremony is not transformational governance; it is political theatre.

This is why the argument that Lagos cannot afford a governor learning on the job deserves serious consideration.

What more?

The state requires a governor who understands the difference between announcing a project and delivering one. Lagos requires someone capable of sitting across the table from civil servants, contractors, investors, community leaders, traditional institutions, local governments and federal authorities and finding workable solutions. The governor must understand the political implications of decisions without allowing politics to completely determine policy.

Meeting a Few of the Candidates

Among the candidates discussed in the recent town-hall debate, Kadri Obafemi Hamzat stands out principally because his case is built not only on promises about what he intends to do, but also on experience within the machinery of Lagos government. He has served as commissioner in important portfolios, including Science and Technology and Works and Infrastructure, and has served as deputy governor since 2019. The referenced analysis also points to his professional experience in academia and the private sector.

That does not make him beyond criticism.

Indeed, his experience creates an additional responsibility: he must be prepared to defend the record of the administration in which he has served. Lagos still struggles with problems that have persisted despite years of policy interventions. Traffic remains a daily nightmare for millions. Flooding continues to disrupt communities. Housing remains unaffordable for many residents. Waste management and environmental sanitation remain uneven. Informal charges and levies continue to frustrate businesses and residents. These cannot simply be explained away.

A candidate who represents continuity must therefore answer an significant question: if you have been part of the government, what will you do differently?

That question is legitimate and necessary.

At the same time, the shortcomings of an existing administration should not automatically lead voters to conclude that the solution is to hand the state to someone without sufficient executive preparation. Change for its own sake is not necessarily progress. The better choice is change that is informed by competence and experience.

Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, for example, has demonstrated political resilience and has established himself as a significant opposition figure. His professional and academic background is substantial. His challenge, however, is convincing Lagosians that ambitious proposals can be translated into financially sustainable government programmes and that he possesses the executive machinery required to implement them at the scale Lagos demands.

Funso Doherty similarly brings impressive financial and professional credentials to the contest. His emphasis on social services speaks directly to the struggles of ordinary Lagosians. But expansive social programmes require equally expansive fiscal discipline. A serious candidate must explain not merely what government will provide, but how government will pay for it without creating an unsustainable financial burden.

Adedeji Doherty also brings professional and business experience, with an agenda addressing housing, electricity, security and the business environment. These are important priorities. Yet Lagos requires more than a list of desirable outcomes. It requires a demonstrated ability to navigate the enormous administrative structure through which those outcomes must be delivered.

In the end, the Lagos governorship should not be treated as a prize to be awarded to whoever makes the most attractive promises. It should be treated as a job interview for one of the most demanding political offices in Africa.

Lagos: Not a Training ground for Political Apprenticeship

Lagos needs a governor who can walk into office on the first day and begin governing, not someone who must spend years learning what the office requires.

That does not mean Lagosians should vote blindly for continuity. Experience without results is not enough. Nor should academic qualifications, wealth, political connections or eloquence be mistaken for governing competence. Every candidate must be subjected to the same rigorous standard: What have you done? What can you demonstrate? What will your policies cost? How will you implement them? And why should Lagosians trust you with a city of this complexity?

The next governor will inherit both the achievements and failures of previous administrations. The task will not be to start Lagos from scratch but to understand what works, fix what does not and accelerate what can be improved.

That requires humility, competence and institutional knowledge.

Final Thoughts

Lagos is too important to Nigeria and too complicated to become a training ground for political apprenticeship. Its next governor must be prepared for the job before occupying the office.

The people of Lagos deserve ambition. They deserve fresh ideas. They deserve accountability and change where change is necessary.

But above all, they deserve competence from day one.

Because in Lagos, when a governor is learning on the job, it is not the governor alone who pays the price.

Lagosians do.