The Labour Party Gubernatorial Candidate for the 2023 Lagos State Governorship elections, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has addressed the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, telling him to do his job as Lagos State is not in a good state environmentally.
Rhodes-Vivour said this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Saturday in response to a post by the Commissioner on X, formerly known as Twitter. Rhodes-Vivour had tweeted a video of a canal overgrown with weeds, pointing out that clearing out the canal will bring for free flow of water, and it will be easier than to “demolish buildings.”
To this, Wahab responded on X as well, saying, “Eventually, you will be fine.”
Rhodess-Vivour, during the interview, said, “To his comment, to be quite honest, I am not surprised. I am not surprised because in my personal opinion, these people are not in office out of a desire to serve. They’re in office- Lagos State is like an SPV for them to attain material wealth for themselves, their cronies, and their families. Unfortunately, now they have to deal with a new set of politicians that is not being compromised, that is not being quiet, and is not going into the dark, and is holding them accountable- which they don’t like.
“Unfortunately, now they have to pretend like they care. And this goes from the very top. I mean, when all of us were very worried about the killing that were happening in the South West, President Tinubu went and asked where are the cows. When we were so worried about the hundred and twenty bodies, EndSars, and we were putting pressure on Sanwo-Olu to account for it, he said we should get over it.
“So, when the Commissioner says eventually I will be fine, I am fine, Lagos is not fine. And this mentality that you’ll be okay, you know, we’re an afterthought. But unfortunately, now they have to deal with that. And I’ll say it to the Commissioner, I’m not going anywhere, I want a Lagos that works for the people.”
“The fact of the matter is that Lagos State deserves so much more,” he then added.
When asked if he thought the Commissioner’s response was from a place of his thinking that Rhodes-Vivour was playing politics, he replied, “I am a Lagosian, I am a citizen, it is not election time. They talk about me playing politics, these were people that were forming lies and propaganda. I mean, what would Goodluck Jonathan say? These people came into position based on playing politics for an entire four years. They literally sabotaged the removal of subsidies. They’ve come out to confess that they knew subsidy had to be removed, they sabotaged it. That is playing politics.
“I’m not doing that. I’m showing you a canal overgrown with weeds. Clear it, it’s your job. It’s your job, clear it, not this kind of nonsense, immature kind of post. I mean, you’re a government official for goodness sake.”
“Let him clear it, it’s his job, we should not be clapping for mediocrity. It should not be there in the first place,” he said.
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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