The pattern of voting in Saturday’s election Lagos would reveal many things, chief amongst which is the ethnic politics that is beginning to creep into the mix of the nation’s most cosmopolitan state. There was an attempt to bring in religion by the leadership of the ruling party in 2015, all in the bid to win the elections. Yes, they brought in religion but it was better managed at the end of the day.
However, the ethnic slant to the politics of the state almost went south after the experience of the February 23 elections, when some unscrupulous fellows disturbed voting in a certain parts of the state, because they wanted voters to vote in a particular direction. The PDP and its candidate, Jimi Agbaje saw the opening and played it up.
Not unexpectedly, the ruling party saw the trend and knew it was a waiting disaster and immediately stepped it. It would seem the many interventions paid off, although the results of the election would reveal that.
But to maintain a saner Lagos, politics of religion and ethnicity do not fit here. Lagos is too cosmopolitan for such naïve and primitive agenda. Lagos must be rescued from predators, who seek to exploit cheap fault lines to divide it for personal gains. That is not the tolerant Lagos for everyone.
