Re-Hamzat and Lagos's Future: Sycophants at Work – My Final Thoughts

By Mobolaji Sanusi

Normally, the response to my column last week—where I briefly addressed Governor Babajide Sanwo‑Olu—would have been dismissed because the administration was appointed by our respected political patriarch, President Bola Tinubu, GCFR. However, this counter‑response is necessary to correct some embedded misinformation.

Accordingly, I find it important to set the record straight in a few paragraphs:

One Tayo Ogunbiyi, Director of Public Enlightenment and Community Relations in the Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, whose byline appeared on the response, began on a false note when he claimed that “there seems to be no other reason for the opinion article written by Mobolaji Sanusi, the one who was fired at the Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA) for alleged incompetence.” Whoever authorized the response, along with the author, appears to be suffering from institutional or historical amnesia.

It is startling that a “supposed director” of such an important ministry, tasked with informing and educating the public, could be so uninformed. He and his political superiors could have easily approached the Public Service Office (PSO) to inquire about my service records and the circumstances surrounding my departure from LASAA in December 2019.

This highlights the level of institutional decay that the Sanwo‑Olu government has inflicted on the mainstream civil service, which had previously been an exemplar of discipline.

To properly educate this uninformed official, I was not “fired” for any alleged incompetence. My leadership of the agency remains, to date, a reference point in leadership integrity, regulatory discipline, institutional accountability, and progress. Importantly, I left the agency with my head held high after the expiration of my renewable statutory tenure of four years. I am the only former managing director of the agency to have served more than the statutory four years—three months longer—without any blemish. My record speaks for itself.

In contrast, my successor, Adedamola Docemo, who was appointed by Governor Sanwo‑Olu, was unexpectedly removed from the position barely three years into his four‑year term. The reasons behind this, if not gross incompetence, should be revealed to the public by Ogunbiyi and his media team.

The author also made uncorroborated accusations that I “attempted to project speculative political alignments, introduce unfounded insinuations regarding the working relationship within the Babajide Olusola Sanwo‑Olu administration in Lagos State.”

By this, he fabricated claims that my article suggested “tension, rivalry, or institutional dissonance between the Governor of Lagos State and his Deputy, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, who is also the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2027 Governorship Election.” I did not suggest anything of that nature, and the alleged “senior official” has not provided any excerpts to support this claim, except for indirectly exposing tensions that outsiders like me and others might not be aware of between the duo.

Finally, my intention is not to engage in a public spat with a governor installed by our revered president and political patriarch, and I will therefore withhold any further comments—even on Ogunbiyi’s allusion to “expansion in infrastructure” as the thrust of the Sanwo‑Olu administration’s achievements.

I rest my case.

*Mobolaji Sanusi Esq, former MD/CEO of Lagos State Signage & Advertisement Agency, is managing partner at AMS RELIABLE SOLICITORS.