One Leader Making Fifteen Leaders Catch Cold?

By Eniola Dasilva, a Political Analyst based in Lagos

When I read an online story that Senator Ganiyu Solomon and Prince Bayo Osiyemi were battling for the soul of the Mandate Movement in Mushin, I was puzzled.

The reason is that while Prince Osiyemi has been known in Mandate circles all over Lagos State as the performing apex leader of the Caucus in Odiolowo and Mushin for the past five or more years, while Senator Solomon is also well known as the founder of Ideal Club, Mushin that broke away from the Mandate rival caucus, the Justice Forum.

For several years, Solomon fought hard for his Ideal Club survival and collaborated with JF to corner virtually all political benefits in Odiolowo and Mushin, to the detriment of the Mandate Movement (TMM) hitherto called the Mandate Group (TMG).

When Solomon became the apex leader of the APC in Mushin and Odiolowo, he had the opportunity to avenge the spite he felt when Dr Muiz Banire, was apex leader of the TMG in Mushin and Odiolowo. Dr Banire he alleged, was unfair to him and his Ideal Club of less than 200 members in the two LGs at the time.

When Prince Osiyemi was made the apex leader of TMM in Mushin by the state leadership of TMM, to replace Banire who had eased himself out of the TMM to face his legal practice, Solomon did not let up his disdain for TMM as he used his APC leadership position in the LGs to deny several TMM members their dues after the LG and state elections of 2019 and 2023.
A look at how he superintended over the distribution of councillorship, chairmanship and secretaryship of local governments and the APC; as well as supervisors slots would reveal how the first or second rated TMM was degraded to number three under Solomon’s leadership of the party in Mushin.

Osiyemi’s leadership preferred to pursue peaceful means of getting redress from Solomon but this was cleverly rebuffed and things got worse for TMM when Solomon became a member of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC). If he had his way, he would have wished TMM out of existence but he instead slyly weakened Osiyemi’s leadership by encouraging dissidence and factionalisation of TMM.

As a stakeholder in our party and in TMM, you can then imagine why I am puzzled that someone who ill-treated TMM so badly could now be invited to come and join TMM and he immediately decided to hijack the TMM structure, remove its loyal, toiling and committed leaders and members and attempt to foist himself on TMM as apex leader in Mushin simply because, according to him, he is a GAC member and thus invite some JF and anti-TMM members to come with him to come and set up a new TMM in his own spiteful and vengeance-seeking image.

This is the reason why he packed 14 other leaders most of who are disdainful of Osiyemi’s bent for loyalty, discipline and genuine commitment to TMM cause, to help consign loyal and true members to the dustbin and compose his own Mandate that he wants to use to fight and supplant the true state leadership of the Caucus and impose his will on TMM and its sole symbol !

I know some of his 14 co-travellers have some followings, but many of them are political liabilities who can hardly mobilise even members of their household into the party.
No wonder the crowd mobilised to their “Ogba GOS” meeting at Olateju street in Odiolowo last Wednesday. fell short of the expectations of the expired big names on display at their rally.

In contrast, Osiyemi, appropriately described as ” one-man mopol” for his persuasive and mobilisation prowess, pulled a better and larger crowd to his own meeting because he parades upcoming and vibrant leaders who are the lifeblood of the TMM and the party. They were mainly the people who mobilised for the APC in the last elections, a few of who had been compensated by the hard working and appreciative governor of the state but who Solomon despised because he suspected they won’t fall for his deceptive bait.

Except the original state leadership of TMM is planning to fail, Solomon is a baggage the Caucus does not need, not to talk of making him the apex leader of TMM in Mushin and Odiolowo in place of Osiyemi who is tested and trusted and in whose veins genuine party patriotism flows, unlike those who are APC in daytime and ENDSARS and Labour Party at nightfall !