The politics of Lagos State has been dominated by the All Progressives Congress since 1999. However, there have been allegations about an increase in untold hardship on its citizens, which was claimed to be indices of a 200 per cent increase in land use charge, increased taxation, lack of basic amenities, and zero accountability on the part of the government.
Since the 2011 general election campaigns, Nigerian actors, actresses, musicians, and even comedians have been engaged as political tools.
Most of them are now campaign officers as they endorse politicians. Usually, their popularity and influence would compel voters to accept whomever they have supported, as the masses really do not have preferences.
Sources have revealed that Mr. Adeosun was a major player in canvassing musicians for the governorship candidate of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, during the 2015 elections. But it appears the relationship between these two has become sour, as Mr Adeosun is now spearheading anti-government protests. He is also said to be giving free and discounted studio sessions and music production at his prestigious music studio in Ikeja, Lagos, to encourage any artist who intends to advocate and protest through their songs. He has also been vocal about the menace of a group of thugs known as “agberos” in Lagos State. The “agbero” operates like a second government or, simply put, a parallel administration in the state. They act with impunity and, most times, get away with their atrocities. Since they also provide the machinery with which the government commits political atrocities, they are practically above the law.
OurMumuDonDO is a national reawakening movement, a coalition of the angry, vexed, and frustrated, a conglomeration of dedicated change agents; a movement for the emancipation of the suffering Nigerian masses calling for good governance and accountability.
On the 12th of June 2017, an anti-government protest was staged to register the grievances of the suffering masses caused by economic hardship. Maverick musician Charles Oputa led this protest; online publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore; the daughter of Senior Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Politics, Mr. Babafemi Ojudu, Olushola Adeosun, a music producer, and a host of others. The protesters filed through the Ikorodu Road in Lagos, heading for the National Theatre in Iganmu.
Armed policemen monitored them in Hilux vans and Armoured Personnel Carriers.
Scheduled to commence at the National Stadium, the protest was delayed following the presence of policemen who did not allow access to the venue.
There have been several protests in the past in which leading members of such protests were either bribed or assassinated if they persisted.
One Adeola Williams, a confessed serial killer, was said to have confessed to several such assassinations and claimed to have killed four people in recent times.
The music boss, Olushola, who also participated in the June 12 protest, narrowly escaped death on the 28th of May 2017 when unknown gunmen opened fire on his car in the Mafoluku area of Lagos State. How he survived appeared a calculated act of vengeance and a show of control and intimidation from the powers that be, and it is still a mystery to everyone who witnessed the scene.
He was said to have travelled after the assassination attempt when another attack took place at his father-in-law’s residence, Mr D. Eyieta, on the 3rd of January 2018.
It was said that the assailants specifically came looking for Mr Adeosun, as information got to them that he was hiding there with his family. Unfortunately, his father-in-law, who tried to protect his daughter (who happens to be Mr Adeosun’s wife) and grandchildren, was shot in the leg. He later lost his life to a clinical complication in March 2018. Shola moved his family to an undisclosed location in Ogun State.
However, there was said to be another attack at the house on the 4th of May in Ogun State, where the assailants were said to have gotten into the house through the roof. They met the absence of Shola’s family, who, fortunately, were at a church vigil. His aunt, Ms Kehinde Olayiwola, a retired military personnel who housed the family, lost her life in that attack.
With the 2019 elections around the corner, it appears that every opposition voice will have to either join the train or seek a haven because more drama promises to unfold as the tussle for power becomes more intense.
