TDThere is no state in Nigeria where rumours can enthrone and dethrone like Lagos.
A whisper becomes a directive.
A claim of access becomes authority.
And the mere suggestion—“I just came from Asiwaju”—has, over the years, been enough to make aspirants step down without question.
This is the politics of “Baba so pe”—“the father has spoken.”
It did not start today. It is a culture that took root when Bola Ahmed Tinubu was party leader in Lagos. Back then, it was a tool of control.
Today, with him as President, it risks becoming an instrument of distortion.
What we are witnessing now in the Lagos governorship conversation is a troubling escalation of that culture.
First, the Chairman of the GAC publicly “announces” an anointed candidate—only to later retreat, claiming misquotation. Then comes another high-ranking figure, invoking “Abuja” as the source of authority.
But since when did Abuja become a substitute for the person of the President?
Let us be clear: Abuja is not Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
And the President is not an oracle whose voice must be “interpreted.”
The latest circulating message pushes this distortion to a dangerous extreme:
> “Oracle does not speak, Ifa does not have a voice, but interpreters deliver Ifa messages.”
This is not just political communication—it is political mystification.
Is the President now to be reduced to an oracle—distant, silent, and only accessible through self-appointed interpreters?
Or worse, is he being deliberately cloaked in ambiguity so that personal interests can masquerade as presidential will?
If those who claim proximity to power are themselves “sentimental and disappointed” by the so-called outcome, what does that say about the credibility of the message they are peddling?
You cannot claim divine certainty and human disappointment in the same breath.
You cannot ask party members to “keep their eyes on the ball” when the ball itself is being moved in the dark.
And you certainly cannot market confusion as strategy.
This is why this moment demands clarity.
If “Baba so pe” is to retain any meaning, then Baba must speak—clearly, directly, and unambiguously.
Not through rumours.
Not through proxies.
Not through contradictory “interpretations.”
Lagos is not a shrine.
It is a state of over 20 million thinking citizens.
And its political future cannot be decided by whispers dressed as wisdom.
Now is the time for the President to address the culture he helped create.
Silence, at this point, is no longer strategy.
It is complicity.
