Obafemi Hamzat And ‘The Lagos Promise’ By Mobolaji Sanusi “The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world.”—Malcolm Gladwell In my part of the world, one familiar cliché routinely finds its way By Mobolaji Sanusi “The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world.”—Malcolm Gladwell In my part of the world, one familiar cliché routinely finds its way into everyday conversations: “a promise is a debt.” It is an expression so frequently invoked that it has almost become an accepted principle of social interaction.
But when it comes to the official conduct of public affairs in this part of the world, a fundamental question arises: Is a promise truly a debt, and can those who make promises in the political arena be held to account for fulfilling them?
Under the law of contract that applies across legal jurisdictions, an exchange of promises is generally recognised as legally binding and enforceable, except where it constitutes a nudum pactum, which means a bare agreement unsupported by consideration.
In its everyday usage, Wikipedia defines a promise as “a commitment by someone to do or not to do something.” This also finds further expression in the universal Latin legal maxim, pacta sunt servanda, which states that agreements must be kept.
The principle is not restricted to private contractual relationships; it also offers a compelling moral and political standard against which public commitments, including socio-political agreements between elected leaders and their constituents, ought to be measured. As the 2027 general elections draw closer, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, the cerebral incumbent Deputy Governor of Lagos State and gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has taken a significant step towards establishing such a relationship of accountability with the people of Lagos. He has emerged as the first major gubernatorial contender across Nigeria to publicly present a concrete and actionable manifesto that he titles: “The Lagos Promise — Ìlérí Èkó.” The document, which he unveiled on Friday, sets out specific deliverables his administration intends to pursue when elected and inaugurated on May 29, 2027.
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