By Denrele Animasaun

“The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes.” —Tony Blair

This week has been abuzz with speculations in the UK politics, after a bruising results for all but the Conservative party in the mainland. Labour slumped to its worst defeat in almost 30 years in last week’s election finishing ninety-nine seats behind the Conservatives, with 26 fewer MPs than even  former Labour Prime Minister, Gordon Brown managed in 2010.  The labour party was left bewildered by their dismal showing and the leader of Labour, Ed Miliband, did the most honourable thing, he resigned.

So not surprising that there was a vacancy on the top. And so it was confirmed that Chuka Umunna indeed has thrown his hat into the ring to join the race to be Labour’s next leader. After his announcement, he said, he believed Labour could win power in five years’ time, adding: “Some have actually suggested over the last few days that somehow this is now a 10 year project to get the Labour Party back into office and ‘I think the Labour Party can do it in five years  I want to lead that effort”

It’s not going to be plain sailing as some part of the media are making more of a feature of his Nigerian heritage rather than the fact that he is a young and dynamic MP and British. This is not new, being a mixed race sometimes in the view of the blinkered, this equates to being black and that may be an issue with those that cannot see beyond his colour. Unfortunately, some black people feel that he has been set up to fail that, he should have waited a bit longer down the line, and perhaps in years to come. He could then go for the labour leadership.  This is the same thing, what some said about Obama and of course, they were wrong.

Okay, some also said that he is a Blairite and they are not sure if he is down with the people. Some of the labour backbenchers are not a fan of Chuka but some have said it could be a touch of the green monster. It is true, that Tony Blair is not everybody’s cup of tea but he seems to have his support. What I know of him personally, is that he is hard working and I saw him got on the mega phone drumming up support for local councillors during local election. For the young people he gained his stripes when he invited the actor, Will Smith to the local school.  Some have said that although he is well educated, suave, sharp dresser and media darling it is not enough to garner the traditional labour supporters, he will struggle to gain their support, I think.

Chuka Umunna

Having said that, I am not a betting person but some say that the money is on Umunna for future Labour leadership contests and as the most likely person to be Britain’s first ethnic minority Prime Minister

So it was a surprise that he made national news, in fact it was breaking news across the media nationwide. Perhaps, it was surprising but not unexpected. Chuka has been very much on the path anyway. Since propelled into the political limelight, Chuka has been dubbed Britain’s Barak Obama. I disagree, but they Pigeon holed him anyway. The fact that both Barak and Chuka, are products of mixed parentage, they have African fathers, they are both lawyers and lost their fathers quite young but that is where the comparison ends.
Chuka himself said of the comparison as “lazy media work.”

I happen to know Chuka, he is the Member of Parliament for my constituency. And I remember the first time I met him, he came to one of our summer fun days. He was not yet an MP then but he worked the place like a pro; he was engaging, personable and he was not bad on the eye either. While he was doing the round he came towards me and we got talking. Well, I did most of the talking and he just chipped in whenever he could any word in edgeways.  After our talk, I thought what a nice man but why was he wearing a suit on a hot day!

He subsequently became our MP and he quickly rose up the ranks and he was the subject of many newspaper articles and news room appearances. He is hardworking and tries to get around his constituency of 100,000.
The fact that 15% of the country is non- white and he has every right as a Member of Parliament and member of the shadow cabinet to put himself forward.  There are reservations  from different camps including his  own  party, when some feel that he has not earned his  strip and they were jealous that he his media savvy and he  does not fit the stereotype  of what a black  person should be.

He won my vote when he was being interviewed and he stormed out of a live television interview when he was asked his view on a controversial letter sent to 1,000 Muslim leaders by the communities secretary, Eric Pickles. When he was pressed to give his view without having read the letter, Chuka hit back and subsequently walked off screen while the camera was still on him. I applauded him and for the first time I saw the steel behind his charming appearance. I remembered saying to   myself, now Chuka has come to his own. He was very firm and said; “I’m not just going to speak off without actually having read a letter. I don’t think you are being terribly fair. Your viewers can make their own decision.” And he walked off. He was not soft after all and he gained some fans that night and after that.

Chuka does not mention his father much but it is understandable as his father was involved in tragic motor accident in Nigeria. He admitted that he was motivated by labour ideals because he had seen extreme poverty while visiting his father’s relatives in Nigeria and the social divide in his own Streatham backyard.

Hearty congratulations to a worthy winner
Senator Rasheed Ladoja, former governor of Oyo State and gubernatorial candidate of Accord Party in the last governorship election has gone on to challenge the victory of Governor Abiola Ajimobi. He defiles the elders of Ibadan to withdraw his lawsuit. He will be worsted Ajimobi won fair and square, the people of Oyo State have spoken so let the transformation of the state continue. Like I said some months back, Governor Ajimobi definitely deserves a second term and the trend setter state deserves a further run of stability and renewal. He has broken the record and he is serving a second term consecutively, a feat all his predecessors failed to achieve. Ajimobi has transformed the state, improved the standard of living of majority of the people, united factions and brought pride to the state with innovative and entrepreneurial spirit.