Rhodes-Vivour Yoruba fluency takes centre stage as the ADC Lagos candidate says he can now campaign in the language ahead of the 2027 election
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate for Lagos State governor, said on Thursday that he has learnt Yoruba and can now campaign in the language as he prepares for the 2027 governorship election.
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Rhodes-Vivour made the disclosure during an interview on Arise TV, explaining that he had engaged a Yoruba teacher and deliberately worked on his ability to communicate in the language.
“Culture and language is very, very important, and I’ve gotten a Yoruba teacher, and I’ve learned Yoruba, and I can campaign in Yoruba, and that is wonderful,” Rhodes-Vivour said.
The moment became particularly notable when the ADC candidate responded in Yoruba after one of the presenters greeted him in the language.
“Mo ki gbogbo yin,” Rhodes-Vivour said, meaning “I greet all of you”.
His comments revisit an issue that became politically significant during the 2023 Lagos governorship campaign, when his Yoruba proficiency and mixed Yoruba and Igbo heritage became subjects of public debate.
During a March 2023 interview with Channels Television, Rhodes-Vivour acknowledged that he understood and could speak Yoruba but was not fluent.
He also said his education and upbringing, including periods spent outside Nigeria, had influenced his language ability. His remark that he did not “think in Yoruba” subsequently attracted considerable attention.
Rhodes-Vivour later said he regretted the way the remark was expressed and explained that he had been discussing broader questions of governance rather than attempting to dismiss Yoruba culture. He subsequently committed himself to learning the language.
Three years later, the candidate is presenting that effort as part of a broader attempt to connect with Lagos residents while insisting that language and identity should not overshadow the policy issues facing the state.
“My passionate interest is to ensure that we have a Lagos that no longer stinks,” Rhodes-Vivour said, referring to the problems he associates with flooding, inadequate housing and traffic congestion.
Rhodes-Vivour argued that those challenges affect Lagos residents across ethnic and linguistic backgrounds.
“Everybody is experiencing the failure of our flooding, of our housing crisis, of the traffic, of the loss of dignity of Lagosians, and that connects all of us,” he said.
The emphasis on common urban problems is also consistent with Rhodes-Vivour’s broader campaign positioning for 2027.
In July, he said his political organisation had expanded beyond the structure that supported his 2023 campaign and that he had spent time building networks within communities across Lagos.
Rhodes-Vivour secured the ADC governorship ticket in May after defeating Owolabi Salis in the party’s Lagos primary.
He polled 12,948 votes against Salis’ 6,183 votes, according to the declared result.
His return to the governorship race gives the language issue a different context from 2023.
Rhodes-Vivour is no longer introducing himself to Lagos voters as a first-time candidate.
Instead, he is attempting to build on the visibility he gained during the previous election while addressing one of the vulnerabilities that became prominent during that campaign.
The ADC candidate also faces a different political landscape in 2027. Peter Obi, who shared the Labour Party platform with Rhodes-Vivour during the 2023 elections, has since left the ADC for the Nigeria Democratic Congress.
Rhodes-Vivour has said his current campaign will not depend on Obi or the Obidient movement, pointing instead to grassroots organisation and a broader Lagos coalition.
The shift gives the language question an added human dimension. Learning a language later in life can be a deliberate effort to strengthen cultural connection, particularly for a politician seeking to represent a highly diverse state such as Lagos.
At the same time, Rhodes-Vivour’s own argument is that linguistic familiarity should complement rather than replace substantive discussion about governance.
His latest appearance therefore combines a symbolic response to a question that followed him from the 2023 campaign with a renewed attempt to keep the focus on issues such as flooding, housing, traffic and the quality of life in Lagos.
With the 2027 election approaching, Rhodes-Vivour’s ability to communicate in Yoruba may become one element of his public engagement.
His campaign will ultimately also be judged through the policies, programmes and governing priorities he presents to Lagos voters.
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For now, his message is clear: the language that became a point of controversy in 2023 is now something he says he has worked deliberately to master.
