What You May Not Know About Lagos Labour Party Guber Candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour
Before the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour was just one of the candidates jostling for the Lagos governorship seat with little or no chances.
Gbadebo (aka GRV), the Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate, was not considered a threat to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second-term bid until the Labour Party won Lagos at the 2023 presidential election.
He was even rated below the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran (Jandor). Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour wants to end Governor Sanwo-Olu’s second term bid in Lagos.
However, the LP’s surprise win in the presidential poll in Lagos has changed the dynamics. Rhodes-Vivour is now a significant threat to the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s political dominance in Nigeria’s economic capital.
Gbadebo, aged 40, was born into the Rhodes-Vivour family of Lagos on March 8 1983, to Barrister Olawale and Barrister Nkechi Rhodes-Vivour. As the name suggests, his father is Yoruba, while his mother is Igbo.
(The inter-tribal root has become a subject of controversy in ongoing political campaigns) Gbadebo is great-great-grandson to William Allen Vivour and great-grandson to Justice S.B Rhodes, the second indigenous judge ever appointed.
The LP governorship flagbearer is the grandson of Chief Justice A.R.W Rhodes-Vivour. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour’s educational profile Gbadebo got his Bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Nottingham.
Upon graduation, he worked at the architecture office of Franklin Ellis Architects in the United Kingdom (UK).
The LP guber candidate later got his Master’s degree from Massachusetts institute of technology (M.I.T).
He also got a second Master’s in Research and Public Policy in the Department of Political Science at the University of Lagos.
Work Profile of Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour
GRV is a practising architect. As creative director at Spatial Tectonics, his speciality includes alternative design and construction systems that increase affordability and access to “affordable luxury.”
He has designed and worked with state governments on modular buildings using repurposed containers and alternative construction methods and materials.
Gbadebo is also the design lead for commercial and large-scale urban projects like the Delta International Commercial City. Prior to founding Spatial Tectonics, GRV worked in Nigeria’s top architecture firms.
He sits on the board of Alhuda construction Nigeria, Delta International Commercial City Ltd, The Rhodes-Vivour Foundation, Multi Development and Construction Corporation (MDCC Africa), BLOQUE and E-TERRA Foundation.
His Political History
Gbadebo’s venture into politics dates some years back.
In July 2016, GRV contested for the position of chairman of Ikeja Local government on the platform of the KOWA Party but lost the election.
He officially joined the PDP in March 2017. Gbadebo clinched the PDP ticket to contest Lagos West Senatorial District in the 2019 general elections.
In the build-up to the 2023 general elections, Gbadebo sought the governorship ticket of the PDP, which Jandor eventually clinched.
After losing the PDP guber ticket, GRV, in July 2022, defected to the Labour Party, where he eventually secured the governorship ticket.
