ARTICLE AND OPINION
Sanwo Olu: A Great Unifier, Why He Deserves A Second Term
According to former United State of America President, Thomas Jefferson, “The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest. Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail.”
This assertion best described Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo Olu.
When Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo Olu came into the saddle as the 15th Governor of Lagos State, the commercial hub of the nation, many doubted his abilities.
Having come from obscurity to prominence during the electioneering campaign and his choice by the All Progressives Congress, APC, to hoist the Flag of the Party at the 2019 Governorship Election in the State, many wondered how he could be chosen ahead of the then incumbent, Akinwunmi Ambode.
He, however, proved his critics and bookmakers wrong as he leveraged on the footprints of his predecessors to put Lagos State on the roadmap of becoming a Mega City it has always envisioned
Coming on board, Sanwo Olu’s knowledge of challenges confronting residents made his administration adopt a six pillars policy programme tagged T.H.E.M.E.S in solving the identified problems through good governance.
The six pillars are Traffic Management and Transportation; Health and Environment; Education and Technology; Making Lagos a 21st Century state; Entertainment and Tourism; Security and Governance.
Each of these six pillars is carefully thought-out as the Government’s priorities in delivering solutions across sectors.
The Governor Sanwo-Olu administration has completed and commissioned more than 970 road projects. These include the Agege Pen Cinema Bridge, Oniru network of roads, Ikoyi network of roads, Lagos-Ogun Boundary roads Phase II, Lekki Oniru Traffic Circulation Projects and 37 networks of roads in Ojokoro
Others are Isawo-Agric road, Ikorodu, Oshodi-Abule-Egba BRT lane, Ijede Road Phase 1 in Ikorodu, Tedi-Muwo Link Bridge, Lagos-Ogun boundary Roads in Alimosho and 6 reconfigured Roundabouts – Allen, Ikotun, Maryland, Lekki and Ajah among others.
The government also carried out 110 palliatives and 361 sectional rehabilitations on roads across the state, while over 650 inner roads were rehabilitated by the Lagos State Public Works Corporation [LSPWC].
Sanwo-Olu has completed and delivered the all-important Lagos Rice Mill, Imota, Ikorodu. This rice mill will inject over 250,000 direct and indirect jobs into employment space for the youth.
The state’s education sector has also been positively impacted by the governor. One visible way through which this has been achieved is the renovation and construction of public schools.
To beef up the teaching personnel in public schools, about 1,500 new teachers were recruited, while 15,000 others were trained through the Eko EXCEL programme on 21st century modes of teaching and learning. With the strong impact of the EKO EXCEL programme, the face of public education has been positively altered in the state. An acronym for, “Excellence in Child Education and Learning”, the programme is designed to reposition public education and improve methods of teaching to meet contemporary demands.
The Sanwo-Olu administration has equally improved the public health sector. Lagosians and Nigerians, in general, will not forget in a hurry the innovative and brave way Sanwo-Olu managed the outbreak of COVID-19 in the state.
As part of efforts to tackle the third wave of the dreaded coronavirus, 10 COVID-19 oxygen treatment and Sample Collection Centres as well as 20 Local Government Area (LGA) Based Sample Collection Sites were activated.
Similarly, four Mother and Child Centers (MCCs) in Epe, Ajah, Badagry and Igando were completed and commissioned, while the reconstruction of the New Massey’s Street Children Hospital in Lagos Island is on course. When completed, it will be the biggest Children’s Hospital in Africa.
Comprehensive renovation of public health facilities is equally ongoing at Ebute-Meta Health Centre, Harvey Road Health Centre, General Hospital, Odan, Lagos, General Hospital, Isolo, Ketu-Ejirin Health Centre. The administration has also revamped the Jigi Bola initiative (blindness preventive programme) across all LGs and LCDAs in the state.
With the inauguration of newly upgraded/rehabilitated fire and rescue service headquarters and three newly-built fire stations, the government has equally recorded a major asset expansion in its emergency response services
The huge investment committed to the retooling, upgrading/renovation of fire stations is to make the state’s Fire and Rescue Service more effective and enhance its performance. The turnaround reinforces Sanwo-Olu’s commitment to the security of the lives and properties of Lagos inhabitants.
The governor is not just putting in place world-class infrastructure; he is also building a formidable public service to help drive his vision for Greater Lagos. The public service is a major vehicle and formidable delivery arm of government services to the people.
While most states of the federation are incapable of paying the salaries and pensions of their workers, the state pays as and when due. Just last December, the governor approved the payment of 100% of the staff’s basic salary as an end-of-the-year bonus.
Without a doubt, Sanwo-Olu has creatively used his first tenure in office to transform Lagos into a 21st-century economy supported by world-class infrastructure and modern social amenities.
With the steady strides of the governor and his team, it has been demonstrated that with the right leadership, an enabling environment can be created for the citizenry to prosper. In my view, with Sanwo-Olu’s pedigree and performance; he remains the man to beat in the March 18th Governorship Election.
Governor Sanwo-Olu is a friend of the Igbo, Hausa, and Yorubas, irrespective of your ethnicity. He remains a unifier and a likeable personality and God-fearing man who is not coming to learn on the job. He possesses all the requisite experience to steer the ship of a multi- cultural,multi- ethnic state like Lagos.
An African proverb says that you use today’s atmosphere to gauge tomorrow’s weather. Under the Sanwo-Olu’s administration, Ndigbo, Hausa, and Yorubas in Lagos have been given more than a fair share of accommodation in terms of participation in the affairs of government through political appointments.
During the #EndSARS demonstrations that led to the wanton destruction of lives and properties, Governor Sanwo-Olu displayed great leadership qualities as the youth-motivated civil action against police brutality, which was later hijacked by hoodlums.
The campaign, which started peacefully turned violent after it, was hijacked, leading to violence and destruction of many private and public properties in Lagos State.
Rather than allowing Lagos to be brought to its knees by the ugly incident, Sanwo-Olu rose up to the challenge by championing “Rebuild Lagos” plan.
One of the major takeaways from the first term in office of Governor Sanwo-Olu is that a leader will always achieve good governance when honesty, passion and vision brought into policy-making and execution are greater than fears and excuses.
The governor, without any iota of doubt, has delivered significantly on his campaign promises during his first term in office. His achievements are visible in different sectors and have been commended by people within and outside the state.
No doubt, Lagos has been a fertile ground for quantum accomplishments and success in various strata of human endeavour.
Irrespective of ethnic differences, businessmen have also immeasurably contributed to the socio-economic growth of the state through investments in commerce, hospitality industry, real estate etc, this is made possible due to the acceptability, open minded and people’s oriented polices of an astute Governor like Babajide Olusola Sanwo Olu.
These aforementioned are the main reason why Governor Sanwo Olu should be voted for to paddle the Ship of Lagos for the next Four Years for Lagosians to further enjoy the dividend of democracy.
A vote for Sanwo Olu is voting for prosperity, continuity, development, and growth the Lagos we all yawn for.
The Choice is Yours……
Ambassador John Adekorede Aderibigbe is the President, National Carrot Growers, Processors, and Marketers Association of Nigeria, NACAGPROMAN. He writes from Lagos.
