There is a not-so-popular saying: “when everything is going well, we often forget; but when it’s going bad, we never forget to remember.”As Lagosians, so that we do not forget, this one story must be told.
Picture this for a moment: it is the one-year anniversary of Mr. Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu in office, a rainy day filled with an outpouring of hope and unfolding promises. There is a pandemic but there is no panic; the health system is shaping up and the roads are not filling up with water. Schools are being renovated while the children stay home because of the pandemic. There was a lockdown, but the public health centres were not bugged down, but gave free care to expectant mothers and children. Sanwo-Olu is performing; Lagos is working.
From healthcare to transportation, education to housing, environment to business, Sanwo-Olu’s performance is evident in headlines that have not been written, or not written enough. He is running a tight ship that has seen parastatals and agencies in government straighten up to align with his vision for a greater Lagos.
Perhaps his most untold success so far is how quickly he was able to fill his cabinet and surrounded himself with strong and efficient leaders. He channelled his energy towards a process of scouting for visionary individuals from various areas of human endeavour that will help him midwife his vision and deliver on his campaign promises.
Sanwo-Olu is every bit as thoughtful, methodical and pragmatic as we sensed him to be during his election campaign. He fulfilled his electioneering promise that his cabinet would be constituted within 100 days of his government.
Over the last year, together with his brilliant team, he has engaged a several big issues and engaged them with depth. His development agenda built on six pillars under the T.H.E.M.E.S acronym has been the blueprint for his administration, as well as the yardstick for measuring his progress.
The untold story is in the many reforms these sectors have seen within just one year. With infrastructural development and public works projects pertaining to roads and transportation is one. Quietly, the Sanwo-Olu administration has repaired and expanded roads from Ikeja to Alimosho, Ikorodu to Lekki.
For public health, an unprecedented budget allocation to building new hospitals and upgrading the old ones. A casual glance at the Gbagada general Hospital and the Orthopaedic unit Marina General Hospital will reveal a clear evidence of the administration’s commitment to healthcare across the state. The global Covid-19 pandemic might have shifted the nation’s focal point Lagos Staete’s isolation centres but before the State only appears ready and ahead of every other state in the country because it had instituted a plan all along to build a world-class healthcare system in Lagos.
Refusing to be derailed by the novel coronavirus pandemic, Sanwo-Olu appears to forging on. The untold story is in how during this protracted lockdown of regular life and commerce, public works have continued. No excuses should be permitted when a leader makes a promise; all that is acceptable is a delivery on that promise—and that is why this governor deserves to be noted for staying the cause, regardless of the current crunch.
As a candidate, Sanwo-Olu ignored the daily tracking polls but focused on developing his agenda for Lagos. As governor, hehas remained the same way. Every day, it seems all he wants to do is go over the details of the work required to implement his agenda, while keeping his eye on the prize.
That is the hallmark of responsible leadership.
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