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By Biyi Adebiyi
Sycophancy has become a common tool deployed by many Nigerians to massage the ego of people of influence in a desperate bid to curry favour of all sorts. Sycophantic praise singing is readily noticeable in the private and public sectors of the country. More often than not, sycophancy is employed with a clear intention to corner personal gains. This act is equally used by certain people to curry undue advantage for their advancement in life. The dexterous deployment of sycophantic act has often made it difficult for the targeted people of influence to resist such overly exaggerated outpour of accolades. In return, the effusive praise singing in most cases is gratified with huge funds or at best with conferment of undue advantage on the coterie of official praise singers. In spite of this unhealthy trend of sycophancy in Nigeria, there still exist few public officials that are known for keeping faith with the ideals of good governance. These few exceptionally conscientious public officials are also known for their firm focus on their mandates; this is notwithstanding the distractive activities of praise singers.
It must be noted that the self-seeking activities of sycophants may have constrained those with genuine intentions to commend public officials that have truly distinguished themselves in good governance. One may stand the chance of getting wrongly classified as a sycophant for trying to commend deserving public officials that have excelled in the discharge of their duties. The same good intention may likewise be misinterpreted while trying to constructively admonish public officials to do better when their performances are found to have fallen below expectations. It is a general knowledge that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has in the last two years graced the front pages of many national newspapers. Of course, the governor has continued to make the news since his assumption of office for the good reason of his outstanding performance as the Governor of Lagos State.
While Lagos State is known by the slogan of Centre of Excellence, the state has also excelled as one that is worth emulating as a leading light in economic growth, infrastructural development and financial prosperity. The state has over the years witnessed the birth of various highly commendable projects and initiatives. Nigerians will not forget in a hurry the gallant performance of Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu in combating and effective management of COVID-19 outbreak in the state. While the naysayers did not give Lagos State any chance in the management of the novel pandemic on account of her huge population and the scary death rate recorded in many European countries with advanced medical equipment and better-qualified medical personnel.
Against all odds, Governor Sanwo-Olu courageously led a formidable and efficient team of professionals that effectively managed the dangerous health situation; thereby curtailing what could have become a major health disaster across the state and in Nigeria by extension. Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) ranked Nigeria as the fourth best country in the world in terms of the efforts made to curtail and contain the harsh effects of COVID-19 pandemic. The implications of this is that since Lagos being the epicentre of the epidemic in Nigeria, the major contributions to that exceptional performance in Nigeria was indeed attributable to the efforts of Lagos State government. Governor Sanwo-Olu has also done extremely well in in the area of infrastructural development. The Governor’s performance in only two years in the area of infrastructural development has earned him the sobriquet of ‘Mr Projects’. He has so far delivered more than 51 major infrastructural projects which include the Pen Cinema fly over, ramp and road networks, Lagos-Ogun Boundary roads Phase II, Lekki Oniru Traffic Circulation Projects, network of roads in Ojokoro, Somolu, Ikorodu and Ikoyi, among others.
It is remarkable that the administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu has also constructed and rehabilitated 301 inner roads in the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs). The governor has likewise commissioned the Oshodi-Abule Egba BRT lane. The on-going Eleko junction to Epe concrete pavement road construction is already nearing completion. Despite the littoral status of Lagos State, Governor Sanwo-Olu has also stepped up efforts in the agricultural sector of the state. Conscious efforts have been made by the governor to expose Lagos youths to the inherent benefits of agriculture. In the last two years, Sanwo-Olu’s administration has trained many youths in various agricultural ventures thereby availing them the chance of earning livelihood through agriculture. Also, the governor has yet again positioned Lagos State youths for 250,000 job opportunities at the Imota Rice Mills.
Lagos has also trained over 12,000 women and several thousands of youths in the state. The trainees have been empowered across various value chains. It is also interesting to note that Lagos State has witnessed 127 per cent growth in revenue inflow in the First Quarter of 2021. Lagos State, under the leadership of Governor Sanwo-Olu has continued to train and create avenue to ensure that more women, youths and the unemployed become employers of labour and attain financial dependency. In spite of the huge population of Lagos State, seamless evacuation of waste has been of major concern to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. In a bid to achieve his idea of cleaner Lagos, the governor recently donated 30 units of 12-cubic metre trucks, 60 units of 24-cubic metre trucks and 12 hook loaders which are expected to compliment the operations of over 850 PSP compactor trucks deployed across the metropolis. This commitment is aimed at ensuring service delivery in the under-served communities of Lagos State.
The transportation sector of Lagos State under the leadership of Babajide Sanwo-Olu has evidently witnessed tremendous improvement in the last 25 months. The integrated mass transportation initiative of Governor Sanwo-Olu has experienced massive improvement with the completion of elevated Seas Crossing Track of the Blue Line Mass Transit Project. At the same time, no fewer than 1,017 LASTMA officers have been recruited by Lagos State government to ensure traffic flow across the metropolis. Also, the Sanwo-Olu administration had likewise committed huge resources to the three modes of transportation in the state which are roads, rail and waterways. This initiative is aimed at improving public transportation within the metropolis.
Human face that is embedded in the administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu has been made manifest through the several social welfare programmes. The governor has continued to reach out to the people with various incentives to boost the living standard of vulnerable Lagos residents. Notable incentive under this initiative is the payment of monthly allowances of N40, 000 to 4000 unemployed graduates in the state. Another welfare incentives include direct gratification to widows and grants made available to business owners in Lagos State. This grant was targeted at providing the much needed financial support and assistance to various business enterprises that were adversely impacted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This effort by Governor Sanwo-Olu has given a new lease of life to many MSMEs. The governor’s magnanimous disposition has been extended to the sporting sector. He recently donated a three-bedroom apartment to Chioma Ajunwa in Lagos. This was done in fulfilment of the house reward promise made to the female police officer for winning a gold medal in the long jump event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Undoubtedly, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has gainfully used the THEMES template to transform Lagos State. The governor is indeed turning Lagos to a modern mega city with a 21st century economy that is supported by a world class infrastructure and all sorts of social amenities.
The THEMES acronym which stands for Traffic Management and Transportation, Health and Environment Education and Technology has been taken to the level of a sublime degree of functionality within an extraordinary short space of time. More so, it’s quite encouraging that these outstanding achievements have been recorded within the first half of the first term of Governor Sanwo-Olu’s administration. Also worthy of commendation is the simple, noiseless and administratively efficient manner with which Sanwo-Olu has been governing the Centre of Excellence.
The governor will however, be advised not to rest on his oars and never to lower his guards in the result oriented direction he has chosen for himself. Sanwo-Olu will also be advised to continually improve on his unequalled record of performance and achievements. If the current level of performance by the governor is sustained, Lagos is expected to rank among the best mega cities across the world by 2023. Lagos State is equally well positioned to have fully manifested her slogan as the true Centre of Excellence come year 2023.
