What Lagosians expect from Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat

The Lagos State Governor-elect, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, will be sworn-in today. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE examines the expectations of stakeholders and how he can surmount the tasks before him.

Lagos State Governor-elect, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, will be sworn-in today. With the change of baton from Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to Sanwo-Olu, Lagosians are looking ahead to a new horizon. As usual, expectations are high and the new helmsman is expected to meet up with the challenges that will make the state better. Stakeholders say Sanwo-Olu will deliver because of his track records of service.

They believe there is nothing new about the state that is beyond his knowledge. He served as commissioner in different capacities under different administrations. He is aware of the enormous responsibilities in front of him and would not want to falter.

Stakeholders are hopeful, because there is a master plan and blueprint for the development of Lagos which he will implement to the latter. Since the inception of the present democratic experiment, the All Progressives  Congress (APC) has been in the saddle in the state with lots of projects to its credit. Sanwo-Olu at one time or the other made his contributions in building modern Lagos.

As a loyal party man, he will stick tenaciously to upholding the legacy the party. He would have equally learnt some lessons on how to be focused in the task before him.  Lagos State APC chieftain Moshood Salvador said the governor-elect has the capacity to deliver on campaign promises. He added that events preceding Sanwo-Olu’s election were still fresh to guide him.

The politician said the incoming administration will be well focused and exemplary, noting that Sanwo-Olu’s canny insight put him in vantage position. He said: “I can assure Lagosians that Lagos will become more disciplined in term of administration. Having learnt some lessons from some Southwest governors on the futility of ego, Sanwo-Olu has the comportment to excel. You can imagine what happened in Ogun State, you have seen what happened in Oyo State and so many other states, including Imo State.

“So, that is enough lessons for any governor to do what the people want and work in line with their interest. I can assure you that he is a gentleman, I am close to him and I know the kind of stuff he is made of. He is a very simple man; he has the intellect; he has all it takes to provide Lagosians the leadership they desired.”

Salvador urged pessimists to refrain from tainting the governor-elect as a stooge of party bigwigs. The chieftain, who cautioned on sensational reportage, noted that godfatherism is not an isolated issue in the country’s polity. He it was not peculiar to Lagos and the country at large.

He said: “I will advise the press particularly to stop hyping the godfather issue in Lagos State. When you see someone from outside, especially the likes of Governor Nasir el-Rufai dabbling into Lagos issues and you are aiding him to put mud in what is good, we are the ones he is directly insulting. You people should stop talking about godfatherism and all the rubbish some people are flaring up in our state.

“They just want to disorganize Lagos. I want to plead with reporters to please stop directing such questions at me. You can see what happened in Kaduna, where he is the governor. This is a state where thousands of people were killed and he could not do anything. This is a state where people are hungry, a state where the internally generated revenue (IGR) cannot be raised to take care of the people, but he found the courage to denigrate leaders who have made Lagos the beacon of hope for mankind.

“What is god fatherism? Is Mr. President not his own godfather? Is there anyone who has no godfather? I have a group in the party, all my group members look up to me as their godfather. Some people are just talking as if things exist in isolation. Those harping on godfatherism are they not beneficiaries of godfatherism? I am not happy the way people look at issues, we are Lagosians, we have to put head together to make things better.”

Lagos Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Mrs Oluyomi Coker, said Sanwo-Olu can make a difference. She added that all stakeholders should be carried along on the plans to sustain Lagos as the Centre of Excellence.

She said Sanwo-Olu should continue from where Ambode stopped, especially in area of infrastructural development. She added that Ambode performed well during his tenure.

She said: “The incoming should look at roads, electricity, pipe borne water etc. He should emulate what former President Goodluck Jonathan did, when he constructed railways from Abuja to Kaduna and you can see now that President Muhammadu Buhari continued from when Jonathan stopped.

“He should look into capacity building whereby people would be empowered to be self-employed. Government needs to curb the insecurity in the state and ensuring that areas which have been trouble spots for criminals secured. Communities in areas like Ikororu and other waterway are well policed to prevent escapes for criminals. We expect to see more patrol vehicles and sophisticated weaponry to outmatch those in the hands of criminals.

“Government should embrace the opposition; it should no longer be an issue of winner takes it all. He should emulate former President Olusegun Obasanjo whose administration embraced the opposition. I know you can find those who have the intellect among the opposition who can offer him the needed elixir that will add value to Lagos State.”

Lagos PDP Publicity Secretary, Taofiq Gani, agrees with Coker. He said the people are looking forward to an improvement from what the Ambode administration has done. He added that the new administration should stay clear any form of vendetta or witch hunt. He said it will be counter-productive to dissipate energy in the direction.

Gani said: “Lagos will be expecting improved governance; they will be expecting that the in-coming governor should not be distracted by any act of vindictiveness or attempt to pursue personal vendetta. Lagosians will not easily forget the emergence of Sanwo-Olu which obviously was not a cordial interaction.

“So, Lagosians will be expecting a governor that will come and perform for the immediate delivery of dividend of democracy. They do not want to see a leader who will be so distracted and focusing on the sins of his predecessor. The governor should see all political parties as partners in progress and should not see anybody as opposition.

“Opposition is needed to strengthen democracy. Therefore, he should not see them as those he will not relate with. He should even think of how to form a government of national unity. There are people who are in the APC who do not have the intellect to contribute to development of Lagos State. He can take advantage of such people in the PDP.”

The PDP chieftain advised the governor-elect to complete the projects started by his Ambode before initiating new ones. He noted this is important to avoid cases of abandoned projects.

He said: “He should ensure that all projects commenced by Ambode should also be completed. He should complete those projects and commence his own. There should not be any reason for him to abandon those projects. There should not be any reason for him to abandon the projects. It will be duplicity of efforts without completing Ambode’s project before starting his projects.

“That will be a waste of resources. We also expect that under him there should be free and fair elections especially as we go into local government elections. That is very important, the people much have their representatives, and their mandate must count. We are expecting that in politics, Sanwo-Olu will be free, fair and allow the mandate of the people to count.”

Gani added that the party would not oppose any genuine efforts to make Lagos better, but will not hesitate to defend Lagosians where their rights to dividends of democracy are compromised. He said: “The PDP has always put the interest of the country above other considerations. For instance, when we had eight members of the House of Assembly, who were not principal members of the government per se, they were not the type of opposition branded and that was why it was easy for the APC to penetrate them.

“The PDP is not a party that is anti-good governance. If the APC will extend the hands of fellowship, if they are ready to form a government with the PDP, we have people who can make impact. We remain opposition, but our opposition will be constructive.”Anti-corruption crusader, Mr. Debo Adeniran, said Sanwo-Olu would impact more on the people by ensuring transparency in the execution and award of contracts. He said: “It will be more transparent if the award of contracts is open to public bidding. We expect things to be done in the open. The people should participate in the process of budgeting and not that government should be doing things on their behalf. Procurement should follow due process.

“I don’t want a government that will chase the poor out of town. We want a government that will give room for probity. Teachers should be hired and motivated to work. Quality control system should be set up, so that no teacher will be found wanting and accused of dereliction of duty.

“Business environment should be created to allow for low income earners. There are people with multiple taxation cases, this should be discouraged. The rich should be made to pay more taxes, while those who have contributed to the progress of the state should be recognised.

“The minimum wage in Lagos should be above average. In fact, it should be the highest in the country, because the people believe that Lagos is having one of the highest IGR. All these put together is what makes Lagos to stand out as a state where many look forward to lead others on how to treat its people.”

A retired secondary school teacher, Olusegun Ariyo, urged Sanwo-Olu to better the lots of teachers. He said public schools are not adequately manned because of shortfall in manpower. He called for training and retraining of teachers to make Lagos stand out as the reservoir of knowledge.

He said: “Government should employ more teachers, the present number we have in the state is inadequate. We, therefore, appeal to him that the welfare of teachers should be paramount. There was a time we were paid furniture allowance now this has become things of the past.

“Teachers should be trained and retrained regularly. If teachers are educated properly the society that they impact on will be better. The teachers are the molders of tomorrow, so their role cannot be compromised in any form. We must have satisfaction doing whatever we are doing. These are things that can motivate those that are still working.

“Those who have retired should be paid their pension and entitlements regularly. A situation where civil servants stay for too long without receiving their entitlement after retirement is not the best. We have heard of cases of pensioners collapsing while trying to receive their pension.

“This is certainly not a good thing, though that is not the case in Lagos, but we want government to be prompt in the payment of workers entitlement having served the country diligently.”