A greater Lagos is possible. The promise by the All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos State governorship candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to take Lagos to greater heights makes him taller than his rivals. His campaign catchphrase is: “For a greater Lagos.”
Speaking to reporters, Sanwo-Olu gave an insight into his vision: “I believe at this point in time, Lagos, which is the fifth largest economy in Africa, needs to set a new standard on how the state is managed and get new direction. It needs to do a lot of things quicker, faster and better. It needs to have a path through which we can begin to deal with all of the challenges that come with Mega City States. It needs to rebrand and to position itself for the opportunities that abound. We need to recalibrate the economy of the state and make it competitive for local and international competitiveness. Lagos needs to expand the economic base to create more private sector jobs. We have infrastructural deficits across sectors that we need private capital to fund. All of these I am prepared to deal with and can do better than anyone contesting against me.”
Indeed, megacities are faced with mega challenges. It is noteworthy that in 2017 Lagos was listed among the world’s 100 Resilient Cities (100RC). A project of the U.S.-based Rockefeller Foundation, the 100 Resilient Cities include places in Africa, U.S.A., South America, Europe, Asia and Middle East. According to a report: “President of 100 Resilient Cities, Mr. Michael Berkowitz, said out of the over 1,000 applications received and three rounds of selection process, Lagos was chosen for its innovative leadership, infrastructural strides and influential status not just in Africa but in the world.” The project has its definition of urban resilience, which provided a context for the listing of Lagos: “Resilience is about surviving and thriving, regardless of the challenge.”
Lagos was in 2015 listed 12th among the world’s largest 35 cities. With over 23 million people, the city has to grapple with mega challenges. On account of its mega status, Lagos State is exposed to “chronic stresses” and “acute shocks.” “Chronic stresses,” which are said to “weaken the fabric of a city on a day-to-day or cyclical basis,” include “high unemployment, inefficient public transportation systems, endemic violence, and chronic food and water shortages.” “Acute shocks,” which are described as “sudden, sharp events that threaten a city,” include “earthquakes, floods, disease outbreaks, and terrorist attacks.”
A list of resilience challenges facing Lagos: Chronic Energy Shortages, Coastal Flooding, Disease Outbreak, Infrastructure Failure, Overpopulation, Overtaxed/ Under Developed/Unreliable Transportation System, Poor Transportation System, Rainfall Flooding, Rising Sea Level and Coastal Erosion.
If resilience is elasticity to manage change, Sanwo-Olu’s trajectory suggests that he has the capacity. A university-trained surveyor, he held senior positions in banking before he switched to the public service following his appointment as a special adviser on corporate matters to a former deputy governor of the state.
He had been acting Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, and Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions. He was Managing Director/CEO of the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) before he won the APC governorship primary.
Ahead of the primary, a pillar of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, had painted a portrait of Sanwo-Olu: “I am encouraged by the emergence of a candidate in this primary who has served the state in senior positions in my administration, the Fashola administration and even in the current one. While possessing a wealth of experience and exposure, he is a young man endowed with superlative vision and commitment. Most importantly, he understands the importance of the blueprint for development. He esteems it as a reliable and well-conceived vehicle for the future development of the state. He also knows the value of reaching out and working with others in order to maximise development and provide people the best leadership possible.”
This testimonial was decisive in the primary. It may well be decisive in the governorship election on March 9. Victory for 53-year-old Sanwo-Olu means he would be in a position to implement a master plan that has served the state well enough since Tinubu’s two-term tenure as governor from 1999 to 2007.
Tinubu had shed light on the pivotal blueprint on the eve of the primary: “Roughly 20 years ago, a corps of dedicated and patriotic Lagosians, put aside personal interests and rivalries, to put their minds and best ideas together for the good of the state. Out of this collaborative effort, was born a master plan for economic development that would improve the daily lives of our people. Bestowed on me was the honour of a lifetime when I was elected to be your governor in 1999. My administration faithfully implemented that plan. The government of my immediate successor, Tunde Fashola, also honoured this enlightened plan. Where state government remained true to that blueprint, positive things happened. During my tenure and Governor Fashola’s, Lagos State recorded improvements in all aspects of our collective existence, from public health to public sanitation, from education to social services, from the administration of justice to the cleaning of storm and sewage drains. Businesses, large and small, invested, hired millions of workers and thrived.”
Tinubu provided an insight into the defining principles of the master plan: “All Lagosians were to fully participate and justly benefit from the social dividends and improvements wrought by this plan. From the common labourer, to business leaders, to professionals and our industrious civil service. We all were to be partners in a monumental but joint enterprise. None was to be alienated. None was to be left out. And none were to be pushed aside. This is especially true for those who contributed so much to our development, whether as a business leader who has invested heavily in Lagos, the homeowner who struggles to pay his fair share of taxes or as someone employed in the hard work of keeping our streets and byways clean so that others may go about their daily tasks unimpeded.”
Of course, as Tinubu observed, the master plan “can always be fine-tuned.” Sanwo-Olu would be faced with the challenge of following the plan and fine-tuning it. Sanwo-Olu’s involvement in the foundational work of the Tinubu administration and the progressive development of the Fashola and Ambode eras makes him better equipped to govern Lagos State at this time. Sanwo-Olu should win the March 9 governorship election because experience counts.