Governing Lagos State is no tea party – Sanwo-Olu

 

…Says, I’m losing weight

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State Friday said that he has been losing weight since becoming governor, as a result of the demands of the office.

He took over the mantle of leadership from Akinwunmi Ambode on May 28, though the inauguration was on 29th May, 2019.

Speaking in an interview with State House correspondents on the sideline of the expanded security meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential villa Abuja with the 36 Governors of the federation and Service Chiefs as well as head of security agencies, the governor said that security of his Lagos state was his utmost concern.

Sharing his experience since he mounted the seat of power, he said, “Well, the experience is real, it got to show that the challenges are real, they are there, it’s not a tea party. You don’t sleep and wake up and the traffic has gone down, you don’t sleep and wake up and there is no rain and that you’ve resolved Apapa gridlock, it’s real.

“So, it’s something that one has psychologically prepared for. So, the best thing to do is to ensure that you are not about looking for what the other person did but it is for Lagosians seeing you do what you said you are going to do for them.

“You don’t do it from the office, you have to do it from the road, you have to do it so that people will see and truly know that you mean business.

“I dare say that I have lost weight and probably I will lose a little bit more but I think it’s what the job entails and is to also ensure that you have the right team of people that would also support you.

“So, when as a leader, you show that leadership support, then the message itself will trickle down and trickle down very well and that is why we have to take that very bold idea and you’re going to see a lot.”

Commenting on the level of progress concerning the Apapa gridlock, Sanwo-Olu said, “It is a work in progress. If you go to Lagos now, you will see that they have started clearing it. So, for us, it is not just to do it but to ensure that we sustain it.

“So, sustainability is critical. It is to build a model where it is sustainable and we are also involving the big players, we are also discussing with them – the shippers council, the shipping lines, NPA, NIMASA and all of them that are stakeholders in the conversations around port utility, we are settling it.

“We will continue to engage ourselves and come up with a sustained resolution not just a one off.” (VANGUARD)