Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has shown that Lagos state is truly a Centre of Excellence in terms of governance. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the governor has never relent in discharging his executive duties as expected.
Since the wake of the pandemic in Nigeria, the Lagos State government has always been on top of the situation. Long before the federal government made any attempt to salvage the country from the spreading infectious virus, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had taken stringent measures to contain its spread.
The astute governor first issued series of executive orders restricting movement of people in the state. He went on to grant public workers two weeks compulsory holidays and directed big businesses to limit the number of customers who enter their premises to ten people at a time. These measures were swiftly obliged by the people of the state as hand sanitizers were provided at public places of business.
The banks limited the number of customers who enter their buildings to ten persons at a time, fast-food restaurants stopped customers from eating in their lobbies and guided them through the compulsory hygiene rituals before entering.
After the federal government ordered a full shutdown of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos and Ogun States, Governor Sanwo-Olu was not slowed down, knowing that he has a tougher job than other governors in the country as he has been working assiduously to contain the virus.
With a population of more than 20 million people all living in cosmopolitan Lagos, Sanwo-Olu’s job is certainly a herculean one as he his faced with finding solutions to the various threats the people face every day. The demands of the tough time are so numerous that only an astute leader could manage the situation. The governor has never given room for weakness but has always taken steps in the right directions.
After enacting the social distancing order in Lagos, the governor swiftly set up an isolation centres at the Mobolaji Johnson Stadium, Onikan, Lagos, the makeshift isolation centre was of high standard and well equipped for the task ahead. He went on to replicate the isolation centres in strategic areas in Lagos metropolis. Under his directives, surveillance are being carried out around the city of Lagos and new cases are being monitored and reported. The figures of cases and death incidents were announced on mass media every day. Statistics of the cases are collated, analysed and shared with the mass media on daily basis.
The Lagos State Governor knew that a reasonable number of the people are starving at home and he launched a food supply programme as palliative measures to cushion the effect of the compulsory stay at home order.
The governor gave a serious warning to greedy officials who will be tempted with the idea of selling off some of the food packs provided for the people. The food packs which have been produced for a size of six people per household to last for at least 14 days were shared among the four thousand community development associations in more than three hundred and seventy seven wards.
Information they say is key, and the first measure to take in the face of national health emergency crisis like we are facing now is to keep the people abreast of valid information regarding the development of things in the society.
The Sanwo-Olu administration understands this need and has never rest on its oars but has consistently briefed the people of Lagos on daily basis, the progress of the fight against contamination of the epidemic.
The governor makes it a date with Lagosians to update them of happenings around the state on daily basis. His commissioners of health, information and the police commissioner always give report to the people as well.
Knowing the kind of people he is leading, the governor made judicious use of the various social media platforms to reach the youths. On his twitter account, he personally relate highlights of the daily cases of the virus as they unfold in Lagos. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s media updates and press briefings are second to what the United States President, Donald Trump is doing.
We only wish our federal government do as the state governor has been demonstrating to his people as it regards the need to keep them informed through timely information dissemination.
Corporate bodies and influential groups find the governor reliable and trustworthy. They believe in the governor’s aptitude to manage the state resource efficiently that they made huge donations to the state government.
The people of Lagos also have so much confidence in the governor that they hang on every information he shares with them. Though, Governor Sanwo-Olu is human and prone to err, his moves and conducts in recent times have ingrained confidence in the hearts of the people. The people have confidence in the governor and they only look forward to better days in spite of the global challenges we are facing.
Finally, his actions demonstrate not only competency but inspirational leadership on Covid-19.