Barely two months after he visited the palace of the Ayangbure of Ikorodu, Oba Kabiru Shotobi, where he met with the revered monarch and other traditional rulers in Ikorodu division to seek their support and that of their subjects for his ambition to run for the highest office in the state, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship candidate in Lagos state on Saturday, January 26, 2019, visited Ikorodu again on the same mission.
This time around, the amiable governorship candidate, fondly referred to as the ‘incoming governor’ by members of his inner circle and admirers due to the huge followership and acceptance which his candidacy is enjoying among Lagosians across the state, visited the prestigious and most powerful club in Ikorodu, Oriwu Club, where he had an exciting session with more than sixty of its illustrious members during which he sought their supports for his ambition and policy initiatives.
Initially, the visit was scheduled to hold by 4p.m but did not commence until 6:22p.m due to the late arrival of Sanwo-Olu who was reportedly held up somewhere but his advance team led by the Director-General of his campaign group, Mr. Tayo Ayinde, had arrived the venue around 5:28p.m and maintained constant contact with him until his arrival at exactly 6:01p.m.
As if a sitting governor was coming to visit the club, there were a handful of fully armed security men attached to the advance team strategically positioned around the club house while scores of club members, guests and other people who had come to welcome the guber candidate were seen standing in groups as they anxiously awaited the arrival of the man who many believe would take over the mantle of the state’s leadership from Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.
After he was warmly received by some members of Oriwu Club at the main entrance of the Club House upon his arrival, Sanwo-Olu and his entourage were ushered into the Conference room of the club where he was received with a standing ovation by the members of the club some of whom he later exchanged brief pleasantries with before taking his seat.
Asipa Kaoli Olusanya, a member of Oriwu Club and APC Lagos East Vice chairman, set a beautiful tone for the visit when he gave a brilliant introduction about the club, its members and Ikorodu.
He described the club as a premier social club which proudly has traditional rulers, former ministers and commissioners, federal and state lawmakers, revered scholars and professors as well as successful professionals as members.
Asipa Olusanya explained that Oriwu Club was founded by brilliant and articulate founding fathers many of whom are still alive and present at the event. He specifically introduced Prince Bode Ogunleye, a successful chartered accountant and Prince Kunle Oyebola, a successful banker, who are number one and number three members of the club respectively..
He equally described Ikorodu as a very important division of Lagos state which is fast developing into an urban centre and which is blessed with the best in terms of quality men and women of substance who have distinguished themselves in their respective chosen careers.
Asipa Olusanya, while introducing Sanwo-Olu as an August visitor, told the members of the club that he had visited the club for an important assignment which has been taking him and his campaign team around the state in the last three months.
The club president, Engr.,Kayode Anibaba, in his brief opening address, welcomed Sanwo-Olu and his team and thanked them for visiting the prestigious club.
He explained that the impressive attendance of club members at the event despite that another member was having a ceremony far away in Ede was an indication that the governorship candidate is a lucky man.
“You are a lucky man in the sense that two weeks ago, I was thinking about how we are going to receive you and your entourage because today, there is another ceremony of a member of this club far away in Ede and a lot of our members, almost 50%, are in Ede, so my prayer was that we would still have enough members on ground to receive you. So, count yourself lucky sir for the attendance we are having here today.”
Engr. Anibaba told Sanwo-Olu that copies of his policy initiatives had already been circulated to members of the club before his arrival and expressed confidence about his capacity to deliver on them when he becomes the governor.
“We have seen your policy initiatives tagged, “THEME’. I think I know a little about you even though I left service in 2004, that was about fifteen years ago. I have no doubt about your capacity, I know you are a brilliant person and very articulate. It is my prayer that you will get there by God’s grace.”
He also told the APC guber flagbearer that Ikorodu is a strategic and major division of Lagos state which needs the state government’s attention to fully attain its potentials and urged him not to leave Ikorodu and its people behind when making his policies.
“While you are making your policies, please, don’t leave Ikorodu behind. I have one of my younger brothers (Mayor Ajisebutu) in your campaign team. I don’t know how he got there but I pray that he will also be remembered like so many other people here, so, please, don’t forget Ikorodu.”
After the president’s address, Sanwo-Olu rose to address the members of the club and for about one hour, the conference room was devoid of movement and noise as members sat attentively on their respective seats while the APC guber candidate oratorily and brilliantly articulated his plans and policy initiatives tagged, ‘THEME’ which is an acronym for Traffic Management and Transpiration, Health and Environment, Education and Technology, making Lagos a 21st century economy, Entertainment and Tourism.
First, he apologized for coming behind schedule and also thanked the entire membership of the club particularly the current club executive, for giving him the opportunity to meet them.
He said he has a lot of friends among the members, some of whom he had worked with and see every day and that he knows how passionate they are about Ikorodu.
Sanwo-Olu stated that sometimes, he wonder where the passion comes from but that he later realized that it is inherent in their DNA. He added that is the DNA all Nigerians need to overcome the challenges facing the country and move it forward.
“If Nigerians can imbibe half of the enthusiasm that comes from all of you, what will happen is that all the challenges we are going through as a country today will not be there because when you know that you have to be your brother’s keeper, when you know that you have to have the interest of your community over your own interest, when you know that you must stand for the collective good of the people, when you know that you must be the greatest good for the greatest number, you will not do some things that are peculiar to Nigeria.”
He said that it is on that same humble passion often demonstrated by the Ikorodu people that he is offering himself to serve the people of Lagos State in order to re-build, re-energise, and re-engineer the state so that all the good things which past leaders of the state had worked for would begin to see the light of the day.
Sanwo-Olu stressed that his ambition to govern the state was borne out of discerning passion and belief that with all the energy, resources and intellect, both human and capital, that the state is blessed with, he can do a lot of things quicker, faster and better.
While speaking about his working experience, he said that he had worked in the private sector for seventeen (17) years and had also worked in the public sector for thirteen (13) years. “I had gotten the rare opportunity to work for about seventeen (17) years in the private sector and thirteen (13) years in the public sector. It is with humility that I push out that resume because it is not very common.
“I have had the opportunity to work in the Niger Delta as a young man. I had worked in three banks. I had run a treasury, I had run the local currency, foreign currency and the balance sheet of a full financial institution. I have managed people’s wealth, I have created wealth in places where I found those establishments.
“I have also had the rare opportunity at a very young age to have been called upon to come and serve as a public officer at a time when it wasn’t so popular but I was lucky because I was in an institution where they are still recognizing some of the efforts I made.
“I have served as a Special Adviser, Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Commissioner for Commerce and Industry and as Commissioner for Establishment, Training and Pension and lastly, as the Managing Director of the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC), an organization I put on a level where it can compete at a high standard in the next two to three decades within the two years of my leadership.
More so, Sanwo-Olu gave a detail and convincing analysis on how he plans to execute his policy initiatives for further development and greater Lagos.
On Traffic Management and Transportation, he stated that his administration would integrate road, rail and water transportation in the state to solve the problem of commuting within the metropolis while he will also fix all bad roads and expand road infrastructure.
The guber candidate particular assured that he would re-assess the extent of work on the on-going construction of Igbogbo – Oke Afa road and Agric –Ishawo road and ensure there completion in good time.
He also disclosed that he has identified over sixty (60) gridlock points as the major causes of traffic around the state; including three from Ikorodu among which are Ikorodu Garage round about and Agric Bus stop and promised that his government will work towards decongesting them.
On Health and Environment, Sanwo-Olu said that his government’s healthcare plan would be anchored on comprehensive health insurance scheme for Lagosians to improve access and affordability while it would also improve many primary and complete many secondary health facilities.
On how he plans to address the current waste management challenges in the state and keep the environment clean and healthy, he said he would rejig the waste management system by getting LAWMA to deliver better on its mandate as the regulator while the PSP model would be made to respond better in collection of waste across the state.
On Education and Technology, the former LSDPC boss said that he plans to increase access to public education in the state, especially public primary and secondary schools, by immediately embarking on renovation of schools and make them conducive for learning while teachers would be trained for capacity enhancement in modern technology.
While speaking on his plans to make Lagos a 21st century economy, he stated that his government would support the private sector by creating enabling environment for business to thrive through provision of more infrastructure and improvement of the existing ones, working with the power distribution and power generating companies to solve the problem of electricity supply and also strengthening the security agencies and equip them to do better.
On Entertainment and Tourism, Sanwo-Olu disclosed that his administration would boost the state’s creative economy with tourism, culture and entertainment and also develop all tourism assets and create tourism calendar around important events in order to attract local and international tourists. He added that he would work with the music, film and fashion industries to make Lagos an international tourist destination.
He rounded off his inspiring address by stating that he has a comprehensive strategy for achieving the set goals and therefore, sought the supports of Oriwu Club members, who he described as very important stakeholders, for his aspiration to govern the state.
A thunderous applause immediately rented the air as the gathering applauded Sanwo-Olu for a well thought out delivery of his plans and policies for the state while Prince Bode Ogunleye specifically said that there is no shadow of doubt that Sanwo-Olu is ready and capable to become the next governor considering the amount of homework he has done and how he has impressively presented it to the gathering and added that since the era to Alhaji Lateef Jakande, he has never seen any incoming governor of the state putting together his plans and method of approach as well as the APC candidate has done.
The visit also featured a question and answer session during which Sanwo-Olu responded briefly to some questions from Oriwu Club members.
On Chief Monzor Olowosago, Oriwu Sun Publisher’s question about the abandoned Housing project by the state government at Ibeshe in Ikorodu, he said that the project was one of the projects he inherited as the Managing Director of LSDPC and that before he left office, a plan had been set in motion for a private company to take over the project, adding that all necessary documents had already been signed. He, therefore, assure that before February, the contractor would move to site to complete the project.
On Prince Bode Ogunleye’s question for the operation of the state government’s rail project from Festac to Mile 2, Sanwo-Olu said that operating the rail project from Festac to Mile 2 is too short and it does not ease the movement of the people since they will still have to connect another means to their destinations.
He explained that the target of the government is to run the rail to Marina which is the main destination of those that would make use of the train.
On Dr. Eniayewun’s question regarding the need to improve the state’s health sector for better performance, he assured that he would be committed to improving the health sector, adding that his government would be counting on the contributions of committed stakeholders like Dr. Eniayewun to bring about the desired turn around.
While responding to Engr. Saka’s question on the need to empower the local governments in the state in order to make them effective, Sanwo-Olu admitted that there is urgent need to truly restructure the council’s and expressed his willingness to sit down with stakeholders after getting to power to discuss how to build capacity and put the right people there to effectively manage the resources.
On Dr. Sebioba’s and Chief David Sumoni’s request for the availability of data on population and other sectors in the state, the APC candidate promised that his government would work on that.
He also assured the president of the club, Engr. Anibaba that his advice that he should be wary of sycophants when he becomes the governor was well taken and would be worked upon.
The visit was brought to a close at exactly 7:30p.m with a vote of thanks and a brief photograph session.
Others at the event were Hon. Jimi Benson, Hon. S. O. B. Agunbiade, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, Otunba Jide Olukoga, Alhaji Sule Aremu Safari, Otunba Ganiyu Abiru, Chairman, Ikorodu Oga Development Association (IKODASS), Hon. Sesan Dawodu, Hon. Sesan Olanrewaju, Hon. Sesan Daini, Chairman, Igbogbo/Baiyeku LCDA, Mr. Tokunbo Abiru, Dr. Taiwo Hassan, and Otunba Sulaimon Shoderu among others.
