Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has reassured Lagos residents of his administration’s plan to double efforts in delivering on electoral promises.
Sanwo-Olu gave this assurance during a public lecture titled topic: ”The Making of a Beacon: Lagos and the Consolidation of a Democracy that Works for All,” in commemoration of the inaugural week. The lecture was held at Onikan, on Tuesday.
He said, ”We, as a government are reassured, we are further recommitted in everything that we have done so far, to say that with all of the support you have given us, especially during the last election.
”You have confirmed that you are happy with what we are doing, and the only way we can pay you back is to do a lot more, to double up on all of our promises, is to ensure that we do not disappoint.
”It is to ensure that we can bring hope to the hopeless, give voice to the voiceless, give relief to the vulnerable in our society, and provide security of life for our citizens.
”I want to say to you that the conversation around the ”Greater Lagos Rising” is real. It will happen in your lifetime, and all of our commitments to you will be actualised,” the governor said.
According to him, his administration will usher in purposeful interventions in governance for the people, as there is no good governance that does not touch the life of a common man, and give hope to the hopeless.
Prof. Adigun Agbaje, a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, also spoke during the lecture. He noted that since the birth of Lagos State, it has created an excellent succession strategy that produces the best, as it has ensured that those who govern are people of distinction.
Agbaje urged the government to sustain the delivery of democracy dividends to the people, saying that democratic achievements must continue to be nurtured, otherwise they might falter and wither away.
He said that globally, experience had shown that the longer-term interests of those that rule, and those they rule over, were better served when power remained democratic, rather than when it was undemocratically concentrated in the hands of a few.
According to him, since leaders bear a huge responsibility, it is up to them to be strategic in thought and action.
He said that the state must be pointed more in the direction of greater and wider inclusion, in the understanding that a democracy that worked for all was not only desirable as a means to an end and an end in itself but also achievable.
Agbaje said that leaders of thought and action at all levels of government, private, business, and professional life, organised labour, religion, community leaders, and civil society, among others, must re-assess and fully appreciate their role in all this.
”Happily, the government of Gov. Sanwo-Olu, in line with precedent, has carefully crafted a knowledge-based, inclusive pathway to renewal and consolidation in this regard.
”Lagos has traditionally been blessed by a happy coincidence over the decades of technocrats and astute politicians in governance, with the added advantage of a higher civil service long cultivated on efficiency and effectiveness.
”His vision for governance in his first term was built around what was described as his THEMES agenda, comprising traffic management and transportation, health and the environment, education and technology, making Lagos a 21st century economy, entertainment, tourism, and security and governance.
”He and his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, have promised to do more in this regard, with their campaign for re-election in the March 2023 election guided by the theme, ”A Greater Lagos is Rising”,” he said.
(NAN)
