Dear Sanwo-Olu, now that you have the Iron Throne, always remind bad governance: "Not Today"

On Wednesday, May 29, 2019, the 53-year-old politician would take over from Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode as the next Governor of Lagos State. Sanwo-Olu has a lot to prove to skeptics and admirers alike.

Which is why his first few months on the saddle would be very interesting to watch. Sometimes, you can tell a good leader from his/her first days on the saddle.

I still remember how Ambode’s first few months in office panned out and unraveled the pretender behind the chubby cheeks and fine clothing.

In 2015, Ambode had just succeeded a Babatunde Raji Fashola, who by most accounts, posted a stellar performance as Lagos Governor. Rather than build on some of Fashola’s projects, Ambode appeared set on tearing them down while rolling out his own initiatives from scratch, just for the purposes of settling political scores.

The state’s traffic management agency, LASTMA, was stripped of its powers, traffic was allowed to worsen, the flood challenge wasn’t immediately dealt with and filth returned to the streets by the bagful.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos started off on a poor footing (Punch) ece-auto-gen

Ambode is still battling all of the problems enumerated above and some would say he never had a grasp of the challenges while his reign lasted. We should really have known that Ambode was never going to be up to any good from his first weeks on the throne.

Interacting with Sanwo-Olu from close quarters

I first met Sanwo-Olu on November 6, 2018, in his campaign office in Ikoyi, just days after the Lagos state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) disgraced Ambode and made sure a second term in office was put beyond his reach. Sanwo-Olu was quite the charmer on the night. It would be the first time a crop of young, digital journalists would get to interact with the man whom the 'gods' had just smiled on and who was well on his way to becoming governor of Lagos.

Most of his audience on the night were visibly surprised by the range of his answers to questions, the depth of his knowledge, elocution, charisma and how comfortable he felt in that small room packed full with journalists who couldn’t wait to pepper him with missives. I guess we were expecting to meet a puppet, a man who had a problem putting his thoughts together, an artful dodger of questions or something along those lines. Sanwo-Olu emerged from that interaction smelling of roses.

Some would compare him to Fashola afterwards, not only because both men share a similar stature but because Sanwo-Olu appeared to be comfortable in his skin all night. Just the way Fashola would have.

I covered the Sanwo-Olu campaign for Pulse afterwards, following the candidate to marketplaces, mechanic workshops, debates, the ballot box and to the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the day he received his certificate of return alongside his running mate Dr Obafemi Hamzat.

Sanwo-Olu in a selfie moment with young admirers after a function (Sanwo-Olu campaign) Pulse Nigeria

I also sat down with Hamzat in the Pulse studio to grill him on their plans for Lagos after Ambode is gone. Safe to say in Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat, Lagos has been handed a smart team. However, smart people or good talkers are sometimes never good at governance.

If Sanwo-Olu wants to stop being called Tinubus stooge, he knows what to do

Sanwo-Olu is largely seen as the handpicked candidate of former Lagos Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has turned himself into something of a principality in this city of more than 20 million residents. Sanwo-Olu has been called Tinubu’s stooge, a lackey without ideas, thoughts and implementation plans of his. The man won the election because the powers that be in the politics of Lagos foisted him on the people, most of Nigeria says.

That Tinubu toga is one Sanwo-Olu has to get rid of once he assumes the reins. And by shedding the Tinubu toga I do not mean Sanwo-Olu should stop picking his godfather’s phone calls or shunning meeting invitations at Bourdillon.

Project THEME

Sanwo-Olu had a beautiful campaign policy proposal called THEME—an acronym for Traffic Management and Transportation, Health and Environment, Education and Technology, Making Lagos a 21st century economy, Entertainment and Tourism.

In the document, the candidate promised to “decongest traffic by connecting more communities with new link roads and bridges, continuously fix all potholes and maintain our roads all year round, expand the Lagos Health Insurance Scheme with a target of 500,000 households (2.5million enrolments by Q4 2019), empower LAWMA (Lagos Waste Management Authority) to effectively drive the elimination of waste accumulation in Lagos and adoption of recycling state-wide, scale up and accelerate school rehabilitation programs to renovate dilapidated schools, facilitate the creation of technology hubs,

Sanwo-olu, Ambode and Obafemi Hamzat at the Lagos Government House in Alausa (Government House, Ikeja) ece-auto-gen

Accelerators and co-working spaces in LGAs/LCDAs in the State to promote innovation and empower the youths, upgrade infrastructure and curriculum to support film production at the Lagos State University (LASU), rebrand to international standards and actively promote our cultural events like Fanti Carnival, Eyo Festival, Boat Regatta etc and upgrade and provide sport spaces in schools and local communities.”

The man has also just promised to solve the Apapa port gridlock problem within the first 60 days of his administration.

On the surface, these are laudable programs, promises or initiatives which would go some way to endearing Sanwo-Olu to residents of Lagos if he manages to pull this off. The THEME campaign document is also a study in simplifying a plethora of promises into a simple document, complete with colour codes and illustrations. But a great policy document does not a good leader make. Most politicians forget the promises they make once they mount the throne. Sanwo-Olu doesn’t have to be one of those.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu collects Certificate of from INEC (Pulse) Pulse Nigeria

Sanwo-Olu would be inheriting a city prone to flood at the slightest hint of rainfall, a chaotic transport architecture, pot-hole ridden road surfaces, collapsed roads, demotivated traffic management personnel, a city that stinks to the heavens and darkened street corners replete with cult gangs, from Ambode.

The work for team Sanwo-Olu is indeed enormous. How he gets the job done would depend on the quality of the team he assembles, how well he understands working with people and getting the best out of them and whether he listens to the people and relates very well with the media. He has to surround himself with young people who are smarter than he is.

Among Ambode’s many sins were his poor relations with the media, encircling himself with 'Dothrakis' and 'Grey Worms' who were so loyal to him they never told him the truth and who shielded him from the media and the people; and his inability to strike at problems whilst the iron was hot. Sanwo-Olu has to be different if he wants a different outcome from Ambode’s lackluster four years.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos lost a second term bid to poor politics and poor governance (Lagos govt house) ece-auto-gen

It’s time for Sanwo-Olu to translate all of that fine grammar, charm and charisma to good governance for the people of Lagos. This city certainly deserves better than Ambode offered. Sanwo-Olu has to have the nerve to always say to bad governance: “Not Today”.