Sanwo-Olu replies critics: "I won't carry drums and dance"

Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu has been accused of going to sleep since he was sworn-in as Governor of Lagos—Nigeria’s commercial capital—on May 29, 2019.

Residents often cite deplorable road surfaces, dead street lamps, recurring flash floods, worsening traffic, clogged drainage channels and a spike in crime, as sufficient reasons to believe that Sanwo-Olu, who ran a viral, ubiquitous, in-your-face election campaign early in the year, has been a disaster in his first 100 days on the job.

However, Sanwo-Olu says he’s been hard at work and won’t necessarily have to beat a drum to trumpet his achievements.

Sanwo-Olu is granted a panoramic view of Lagos during the electioneering campaigns (Twitter: @jidesanwoolu Pulse Nigeria

Lagosians have also been complaining about pot-hole laden road surfaces, with one commentator on social media posting that there are now as many potholes as there are humans in Lagos.

However, Sanwo-Olu says the rains have stopped him from fixing Lagos’ embarrassing road surfaces.

“Part of the things we are trying to resolve…traffic management. Once the rain subsides, real construction can actually start. Because during rainy season, there’s not so much you can do. It’s when the rain stops that you can start heavy construction, get your contractors back on site. It’s when you can do...road rehabilitation and road construction”, Sanwo-Olu told State House correspondents in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja after a meeting at the presidential villa.

“On the Badagry expressway, we’ve given them a whole lot of relief. But people are not talking about it. Another interesting thing is that people are not talking about the Apapa gridlock again. Everyone has forgotten. You don’t see trailers on Eko Bridge any longer. You don’t see trailers on Ijora Bridge any longer. Nobody’s talking about it.

"It’s because we made a commitment and we stood by it. And we want to thank the federal government’s presidential task force which is working with the state government to ensure that we push that traffic to as close to the port as possible.

“These are some of the things that we don’t need to continue to talk about. But that’s why we are in government. We are meant to solve people’s problems and not necessarily begin to carry drums and dancing," he added.

Dead street lights

During an interactive Twitter session on Saturday, September 22, Sanwo-Olu told Pulse’ News Editor Jude Egbas that he has a plan for reviving the dead street lights across Lagos.

Sanwo and Ogun Gov Dapo Abiodun of Ogun during a meeting (Punch) Pulse Nigeria

“This problem has affected several corridors across Lagos but a more permanent solution to ensure we don't face this again is rolling out for the safety and comfort of residents”, the governor promised.

Sanwo-Olu of the APC comprehensively beat Mr. Jimi Agbaje of the PDP to win the Saturday, March 9, 2019 Lagos governorship election.