After spending barely week on resumption as Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the experience in office has caused him to lose weight.
Speaking to State House correspondents after a meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja, on Friday, he predicted that he would lose more weight because of the amount of challenges he has ahead of him.
Asked to describe his experience after a week in office, he said: “Well, the experience is real, it got to show that the challenges are real, they are there, it’s not a tea party. You don’t sleep and wake up and the traffic has gone down. You don’t sleep and wake up and there is no rain and that you’ve resolved Apapa gridlock, it’s real.
“So, it’s something that has psychologically prepared one. So, the best thing to do is to ensure that you are not about looking for what the other person did but it’s for Lagosians to seeing you do what you said you are going to do for them.
“You don’t do it from the office, you have to do it from the road, you have to do it so that people will see and truly know that you mean business.
“I dare say that I have lost weight and probably I will loose a little bit more but I think it’s worth the job entails and is to also ensure that you have the right team of people that would also support you.
“So, when as a leader, you show that leadership support, then the message itself will trickle down and trickle down very well and that is why we have to take that very bold idea and you’re going to see a lot.”
The governor, who had earlier in the day participated in a security meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, said averred that state chief executives have the responsibility to ensure the safety of lives and property in the state.
He added: “Security is everybody’s businesses but as a governor we also have a major responsibility to ensure that as number one security officer of the state, security of lives and properties is also paramount as the chief executive officer of a state.
“But beyond the fact that everybody has some responsibilities or the other, just as a father has his kids, a wife has to her children as managing director has to his staff, so the state Governor also has to the entire state.
“So, It’s a work in progress for us as a state and for me in particular, it’s something that I take very seriously. We are not just to be mouthing it but we make sure that we put resources in place and strategies.
“We’ve been talking about domesticating and pushing part of the initiatives around security trust fund that we’ve done. We will continue to engage, and continue to identify what are the sources, what are the underlining issues that is bringing about it. Are they economic? Is it more than that? So that we will also attack the root cause.
“It is something that for us as a government that is looking for investors, we certainly must continue to be in a position where we can give confidence to all our investors that it’s a safe haven to come and invest.
“So, for me it’s important, it’s paramount and I thank Mr President for calling us to have this conversation.”
On kidnapping and banditry in the south west and governors quest for cooperation with the federal government to curtail the menace, Sanwo-Olu affirmed that the process was ongoing.
“It’s still work in progress and we have a south west leader who I am sure has also addressed the press on the matter. I don’t want to be at the risk of preempting what that body will do. Let us wait for them to come up with a proper action plan at the regional level and let’s see what solution it will come with,” he said.
Also speaking on the nagging Apapa gridlock, the Lagos state government assured that something was being done about it.
According to him, “It’s a work in progress. If you go to Lagos now, you will see that they have started clearing it. So for us, it’s not just to do it but to ensure that we sustain it. So, sustainability is critical.
“It’s to build a model where it’s sustainable and we are also involving the big players we are also discussing with them – the shippers council, the shipping lines, NPA, NIMASA and all of them that are stakeholders in the conversations around port utility. We are settling it. We will continue to engage ourselves and come up with a sustained resolution not just a one off.”
