The Good Shepherd in Lagos

Against all odds, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has managed the hardship protest well in the state. Shola Oyeyipo writes.

The description, “leadership in times of crisis” is familiar. Although no less a cliché, it has also been grossly abused. Mostly used by leaders, who rarely understand what it truly means except for showboating, it is, however, relevant today.

Lagos, like Nigeria, is a difficult space to govern. The tendencies are though existential and constant, they are also dynamic and unpredictable. This is why an average governor of the state is seen and considered of a different league.

Unfortunately, for Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, elected in 2019, he immediately landed into crisis and had since hopped from one challenge to another. In fact, his first four years were replete with challenges outside that of rudimentary governance.

Thankfully, the October 2020 #EndSARS protest taught him some lifelong leadership lessons, and has left him a better governor and leader.

The saying, “experience is the best teacher” rings true for Sanwo-Olu, and explains why he has been able to better manage the #endbadgovernance demonstration than many of his colleagues across the country.

Lagos, ordinarily, would have been the theatre of the protest with all sorts of unimaginable acts perpetrated in the name of protests. If anything, the #EndSARS episode remains a critical reference point that no leader could ignore.

However, with the #EndSARS episode on his mind, the governor deployed to work immediately, ahead of everyone else, engaging both the critical and minor stakeholders on why protests should be suspended and dialogue embraced.

For the record, Sanwo-Olu was not averse to protest, because it is a constitutional right of the people. But like many other opinion leaders had advanced, he was worried about the possibility of it being hijacked and ultimately resulting in needless violence.

He knew that once some of the protesters get on the street, they become difficult to rein in and therefore, rather experiment with the impossible, he would rather not travel that route for collective good.

To buttress this concern of the governor, one of the lawyers of the protesters, Ebun Adegboruwa (SAN) who after seeing the trend in other parts of the country, enjoined the protesters to leave the streets for obvious reasons.

But guess what? They called his bluff. Some even said in hushed tones that he might have been ‘settled’ to have considered such a position. Hopefully, he would be magnanimous to want to side with them again whenever a similar situation arises.

Above everything else, Sanwo-Olu’s broadcast the night preceding the first day of the protest was an outstanding move. In addition, the speech was rich in content and it communicated very appropriately to the heart of the matter.

The 20-minute address, a rather presidential move, was intentional and dwelt right in the heart of the issues. Although it was not going to change the minds of the adamant protesters, like a good shepherd, whose concern was genuine, he just wanted to try again for the last time, while acknowledging the “noble intentions” of the concerned citizens to air their grievances.

“It is pertinent to ask if the protest is a catalyst for progress the nation requires at this time? Will such a protest suddenly ensure that all of our challenges disappear in 10 days? Will the protest suddenly ensure the prices of food stuff drop by the 11th day?

“Will shutting down the economy for 10 days inspire economic growth we earnestly desire? I hold the strong view that a protest at this time will do none of these things for us as a nation. Rather, it would roll back the modest gains that we have made in various facets of our socio-economic life as a people.

“All that is required now is to be patient for the benefits of the economic recovery policies to blossom. Protests can never achieve in 10 days what carefully crafted economic reforms can achieve in matter of weeks and months,” the governor said.

Reeling out the various interventions and measures initiated by his administration to cushion effects of the hardship on the people of the state, he urged the protest organisers not to be used by forces bent on substituting their lawful intentions for violence.

Sanwo-Olu, who warned that such a gathering was all that such required to perpetrate their evil acts, recalled the arsonist attacks on the state during the tragic events that followed the EndSARS protest in 2020, describing the destruction of state’s property and heritage as an “unprecedented war” on Lagos.

His words: “No true Lagosian or friend of Lagos will encourage us to go this route again. That is not who we are; that is not our way and style. Let us not allow our city to be plunged into chaos again. Let us work together to build a Lagos that is safe, secure, and prosperous for all.

“Our strength lies in our unity, and our future depends on our collective efforts to maintain peace and stability. It is through constructive dialogue, not destructive protests, that we can achieve meaningful change.

“Let us show the world that Lagos remains a city of resilience, where the voices of its people are heard and respected through peaceful and lawful means. Let us reject any attempt to throw the state into violence.”

What else do you call this if not a genuine but instructive appeal from the chief security officer of the state himself? Isn’t this leadership at its finest? This is but sincere direction that transcends any form of gratification and not entertain sheer political correctness.

Amid people of all shades of tendency, the period leading to the protests was a difficult one for Sanwo-Olu. In one breath, he recognised the rights of aggrieved citizens to protest and register their displeasure about the state of things.

In another, he was worried about the plight of those who were not genuinely inclined to the protest, but who could be victim of an obnoxious fallout of the protest. Therefore, finding a median became imperative, without weighing more on either of the sides.

Without a doubt, it is in order to infer that history would be kind to Sanwo-Olu, not just for delivering good governance but also compassionate leadership not wrapped in ethnic or religious garbs. He is, indeed, the good shepherd of Lagos.