Ambode: I Became Governor by God’s Grace, Hardwork

Gboyega Akinsanmi

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, monday disclosed that he became the state’s chief executive officer through the grace of God and hardwork, thus urging the youths to imbibe the habit of hardwork.

Ambode also urged the youths in the state to continue to embrace peace and shun violence, noting that sustainable development would only be achieved in an atmosphere of peace, order and stability.

He gave the advice in Epe during the ongoing One Lagos Fiesta, an annual end-of-the-year revue organised by the state government to showcase the state’s tourism potential and engage the youths meaningfully.

At the fiesta, Ambode told the youths that he became the Chief Executive Officer of Lagos State through the grace of God and hardwork, assuring that as government, his administration would continue “to create the enabling environment for the youths to aspire to be who they want to be.

“We believe so much in all of you. We know that you are our future. Like most of you, I started from here. By the grace of God today, I am your governor and so there will be many more governors from this crowd.
“But if you want to be a President; if you want to be a Governor; if you want to a Doctor or you want to be a lawyer and so on, you must now work hard and trust more in God.

“So, even when you work hard, our duty, as government, is to provide the enabling environment for all of you and so we are going to create more jobs for our youths and also we will create more facilities so that you can crave on your talents to become more creative.”

He, also, urged the youths in the state on the need to embrace hardwork, saying such was important “to be successful in life. It is important for the young ones to cultivate the habit of working hard. This will go a long way in making them to achieve their dreams.”

The governor said the state government “has already created the Employment Trust Fund (ETF) as a means of helping the youths to achieve their dreams. I advise all of you to take advantage of the Fund.

“Those of you who are out of school or are graduates now and you do not have jobs, the ETF is available for all of you. Between now and November next year, we are providing an Arts Theatre in Epe. It is going to be a 500-seater Theatre and we will also have a modern cinema here in Epe.

“We are bringing a shopping mall to Epe also. We will create more jobs but I want you to be the best. I will support you and I pray that all the things that I have gained from here, you will gain better ones than me.”
On the fiesta, Ambode urged the youths “to embrace peace and shun violence. We are very excited to be here. We were here last year. This is bigger. It is bolder. It is also better. I am so excited to see this large crowd here.
“It means that Epe is going places. I see a whole lot of our youth here present. I am happy that Epe has been peaceful and it has been calm and we are enjoying ourselves,” Ambode said.