SANWO-OLU AND LEADERSHIP BY WALKING ABOUT
Folashade Agusto urges the governor to visit all parts of Lagos and see project sites first-hand instead of relying on reports from subordinates
As a management student, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu should be familiar with the concept of Management By Walking About (MBWA). Popularised in the early 1980s with the publication of a book detailing how a company like Hewlett Packard became a most admired multi-billion dollar technology firm which began from a garage by two young men, the concept shows that top organisational leaders perform more effectively when they go to the front lines from time to time to see how work is carried out, rather than sit in their cozy offices and rely on reports from their subordinates or field officers.
The reports may be late or incomprehensive or doctored for one reason or another. The people on the front lines shouldn’t know when the top leaders are coming so that the leaders would see how things are really rather than see things which have been given a facelift in order to impress their bosses; rosy pictures of the state of affairs should be discouraged because they are likely to be misleading. Leaders who adopt this style have always been more effective and efficient than those who adopt the opposite style. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu embraced the leadership style of wandering about when he assumed office as the Lagos State governor, and he turned out to be an effective governor.
But we should not overlook some of the risks inherent in this leadership style. While working incognito in December, 1999, as he was inspecting how refuse was being disposed of in the state, Tinubu was shot at by members of the Odua Peoples Congress at about 2 am. Still, the benefits of leadership by walking about remain abundant.
If Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had adopted this style, the Ajah axis in the Lekki peninsula would not have been in the present mess, and the ruling All Progressives Congress Party (APC) would have won the 2023 general election in the state without controversy. If Sanwo-Olu is the type who visits sites, the contractor who did so-called repairs on the Ajah-Ado-Lamgbasa-Badore Road would not have got away with blue murder. In fact, he would not have thought of doing a shoddy and dishonest job. A situation where the Lagos State Ministry of Works would record that the eight-kilometre road constructed by Asiwaju Tinubu has been repaired whereas practically nothing has been done would not have occurred.
It is surprising that Governor Sanwo-Olu could spend a whole term of four years without bothering to visit this large community which forms an integral part of what is known as New Lagos. Of all Lagos State governors since 1999, he is the only one to have finished a term without visiting the contiguous Ajah, Ado, Langbasa and Badore communities which make up the Greater Ajah. Tinubu visited us more than once. Consequently, he built what is now known as the Catholic Church Road in Badore for the benefit of fishermen in the area who produce a large quantity of fish daily. This road is today in a shambles. It is not exciting that one administration would construct a road, but another cannot even maintain the same road.
Tinubu also built the Ajah-Ado-Langbasa-Badore Road, thus enabling, among other serious economic activities, the dredging business in the vicinity to grow to an industrial scale. Much of the sand used in the development of the burgeoning real sector on Lagos Island is obtained from here, and the state government generates considerable revenue from this business. Tinubu’s vision for developing this road in 2007 must be farsighted. The residents and businesses as well as indigenes of these communities were pressing for a mere repair of the road which was a single lane built by the military government. But Tinubu rather built a dual carriageway and gave the contract to a multinational to ensure that it was done to international standards and that it would last for a good number of years.
The development of this critical road led to the aggressive development of up to 120 housing estates within a few years and unexpected pressure on this lone road in this part of Lagos. This dual carriageway is today a shadow of itself. Tinubu must be shocked to see it in this present condition, despite the so-called repair work done on it a few weeks ago.
Babatunde Fashola visited these communities many times. The results? The completion of the Ajah-Ado-Langbasa-Badore Road which Tinubu began, the construction of the road leading to First Unity Estate in Badore, the building of the road linking Ado and Langbasa, the construction of the Badore Mini Waterworks, and the construction of the Badore Jetty, as well as the lightening of the roads he built, including the Ajah-Ado-Langbasa-Badore Road he completed. We all miss Fashola. We wonder how he will react should he visit these places and see the state of these facilities.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode also visited. He held a high-profile Townhall meeting at the Badore Jetty in August, 2016, with senators, former ministers, and first-class traditional rulers in attendance. He promised, among other things, to build roads to decongest the Ajah-Ado-Langbasa-Badore Road and the Victoria Island-Epe Expressway. These roads he promised to construct were three, namely, one linkingVGC to Lekki Phase One; a road from Oke Ira Nla in Ado leading to the Abraham Adesanya Housing Estate, and a road from around the Cooperative Villas Housing Estate to Lagos Business School. He pledged that work would start the following month. Governor Ambode, who displayed an impressive knowledge of the geography and even history of these areas unfortunately failed to deliver on any of these promises. But he did build in record time the Jubilee Bridge at the Ajah Bus Stop which has reduced considerably the awful traffic bottleneck at this junction.
Governor Sanwo-Olu’s development record in the Greater Ajah area is regrettably non-existent. The bridge he started at VGC was abandoned well over a year ago, to say nothing about the road linking VGC and Lekki Phase One designed to reduce traffic on the Victoria Island-Epe Road. He has just started his second term. He has an opportunity to create a better record, unlike Ambode who spent only one term in office. Even so, Ambode visited us and constructed the famous Jubilee Bridge. Governor Sanwo-Olu needs to visit this part of Lagos and see first-hand the state of the eight-kilometre Ajah-Ado-Langbasa-Badore Road as well as the abandoned Badore Jetty and the abandoned Badore Mini Water Works. He needs to build the roads his predecessor promised, so as to write his name in gold. Sanwo-Olu needs to embrace the style and strategy of leadership by walking about. He needs to visit all parts of Lagos and see project sites first-hand instead of relying on reports from subordinates, many of whom may be compromised by contractors and even their immediate supervisors.
Dr (Mrs) Agusto is a management consultant in Lagos
