Sanwo-Olu: Bookmarking Kind Leadership

Through his many nifty interventions in unusual situations, including those presumably beneath his office, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, has continued to personify compassionate leadership, writes Shola Oyeyipo 

Arare model of kind leadership in contemporary global history was embodied sometime in 2022, by the North Macedonia President, Stevo Pendarovski.

Pendarovski had learnt of an 11-year-old girl, Embla Ademi, with down syndrome, who was being bullied at her elementary school. 

Thus, in the morning of February 11, 2022, and by way of delivering personal leadership example, Pendarovski held Embla Ademi’s hand and walked her to her elementary school in the city of Gostivar. It was  on a Monday, and the intended message was well-taken. 

Embla had experienced bullying at school because of down syndrome – a genetic condition that causes learning disabilities, health problems and distinctive facial characteristics, the CNN, had then learnt from the office of the president.

Determined to change the narrative about bullying, especially in schools, Pendarovski “talked to Embla’s parents about the challenges she and her family face on a daily basis,” and discussed solutions.

The president said the behaviour of those who endangered children’s rights was unacceptable, especially when it concerned children with odd developments. 

“They should not only enjoy the rights they deserve, but also feel equal and welcome in the school desks and schoolyard. It is our obligation, as a state, but also as individuals, and the key element in this common mission is empathy.” 

“It will help children like Embla, but it will also help us learn from them how to sincerely rejoice, share and be in solidarity.

“We are all equal in this society. I came here to give my support and to raise awareness that inclusion is a basic principle.

“Prejudices in that context are the main obstacle to building an equal and just society for all,” said Pendarovski, according to a press release from his office.

North Macedonia, once a part of Yugoslavia, is a small landlocked country in southeastern Europe with a population of a little over two million people.

Looking at the image of Pendarovski as he walked the streets in the city of Gostivar, enroute the elementary school, hand-in-hand with Embla, one Nigerian leader that readily came to mind was the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Meek, kind, generous, and approachable with a listening ear, Sanwo-Olu, has intervened in several cases concerning the citizens of the state, even when he could have delegated such assignments to any office in the state and wait for feedbacks or situation reports. 

It is trite to infer that an average Nigerian hardly recognises such an empathetic leadership let alone appreciate it. Pendarovski’s example was one, and it received a groundswell of recognition across the world. But Sanwo-Olu, has delivered countless of such and has not stopped. 

It does not, however, take away from the fact that the governor has not stopped delivering leadership, beyond good governance, whether or not measured in terms of bricks and mortar.

A recent image of Sanwo-Olu at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camp, where he had gone to identify with the corps members during their orientation, typified the disposition of his leadership in this direction, and in many ways.

As he bantered with the corps members, taking selfies with them and making the best of the moment, the picture told more of his persona than any attempt at creating optics for political purposes, which is not him.

From sharing the news of his intention to complete the new permanent orientation camp that would accommodate all, in Agbowa, Ikorodu, (with the approval of N5 billion for the project), to gifting N100,000 cash to each of the Corps members passing out from the orientation in the Batch ‘B’ Stream 1, Sanwo-Olu made sure they left with a new experience about him and leadership in general.

He also announced automatic employment into the state’s civil service to 100 Corps members in Stream 1, adjudged to have distinguished themselves in their respective places of primary assignment at the end of their service year.

In addition, he donated a 32-seater operational bus for camp activities. These announcements were naturally welcomed with spontaneous applause and excitements, coming from a man, who had done everything possible to court the younger generation and make them see things from a real life point of view.

His intervention in the death of a young music act, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, popularly as Mohbad, speaks to nothing but caring leadership. Sanwo-Olu didn’t just order investigation into the circumstances surrounding the issue, he personally followed up on the matter and was able to speak on it from time to time, and from the position of knowledge.

Of course, there are different departments and agencies in government that are naturally saddled with such responsibilities. The governor does not even have to make any pronouncement before they deploy to work. But he is not one to sit back and watch things deteriorate, not even after the unfortunate #EndSARS episode.

Can anyone forget so soon how a sitting governor personally drove to Magodo Phase II, in Shangisha, to intervene in a land matter that almost dovetailed into civil disorder, between landgrabbers and residents? 

Although some police officers, who claimed to be acting on instructions from ‘above’ and lacking simple discretion almost embarrassed the governor in his own state, he still didn’t mind. He just wanted a win-win in the case and he got it.

The case of alleged molestation against a Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju James, otherwise known as Baba Ijesha, should ordinarily be taken up by the requisite agency of state assigned. But for a hands-on governor like Sanwo-Olu, delegation without supervision is not leadership in all cases. He was personally involved. 

There are instances such unusual approach to leadership could end in disaster and to prevent “stories that touch the heart” he not only showed interest in the matter, he made sure no one was unjustly profiled or framed until justice was served.

There are instances too numerous to cite, detailing how Sanwo-Olu has inspired leadership through kindness, generosity, piety, meekness and discipline. People like him are not your everyday compatriots. They always leave their marks when it matters the most and without self-glorification. 

Overall, when you ponder the governor’s interventions in the current economic hardship, education, tourism, transportation, health (Ilera Eko), several social mediations and good governance in general, there is no gainsaying that the choice of Sanwo-Olu might have been sheer luck for Lagos, and against all odds.

While the naysayers and the habitually impossible cynics might remain unconvinced and confused about the obvious, what is certain is that, it is impossible to undo what is evidenced by facts – both tangible and intangible.