Press Releases

A Good Leader Must Show Clear Sensibility To People’s Feelings - Fashola

Aug 1, 2009 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Saturday described a good leader as one capable of showing clear sensibility to the feelings of the led about critical issues.

According to Governor Fashola who spoke as a Guest Lecturer at a two-day Leadership Summit organized by the Movement for Islamic Culture and Awareness (MICA) at the Banquet Hall of the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, a good leader must also be capable of admitting an error when one had occurred.

The Governor who assured that the present leadership in Lagos will not allow medals or awards of excellence and performance to distract it from its ultimate aim and objective of delivering the greatest good to greatest number of Lagosians added that such awards will continue to challenge the administration rather than comfort it.

Governor Fashola while addressing the gathering on the topic: “Building Mission Critical Leaders” said the defining element that differentiates a good leader form a bad leader is in terms of how such leaders exhibit good traits as a way of life.

Governor Fashola said that one of the ways of discerning a good leader includes the ability of such a potential leader to exert influence in the family, among peer groups, in the school, at the mosque, at the market place and in the place of work.

He added that the influence of a good leader is not necessarily exerted by the personal authority of the leader but by being the servant of the community whom he leads.

He described a leader as that person who is ready to step forward when there is nothing to gain and one who is the beast of burden who keeps the confidence of all in times of crises.

The Governor added that God did not create the mischief that the Nigerian nation is experiencing now in terms of leadership but has been a self inflicted problem which can only be redressed by a change of attitude on the part of both the leadership and followership.

He added that: “Have we seen ourselves as leaders who have roles in our individual private lives and capacities. Can any of our leaders take actions without the input of followers? In most cases, the actions of our leaders are dictated by the followers”.

Governor Fashola said for almost 40 years, Lagos has had to contend with an almost intractable traffic problem, asking that the average individual has never asked himself how he has helped to compound the problem of traffic bottleneck in Lagos.

Said he: “The Government has provided traffic lights and traffic management officers at different points within the metropolis to assist in managing traffic, but instead of allowing the traffic lights to work effectively, the people are busy patronizing street traders and ultimately slowing down the traffic”.

He said at various fora, people have inundated him with calls that he should ban the operation of motorcycles or Okadas in the state for maiming passengers and sending many to their early graves, adding that he has often wondered why the people still continue to patronize the okadas despite the fact that they knew that they are messengers of death while waiting for government pronouncement to outlaw it.

Governor Fashola added that the whole planet is in peril with Nigeria not being an isolated case, where all the inhabitants face similar problem which however varies in terms of intensity of each geographical location, but with some successfully managing the situation.

He said there is a need to effect fundamental changes on the planet earth and recalled the greatness of the National Arts Theatre in the days gone by, adding that sadly things have changed and “we cannot afford to continue like this”.

Governor Fashola noted that projects and landmarks does not start with building or construction but with maintaining and sustaining such edifice with passion adding that the Lagos State Government on its part has resolved to build from the beginning as a Government.

The Governor added that this has informed the resolve to start from the children by restoring the building blocks of life that once inspired competition in young ones and taught the virtue of being sportsmanship and not adopting the do or die attitude to all competitions.

He emphasized that the administration is restoring voluntary organizations like Boys Scout, Girls Guide, Red Cross and Sheriff Guard which can imbibe the culture of values to the young ones in order to be better citizens.

Governor Fashola recalled the bob- a- job community work of the Boys Scout in which he participated as young person, stressing that the community work undertaken with it taught him on how to keep records and laid foundations for being upright in the young ones in addition to proving to be an alternative to secret cult activities.

Traffic wise, Governor Fashola informed that the State has launched a School Safety and Advocacy campaign to inculcate road safety rules and awareness in school children so that they can act as change agents for the society.

He explained that the earth is facing the danger of a depleted Ozone layer and this has prompted the creation of awareness for young ones through the creation of Climate Change Clubs in Schools in order to teach the children about possible changes in the environment so that they can respond to it.

Governor Fashola added that vacation jobs represented one of the means by which he got exposed to workings in public offices, adding that it has helped in giving first hand experience on workings of various public structures to the school leavers thus preparing them for later challenges.

He revealed that the vision of the present Government in Lagos is to ensure that the fundamental basics of sound education, health care and water supply that have been prescribed for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) constitute the Millennium Development Goals of the State Government for the citizenry.

He said: “We see ourselves as the model Mega city in the continent of Africa where everything works and where everyone can work and play and earn a legitimate living without let or hindrance”.

He added that the present leaders in Lagos are guardians who must be responsible and accountable to the people adding that this accounts for why it renders an account of stewardship to the people every 100 days.

He added that: “This represents a part of the process of accounting and letting the people know what is happening with the process of governance. We intend to give an account of our stewardship till the end of the administration”.

The Governor also said he places special premium on trust because between the government and the governed, it is about reliability, consistency and making promises which the government must keep.

He said it is a matter of policy for the administration to ensure that if it agrees to a common purpose which it is pursuing, if it must indeed change, such intention must come before the same people who must approve of it.

He buttressed this by saying it was at one of the critical town hall meetings of the present government that the issue of a revisit of the Coroners’ law came up and the government acceded to the request of the people by recalling the law and sending it to their representatives in the House of Assembly for review.

Governor Fashola said corruption is not peculiar to Nigeria, but is a problem which the people have not been very committed to deal with, because unlike in some places where when one runs foul of the law, he is sanctioned, such does not usually happen in Nigeria where religious and ethnic colourations are introduced to such trials.

While responding to a question on what has been responsible for his success, Governor Fashola ascribed it to the Almighty Allah whom he says has been most generous to him, the members of his cabinet and the wonderful people of Lagos for their unwavering support to the administration.

Also speaking, the Amir of the Movement for Islamic Culture and Awareness, Hon. Justice Habeeb Wale Abiru thanked the Governor for making time out of his busy schedule to deliver the lecture and prayed that just as he has started the administration of Lagos State very well, he will end it very well.

He also presented an Award of Excellence to the Governor for being a part of the programme.

The programme was witnessed by the Special Adviser on Political and Legislative Matter, Hon Abdul Lateef Abdul Hakeem and moslem professionals.