On Fashola’s Top Global Thinkers Listing

By Tayo Ogunbiyi

The recent listing of Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola among 100 Top Global Thinkers for 2013 by a global personality assessment organisation, Lo Spazio della Politica (LSDP), is indeed, an honour well deserved.  Lo Spazio della Politica, which is based in Italy and Brussels, is an independent Think Tank fashioned after the prestigious Foreign Policy (FP). It is founded by young Italian scientists and scholars. In their list entitled “The LSDP Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2013”, the organisation asserted that it listed Governor Fashola “because he made Lagos an African hub of innovation, launching the Lagos Innovation Advisory Council, with the help of the Harvard Kennedy School”.

Some of the other global personalities in the list are Pope Francis of the Vatican, Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe and Mayor of Warsaw, Poland and Hanna Gronkiewicz-waltz . Also included in the list are Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and King Albert 11 of Belgium, “for their role as Monarch innovators in Europe”, the famous Japanese Film Director, Hayao Miyazaki “because he keeps making adults and children dream even in the years of his retirement” and Bill Maris, the Managing Director of Google Ventures, United States, “Because he was the first to use a Quantitative and algorithmic approach in the field of venture capital.

Other personalities on the organisation’s 2013 list include Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov “for his diplomatic skills shown in the discussions over Syria”, Human Rights Activist, Musimbi Kanyoro of Kenya “for her career defending women’s rights which brought her to the Head of Global Fund for Women,” Vice President of the Middle East and North Africa at the World Bank, Inger Andersen, “for her work on sustainable development”, and Professor Calestous Juma of Harvard Kennedy School, Kenya, “for his Faith in new Africa-based on innovation, science and research”, among others.

According to the organisation, the list was an opportunity to identify some of the trends in global Politics, Science and other aspects of life for any particular year. It further affirms that the lists emphasises mostly political leaders, scientists, businessmen, academics and intellectuals even as it tries to balance the geographical representation between Europe, the United States, Africa and other continents adding, however, that the balance varies on yearly basis.

Governor Fashola, undoubtedly, deserved to rub shoulders with the very best in the world. His dogged pursuit of the renewal of infrastructure of Lagos as the critical strategy for economic growth and poverty alleviation has also won the state honours from far-away as Australia for undertaking the fastest infrastructure renewal ever in Africa. The story of Lagos in recent years has been that of progressive transformation. Wherever you go in the state, you can see the administration of Babatunde Fashola at work without seeing his face on billboards. He is quietly charting a new course for the state without making any clatter about it. His work simply speaks for him. There is a general consensus across the land that government is working for the good of the people in Lagos.

As a visionary governor, Fashola has acquired a reputation that embodies qualities such as technocratic competence, commitment to results and above all integrity which Nigerians often complain have been lacking in their leaders.  Visible achievements in terms of construction of roads and bridges, environmental regeneration, employment generation, health care delivery, uplifting the youth, upgrading of public infrastructure, among others, have created a sense of relief among Lagosians and, indeed Nigerians, that they have a government that is capable of delivering enduring positive change which they have for long been craving for.

With the relative success of the innovative State Security Trust Fund in taming crimes in the state, the business atmosphere has become quite predictable and rewarding. As a result, the state has continued to play host to local and foreign financiers who continue to provide the necessary impetus for economic growth in the state. These various commitments by these local and foreign investors, is already crystallising into concrete projects generating further job opportunities. In its characteristic creative style, the state government is trying to discourage the usual craze for white collar jobs, in favour of self employment through its various empowerment programmes, which would in turn lead to further job creation. Perhaps, more importantly, the Fashola government has opened up the rural areas in order to ease the evacuation of farm and agricultural products from the interior to the end-users in the cities and to stem the tide of rural-urban drift.

For any government worth its salt, innovation is a key ingredient of governance. Aside being a necessary tool of governance, innovation is a continuous thing as it has no finishing point. Hence, the Lagos state government is continuously thinking and working to improve the lot of the people as evident in all the developmental projects being executed in the state. Recently, the first cable/suspended bridge in Nigeria and the entire West Africa, which abounds in creative splendour, was handed over for the use of Lagosians by the state government. The 1.38km connects Ikoyi-Alexander Street to Lekki-Admiralty Way. The innovative Lagos Traffic Radio has equally continued to help Lagosians in navigating their ways across the ever busy Lagos roads. Similarly, the novel Lagos flagship primary health centres initiative, which recently berth in some locations across the state with a 24 hours service, has given hope of access to quality health care delivery to many people in the state.

Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, says that excellence does not come by accident; it is achieved by habit and conscious commitment to one’s goals and objectives. This, Governor Fashola, has sufficiently  demonstrated  ever since he assumed office on 29 May, 2007. As he often says, at every given opportunity, “there is the need to tackle old challenges with new methods”. Fashola’s viewpoint has always been that if we continue to use same approach, which has not resulted in any significant positive results, we are bound to get same results. This, of course, is the crux of the matter.

Fashola and his likes have demonstrated that something good could emanate from our country. They have shown that with the right people in position of power and authority, the nation could be moved towards the right path. Fashola should be commended for his untiring efforts in sustaining the Lagos dream. It is hoped that more leaders across the country, would draw inspiration from him for the common good of our people.

•Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.