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At 51, there is no slowing down for Lagos Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN). Everyday, he sleeps at about 2am and is up as early as 6.30am to get ready for his take off to work at 7.30am. That has been his punishing schedule for the last 12 years since he got into public service. City People found that to be the same story last week Monday when the Publisher decided to spend the whole day with the Action Governor, to closely watch him at work.
He had gone off to sleep the night before at about 2.30am in the early hours of that Monday and by the break of dawn, he was up to catch up with the news online, and to read his mails. All that, he did before he set out for work a little after 7am.Because his personal staff members know him as a stickler for time, they themselves have mastered the art of always catching up with him. Once his convoy drives out of his home at State House, Marina, Lagos, his drivers know the rule – no blaring of sirens, no horns, no noise.
And that is the way his convoy will inch its way right through to his Alausa office via 3rd Mainland Bridge and he will insist that his convoy obey all the traffic rules which includes the traffic lights, just like every other citizen. At the back of his black Range Rover Jeep are files, documents and the latest books he is reading.The back of his seat is like a mini office and as he moves around town, he is reading memos, working on files or enjoying his books. He is into Law books, biographies, autobiographies, and books on Leadership.
That is the story of Nigeria’s unusual Governor who has added more grey hair than he had 12 years ago, when he came to office. 12 years of public service have made him age fast. But one thing that has not changed about him is his pencil-slim build. Don’t forget that he is a footballer and he plays football every Thursday evening and on Sundays.By all standards, he is not your typical Nigerian politician. Reason? He is frank to a fault. He likes to call a spade a spade. And will tell you straight up, how he feels about any issue. This is reflected in the unusual way he runs his cabinet. Right from the cabinet meetings to his handling of projects ,you will decipher the kind of person he is.
At the weekly council meetings, he allows his Commissioners and SAs to talk and air their views. He gives them full freedom to run their various ministries with little measure of control. But he is on top of issues in every ministry. This is also because they all constantly fill him in on major projects.His Commissioners and Special Advisers know that the Captain as some call him, is a no- nonsense man; they respect him and don’t flout laid-down procedures because he will definitely fly the red flag.
Last week Monday, City People sat in at the weekly council meeting along with them. They had all gathered at 9am for the prompt takeoff of the Lagos State Executive Council Meeting. The meeting which is usually chaired by Gov. Fashola would have the stylish Deputy Governor, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire in attendance as well as the SSG, a female and Head of Service another female in attendance. It will also have the 22 Commissioners in cabinet in attendance. So also all the 12 Special Advisers to the Governor and other top government functionaries that are so required or invited.
On that Monday morning, his entire cabinet was already seated and the Deputy Governor, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire kick-started the meeting before the Governor walked in briskly to take his seat.At the meeting were many members of the cabinet although some like Dr. Jide Idris, the Health Commissioner, was in Abuja for the Health Commissioners’ meeting. One or two others were also away on assignments. Those in attendance included Dr. (Mrs.) Oluranti Adebule the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Disun Holloway, Mrs. Olusola Oworu, Mr. Ben Akabueze, Mrs. F.M. Oguntuase, Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi, Hon. O. Danmole, Mr. Bosun Jeje, Mr. Ademorin Kuye, Mr. ‘Toyin Ayinde, Hon. C.O. Ojelabi, Mr. Adebiyi Mabadeje, Dr. Wale Ahmed, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, Prince Adesegun Oniru, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, Mr W.E. Oshodi, Dr. K.O. Hamzat, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, Dr. K.O. Hamzat, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, Mr. Taofiq Tijani, Mrs. J.O. Williams the HOS, and Mr. M.O. Babalola the COS. There were also 12 Special Advisers namely Mr. Gboyega Salvador Adebayo SA (PMO), Mr. F.O. Olukoga, Hon. Jimoh Ajao, Mr. Babatunde Hunpe, Dr. (Mrs.) Yewande Animashaun Adesina, Mr. Lateef Raji, Dr. Taofeek Folami, Engr. G.A. Johnson, Hon. Seye Oladejo, Mr. Folorunsho Folarin -Coker, Mr. Abimbola Shodipo and Dr. A.E.I. Badru.
On the one hand, the Governor is very firm in the way he conducts the meeting, whilst on the other hand he could also be relaxed and he knows how to inject humour to diffuse tension. He cracks appropriate jokes with them and they also crack jokes with him too.Each weekly Exco meeting is a rigorous session as discussions revolve around any topic under the sun, from road construction to education, health, transportation, fire-fighting, water issues, building bridges, finance and budgeting legal issues.
The quality of the debates are elevated and rich because of the calibre of Commissioners and S.As he has. Many of them are professionals in their own right. Some have been M.Ds of bluechip companies like Disun Holloway, who was for many years the MD of ECOBANK.
The quality of the debates are elevated and rich because of the calibre of Commissioners and S.As he has. Many of them are professionals in their own right. Some have been M.Ds of bluechip companies like Disun Holloway, who was for many years the MD of ECOBANK.
The way he runs the Council Meetings shows that the Governor is not only on top of issues, but that he is quite knowledgeable about so many diverse areas. He also takes his time to go through all the memos often sent to him for his attention. For instance, on a particular issue affecting one of the parastatals, after listening to the presentation from one of the Commissioners, the Governor took 30 minutes to take on the presentation which had to do with procurements. He queried the request made, line by line and showed that he had prepared for it and done his homework.
All the Council Members also are usually prepared to defend any request made or any point offered for deliberation. So attending a Lagos Council Meeting can be likened to a court room situation where robust presentations are made between counsels on both sides whilst the judge presides.The Governor’s mastery of the handling of meetings has helped. He has an eye for details. He is very thorough and painstaking in his ways. He will peruse every document and call for additional information if need be.
He delegates appropriately and he is on top of issues. At last Monday’s meeting, the Governor took time out to lecture Exco members on the Ebola virus. For 30 minutes extempore, he made a powerful presentation on Ebola and from the way he spoke about the disease, you would have thought he was a Medical Expert, as he reeled out the symptoms, treatments, and what to do to curtail it. Before the meeting, he had sat down with Medical Doctors and had spent over an hour with officials of the Centre for Disease Control in America.
In between the meeting, the Governor took a break to meet with the traditional and religious leaders in Lagos State to brief them on the efforts of the government to curtail the Ebola virus.After meeting them for about an hour, he went ahead to also meet with the Local Government Chairmen and Vice Chairmen plus the Local Government Health Workers to acquaint them with the same information.Once that was over, at about 4pm, he went back to continue his Council Meeting which went on till about 6pm, when he rounded up the meeting, to enable him take off to Abuja for yet another meeting scheduled for Monday night.
Once he took a break, City People caught up with him in his expansive office inside Lagos House at Alausa Secretariat. Is this how his typical day is, he was asked “Ahh! Today is even better. This is less than a typical day,”, Gov. Fashola explains. “We had to adjourn the Council Meeting at half past 5 so that I can go to Abuja because sometimes we run it till 8pm or 9pm and at times we have been here till 1am or even the following day. This is it”.
How has this kind of schedule changed his personal lifestyle? “It has completely altered my life though I have been used to this kind of lifestyle for years. When I started out law practice, this was the way I used to work. I was usually in my office at 6.30am because I was in paid employment and I won’t leave until 9.00pm because I was always avoiding traffic. So, I was already used to this kind of long hours.
“By the time I became self-employed, the only difference then was that I could close at 6pm. But again all of that changed when I came into public service as Chief of Staff. My office used to be the last office to close. If Alausa does not close, we don’t close. So, I have been used to that in the last almost 12 years, unless the days when I have been ill and I sleep around 11pm or 12pm.”And when does he wake up? “I wake up anytime between 6am and 7am. On Saturdays, I sleep late and I try to sleep a bit, that is if we don’t have early morning church wedding or event”.
Does he have time for sports? “Yes, I do,” reveals Gov. Fashola who loves football. “I don’t miss my football on Sundays. I get to play football at least on Sundays, when I wake up early enough to catch the guys I play with. Luckily, we have a football field in the complex here in Alausa. We play in the evenings on Thursdays but that is always very difficult because they start at 6pm and end at 8pm. Most of those times, I don’t have the time to join them because I am still busy, either receiving guests or holding one meeting or the other, but I try to plan my day in such a way that I can finish roughly around 6 or 6.30 on Thursday and at least run around for 30 minutes”.
How does he balance out his role as Governor of Lagos State and that of a politician? “By allowing each and everyone play his or her role,”he says. “For me once government is formed, the key thing then is governance. The political parties have their own institutional framework for the Chairmen at state levels, with Exco members and also at National level. They should also take responsibility. They have taken responsibility running the party. My job is to come and implement their policies. Their job is to continue to strategise, evolve new policies, review policies and programmes that we agreed upon”.
How does he explain his simple lifestyle, despite all the trappings of power that coms with his office as Lagos Governor? “It is very easy to explain. My mother always told us not to depend on what we cannot provide for ourselves. 12 and half years ago, I lived in Lagos, I rode through Lagos traffic and I didn’t have a siren. So why should 8 years of public service suddenly make me dependent on something that I am not going to have. Why don’t you live the way you are going to ultimately live. Then, by nature, I just don’t like noise. It irritates me.
“And as you can see, in the environment of my office, there is no noise. You can see the noise level is zero. I can’t function when an environment is noisy. My job requires me to take decisions every minute of the day. So, I am forever thinking. I am always required to say a Yes or to say a No, constantly throughout the day. If I am not in a meeting or at meetings because I sometimes hold 2 or 3 meetings simultaneously within my office here, I get questions constantly from my aides or top government functionaries asking me to take decisions on what we should do on many issues. That is the story of the Governor of Lagos constantly, throughout the day, until when I go to sleep at about 2 am.
“I need to have clear thoughts in making those decisions. So that I can reduce my errors. I don’t assume and I don’t deceive myself that I would not make mistakes or that I don’t make mistakes. But my percentage of errors must be reduced drastically because they affect people’s lives. The way I see this siren issue is that I don’t really need it. I was elected to manage Lagos traffic not to come and add to it. For that, I get to ride in a free car, I use free fuel. I eat free food.
“Now, those who elected me to do so are providing all of these resources with their taxes. I think it is unfair for me to now push them out of the way with siren and leave them in the problem that they elected me to solve. If I can’t eradicate or resolve the problems fully, I must at least show them that I am experiencing the same thing with them. In that way I get to connect with them and they will understand that this man is not living in a different world from our own”.
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