After spending barely a week as governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said the enormous work of governing a state like Lagos has made him to lose weight.
Speaking with state house correspondents after a private meeting with Yemi Osinbajo, vice-president on Friday, at the presidential villa, Abuja, predicted that he would probably lose more weight because of the amount of challenges ahead of him.
According to him, governing Lagos is not a tea party, as the experience and challenges are real.
“It is not a tea party; you don’t sleep and wake up and the traffic has gone down; you don’t sleep and wake up and there is no rain or say that you have resolved Apapa gridlock; it’s real,” he said.
“So, it is something that one has psychologically prepared for; the best thing you can do, is to make sure that you are not about looking for what the other person did.
“It is for Lagosians to see you do what you promised to do for them. And if you don’t do it from your office; you have to do it on the road; you have to do it where the issues are, so that people will truly know that you mean business.
“In one week, I will say I have lost weight; I will probably still lose a bit more, but I think it is worth the job.
“It is also important to ensure that you have the right team; people that will also support you; so, when as a leader you can show that leadership support, then the message itself trickles down and trickles very well.”
He said that clearing of the Apapa gridlock was work in progress, as efforts were being made to solve the problem.
Sanwo-Olu said that the concern of his government was to ensure that what was done concerning the gridlock was sustained as sustainability was critical.