Celebrating Obafemi Hamzat at 60

Sir: Leaders demonstrate a high sense of connectedness with the society as they have great and deep understanding of the relevance of power, and that it becomes useless if it is not deployed in serving the people. Service to the people they believe can only be seen and expressed in the degree to which the proclivities of power manifestations become instrumental to impacting positively the lives of the citizenry. In essence governance can only be relevant to the extent to which it has touched the lives of the people and the community.

It is in these dimensions that we have come to analyse His Excellency, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Obafemi Kadiri Hamzat, who was born in Mushin.

Governance benefits to the people that he governs. He has remained a Symbol of pride to those who stuck out their necks in support of his leadership in the state from conception and as he marks his diamond of existence on mother earth, his grade A performance has not waned rather, it is gaining increasing momentum.

The struggle and the political ferment that led to his emergence as the deputy governor of Lagos State is still very fresh in the minds of political insiders. He has demonstrated completely for everyone to see that he has pledged his life and honour to the service of the people of the state.

It is a belief that is borne out of the understanding that when every Nigerian plays his own role effectively, a critical mass of greatness will be built that would generate the needed momentum for national renaissance. His leadership motive therefore is not limited to Lagos State but has an innate pursuit of contributing to a Nigeria that is able to deliver justice and welfare to her people and a greater world that would provide equal access to global resources to all peoples of the world.

I have watched with admiration and awe the continued transformation of Lagos State under the dexterous hands of our governor and deputy governor, our governmental processes are becoming compliant with global standards while various institutions of governance are being strengthened. He is in fact creating a state that would outlive and contend with its contemporaries as he leaves his imprints in everything that he has touched thus far. His marks are indelible.

He succeeded in turning governance into a symbol of hope and not of despair that many other leaders have come to foist on the citizens of other climes since the inception of this democratic experiment. There is no facet of the state’s economy that has escaped his transformative touch.

He has always demonstrated that governance is a teamwork. The enthronement of a smooth interface between the Executive which he leads and the State Legislature where some of us belong is a conscious effort to create a functional, effective but constructive democratic governance that would produce the best result possible for the benefit of the majority of the people of the state.

Where other governors have attempted to meddle with the activities of the state legislature within their states, he believes otherwise. This has given the legislature an unfettered opportunity to be creative in their functions thus providing the state and governor one of the most effective laws and statutes that not only empower the citizens but enable governance.
Olumuyiwa Jimoh, a former member of Lagos State House of Assembly, presently consults for Senate Committee on Marine Transport.

A great party man, who has championed the cause of the party that bred him and gave his political ambitions vent to express itself, and under the leadership of the Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has implemented most of the policies of the APC adhering strictly to the dictates of its leadership. He has encouraged free choices and abhorred all decisions which have helped to make the party more cohesive and vibrant in the state than ever.

As he marks his diamond jubilee on the surface of the earth, I want to join millions of his admirers all over the world especially in our great state to say that this diamond age should continue as a golden opportunity to keep on delivering.

Olumuyiwa Jimoh, a former member of Lagos State House of Assembly, presently consults for Senate Committee on Marine Transport.