Babajide Sanwo-Olu: Showing the way in the fight against COVID-19

Shortly before Nigeria recorded its index case of COVID-19 on February 27, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was not in the good books of many Lagosians. 

Only a few weeks earlier (February 1) the state commenced the enforcement of the ban on motorcycles and tricycles, forcing many residents to trek far distances and wait long hours at bus stops to get buses. Angry residents were daily criticising and trolling him on social media over the ban but in a dramatic flip, the tide has changed.

Sanwo-Olu has gotten so much attention through his management of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is rare for a governor who had barely spent one year in office to get so much attention during a national crisis, but Sanwo-Olu was the figure many Nigerians saw giving direction, words of hope and comfort at a period of uncertainty.

Through his regular press briefings at the State House, Sanwo-Olu who is the incident commander of the state hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, has not left any room for void in information management which may make panic fester.

Beyond his regular press briefings where he gives updates on how Lagos State is responding to the fight against the virus, he has been taking tough, yet people-centred actions that have continued to win him acclaim. Before the federal government announced the lockdown of schools and a ban on large gatherings, the governor had put similar measures in place within the state in order to combat the virus, rolled out distribution of food palliatives to more than 200,000 homes affected by the lockdown and offered free feeding for over 100,000 youths daily to tackle the cases of unrest in the state.

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His words have continued to offer informed interpretations and predictions on the crisis to douse tension and give hope in a period of global panic.

“We must continue to reassure ourselves that we are not weaker as a unit, but much stronger and our confidence lies in the fact that, working together, we have and will always emerge victorious,” he said.

In the fight to conquer the deadly virus, Sanwo-Olu has taken an approach that has served as a benchmark for other state governors. This is why Neusroom is celebrating him as one of the world leaders using their political powers rightly to help the world.