As a cautious administrator, it is obvious that Governor Akinwumi Ambode is carefully applying both the common pitch-culture, “Ready, steady go!” and the road traffic caution-sign, “Speed kills”, in order not to regret any of his actions. Those who are following with an open mind the progress made in his regulated speed see his 100-day in office as a current style in public administration and strategy.
Although it is a political norm for the opposition not to see the good side of their opponents, many people patiently and understandingly see Ambode’s circumspect approach to governance as the special administrative skill needed to govern Lagos State in the present circumstance. It is medically wise to diagnose before treatment.
The journey of a thousand mile begins with the first step, they say. But if the first step is wrong, the journey may be aborted. So, it is not far from an administrative error should a governor, in his first term in office, succumb to the pressure of the opposition and hurriedly form his cabinet without doing a proper homework.
After a few weeks of assuming office as governor of Lagos State, Ambode appointed three principal officers: His spokesperson, his Chief of Staff, and the Secretary to the State Government. He also restructured the civil service hierarchy, an arrangement which non-critics saw as the first wise step into a four-year journey and a prelude to the laying of a solid governance foundation. To reduce cost, he relocated government agencies from rented accommodation to the government secretariat, restructured all agency appointments to be part-time. An exercise that reduced about N8bn from his anticipated cost of running his government.
Thereafter, Ambode took his time to pick reliable members into his cabinet.
Successful rulers know the import of wise counsellors. So, many experienced opinion leaders saw good sense in his systematic and well-calculated flow. According to T.T. Tuper, “Well-timed silence has more eloquence than speech”.
Certainly, after using this temporary and internal structure to build a command and an enabling operational environment for fastness, Ambode then presented the list of his proposed cabinet to the state House of Assembly. But those who do not understand his governance style, like Ms Ajekigbe, may not see all of this as a tactical way forward.
Governance is about systematic evolution and positive co-ordination. By virtue of the position of a governor, he is the leader of his state. Notwithstanding, there are bad and good leaders. The bad leader is like a care-free driver who moves his vehicle with the fourth gear, not minding the mechanical and economic consequences of his recklessness. And the good driver is the one who not only observes the traffic rules, but also carefully selects his gear from the first to the fifth to match the prevailing road conditions.
Contrary to the way that the opposition views it, governance is not synonymous with magic. It is about a caring leadership and the ability to think and act positively at the right time. The margin of errors and mistake by a leader whose responsibility is to decide and provide for his following must be very narrow. Good people always look at the other side of the coin before passing judgment. A leader is like the captain of a vessel. He shoulders the welfare of the crew and all the passengers onboard. He becomes a good captain if he makes a successful voyage and treats all concerned with the spirit of fair judgment.
A sensitive matter thus requires a sensitive approach. For instance, the tanker drivers’ issue is currently the talk of the town. Those who were carried away by the opposition’s propaganda would have loved Ambode to use force on the drivers. They forget that protests, if with good intentions and properly managed, communicate an SOS to the authorities. In such a situation, a people-friendly government must remember that the protesters are also a part of the economy. So, should there be a peace-driven approach to achieve the required objectives, this is better for the parties. The ill-wind of crisis does no good to anybody!
Therefore, it is wise not to rock the boat because of tanker drivers’ illegality on Lagos roads. Thus far, Ambode has not repealed the traffic law, meaning that he inherited the tanker drivers’ traffic lawlessness.
In his bid to curb the drivers’ excesses, the governor directed that the section of the traffic law that regulates heavy truck movements be implemented in its totality. The tanker drivers protested it, and went on strike. Thereafter, they called off the strike, and proposed a workable modality, which peace-loving people saw as a process in the right direction. After all, the ultimate is to abide by the traffic law, and that is on course.
From the look of things, the inadequacies of the port terminal operators are the likely causes of the tanker drivers’ lawlessness. However, human errors can be curtailed. From observation, it is becoming obvious that the governor could achieve the objectives of the Lagos Traffic Law without the use of a baton.
In this circumstance, the humane approach by the government is gradually yielding the required result. The spokesmen for the stakeholders have made public utterances. Chief Remi Ogungbemi, on behalf of the truck owners, told the governor that the 10-day strike was responsible for the temporary bottleneck situation. He added that the association was working on a system whereby trucks would no longer park on the road, waiting to enter the port. In his words, “The truck drivers would have to be called before they show up, and before this happens, the terminal operators must be sure that they are ready to attend to the trucks so that we don’t have a situation where they come and queue on the road.”
In a similar vein, the General Manager, Public Affairs, Nigerian Ports Authority, Captain Iheanacho Ebubeku, assured the general public that the truck drivers were ready to abide by the restriction order. He pleaded for a grace period of one month to enable them to complete all arrangements before the enforcement of the governor’s fiat.
Thirty days is not the end of Lagos State. Already, both the NPA and the truck owners’ spokespersons, on their honour, have committed their organisations to the public, pleading for a month’s grace. Should they go back on their words, they are on their own. So, to listen is one of the values of human management. And the ability to carry everybody along with great tact of finesse is one of the attributes of a good leader.
It will be a plus for the Lagos State Government to actualise with positivity, the full legal contents of the Lagos State Road Traffic Law without the application of a horse whip. According to Martin Luther King, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
We should not be oblivious of the fact that one of the things that Ambode owes Lagosians is to stop heavy trucks from obstructing Lagos roads, and not to jail tanker drivers or impound their trucks. In addition, we should also take note of the import of these trucks and their drivers. The present stress-free availability of fuel in all functioning petrol stations in Lagos State is all partly thanks to them.This would not have been achieved without the services of these drivers and their tankers.That reminds me of a saying that, despite the offensive odour of garlic, the heart will not let it go because of its medicinal usefulness.
Using the tanker drivers’ incident as a yardstick for juxtaposing Ambode’s 100-day achievements in office with former Governor Babatunde Fasola’s eight years for the purpose of grading looks like the handiwork of critics. The circumstances surrounding Ambode’s take-off as a governor are dissimilar to those of the former governor. To fair-minded judges, the comparison is too early, and unhealthy.
This article was originally published on Punch