{"id":13925,"date":"2024-01-21T19:18:10","date_gmt":"2024-01-21T19:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/?p=13925"},"modified":"2024-01-21T19:18:13","modified_gmt":"2024-01-21T19:18:13","slug":"sanwo-olu-and-the-pursuit-of-a-social-market-economy-1-by-abiodun-komolafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/?p=13925","title":{"rendered":"Sanwo-Olu\u00a0and the pursuit\u00a0of a social market\u00a0economy\u00a0\u2013\u00a0(1) By Abiodun Komolafe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">My discussion about&nbsp;the performance of&nbsp;Governor&nbsp;BabajideSanwo-Olu&nbsp;must be put in the context that I met him at Saint Andrew\u2019s Anglican Church,&nbsp;Okepopo,&nbsp;Lagos;&nbsp;and that was&nbsp;in 2003,&nbsp;under the&nbsp;vicarship&nbsp;of the then Reverend&nbsp;Canon&nbsp;\u2018SegunAjayi.&nbsp;Meeting him, I remember&nbsp;Sanwo-Olu&nbsp;as&nbsp;a man&nbsp;with a good dose of&nbsp;human empathy.&nbsp;By the time I became a member of the&nbsp;<em>Christian Progressive Association<\/em>&nbsp;(CPA) of the Church later that year,&nbsp;he&nbsp;had already completed his tenure as itsPresident. But&nbsp;I can confess that this man of many parts has a human touch, one who has a heart to give.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanwo-Olu&nbsp;is one purposeful,&nbsp;very accommodating&nbsp;and goals-delivered&nbsp;progressive&nbsp;thinker&nbsp;who, with&nbsp;ceaseless elegance and captivating conscience,&nbsp;understands that&nbsp;it\u2019d&nbsp;only take&nbsp;a&nbsp;few minutes for bad leadership to destroy what a good leader has built with his sweat and blood.&nbsp;So,&nbsp;one is&nbsp;not surprised that&nbsp;this young energy has&nbsp;been&nbsp;a member of a progressive party, for he has been on ground.&nbsp;Since perfection doesn\u2019t hide itself, that the once-little bird is now&nbsp;the&nbsp;eagle soaring&nbsp;so&nbsp;high does&nbsp;not come as a surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Babajide&nbsp;Sanwo-Olu&nbsp;has done well as Governor of Lagos State. He has done a commendable job in bringing Lagos State to where it is at the moment. But, since he can\u2019t do another term, he should look in the direction of building legacy trust.&nbsp;Now&nbsp;that&nbsp;the election is&nbsp;effectively&nbsp;over, one expects&nbsp;him&nbsp;to sit down, work and reciprocate the gesture of&nbsp;Lagosians&nbsp;as reflected in his re-election on&nbsp;March 18,&nbsp;2023.&nbsp;Thankfully,&nbsp;the&nbsp;governor&nbsp;still has time on his side. He also&nbsp;has&nbsp;justice on his side; only that he needs more political will.&nbsp;Yes, it\u2019s just three years and&nbsp;a&nbsp;few months to go.&nbsp;But then,&nbsp;this period is more than enough to carry out certain impactful revolutions in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Talking&nbsp;specifics, successive governments in the state have concentrated too much on economic capital. As a progressive and social democrat, now is the time&nbsp;for&nbsp;Sanwo-Olu&nbsp;to focus on the more enduring social capital.&nbsp;After all, the&nbsp;<em>All Progressives Congress&nbsp;<\/em>(APC)&nbsp;promised in its manifesto to build&nbsp;a social market economy like Germany&nbsp;and&nbsp;the Scandinavian&nbsp;countries,which is good!&nbsp;Although there are competing demands, given the revenue base of Lagos State,&nbsp;Sanwo-Olu&nbsp;should focus more on&nbsp;the social status of&nbsp;inner&nbsp;cities&nbsp;while also upgrading the standard of&nbsp;public&nbsp;schools, Housing, Education and the Health Sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In&nbsp;times&nbsp;like this,&nbsp;Nigerians remember how&nbsp;the&nbsp;<em>Lagos Executive<\/em><em>Development Board<\/em>&nbsp;(LEDB) played a pivotal role in the creation&nbsp;of a new Lagos.&nbsp;Though it terminated with the consolidation of Lagos, its spirit of the development of both economic and social capital and the creation&nbsp;of&nbsp;a middle class should be sustained.&nbsp;In doing this,&nbsp;it&#8217;s important to state that great city states such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Shanghai have used the LEDB\/Social Market Policy of Inclusiveness as the pathway to inclusiveness and sustainable development.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the tenure of former Governor&nbsp;Babatunde&nbsp;Fasola&nbsp;in Lagos, there was a law criminalizing land-grabbing and&nbsp;allied&nbsp;disturbances by hoodlums,&nbsp;frighteningly known as&nbsp;<em>\u2018<\/em><em>Omo<\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><em>Onile<\/em><em>\u2019.<\/em>Not long after its passage,&nbsp;Ogun&nbsp;State Government followed suit by promulgating a similar law. This led to the&nbsp;menace&nbsp;of&nbsp;thuggery&nbsp;and land-grabbing almost disappearing from the scene. It is sad to&nbsp;note that they&#8217;re back, this time,&nbsp;with&nbsp;fetid&nbsp;tenacity. So,&nbsp;Sanwo-Olu&nbsp;must revisit this issue&nbsp;by&nbsp;vitalizing, even re-engineering&nbsp;extant laws so as to leave a better legacy in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the elections effectively behind us, is Lagos still a&nbsp;<em>\u2018no man\u2019s&nbsp;<\/em><em>land\u2019<\/em>?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>*To be continued.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Still on the&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>\u2018<\/strong><strong>Monstrous cathedrals and hungry congregants<\/strong><strong>\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>I have read your article several times since it was published. I can never be tired of it because it reall<\/em><em>y sent the message and was well-<\/em><em>delivered. It was a good message by a good messenger. God bless you abu<\/em><em>ndantly.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>I have come to realize that whatever issue\/issues you x-ray have always been impactful<\/em><em>,<\/em><em>&nbsp;unlike many commercial writers and paid writers who have commercialized their writings for peculiar benefits. You really hit the nail on the head as usual. You have made my day for me<\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>God bless you richly<\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gbenga&nbsp;Olarinoye,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ilorin,&nbsp;Kwara&nbsp;State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This is a timely wake<\/em><em>&#8211;<\/em><em>up call<\/em><em>&nbsp;to<\/em><em>&nbsp;the churches all<\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><em>over Nigeria and the world at large. We should stop brainwashing the congregants with&nbsp;<\/em><em>manipulative<\/em><em>&nbsp;sermons, when the pastor influences the congregants to empty their bank account<\/em><em>s<\/em><em>&nbsp;in the name of church building, and\/or other oppressive instruments, excluding himself from suc<\/em><em>h so-<\/em><em>called sacrificial giving, but<\/em><em>ev<\/em><em>entually diverting same&nbsp;<\/em><em>to<\/em><em>&nbsp;personal&nbsp;<\/em><em>exotic lifestyles, while the hungry and near-naked people are grudgingly enduring affliction<\/em><em>s<\/em><em>&nbsp;because of heavenly kingdom. This is unacceptable, and the Church should wake u<\/em><em>p!<\/em><em>&nbsp;It&#8217;s not like this with the early Church, (Acts 4:34-35)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>There&#8217;s a glory ce<\/em><em>lestial and a glory terrestrial<\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><em>(<\/em><em>1Cor.15:40<\/em><em>)<\/em><em>. If the pastors are entitled to the glory terrestrial, the&nbsp;<\/em><em>c<\/em><em>hurch members should also be allowed to have&nbsp;<\/em><em>the&nbsp;<\/em><em>same. Sermons are made for conscious souls. A hungry soul does not consciously understand sermons.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>I think&nbsp;<\/em><em>the<\/em><em>&nbsp;same message should go to the Islamic&nbsp;<\/em><em>clerics<\/em><em>. But it seems&nbsp;<\/em><em>as if<\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><em>you&#8217;re trying to avoid that path. P<\/em><em>erhaps you&#8217;re afraid of<\/em><em>&nbsp;its<\/em><em>&nbsp;&#8216;manipulati<\/em><em>ve<\/em><em>&nbsp;blasphemy<\/em><em>\u2019<\/em><em>&nbsp;clauses.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>O<\/em><em>p<\/em><em>pression<\/em><em>&nbsp;in different quarters! The Sheikh<\/em><em>s<\/em><em>&nbsp;will be livi<\/em><em>ng large<\/em><em>&nbsp;while their&nbsp;<\/em><em>followers&nbsp;<\/em><em>are sleeping hungry. Some people prefer sending hungry and homeless people to Mecca and Jerusalem to giving them<\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><em>real&nbsp;<\/em><em>life<\/em><em>sav<\/em><em>ers<\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>May God have mercy on us in Nigeria!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sam. O.&nbsp;Akinde<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lagos, Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Nice one!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The question &#8220;<\/em><em>why&#8221; is answered already.&nbsp; Religious<\/em><em>&nbsp;gathering<\/em><em>s,<\/em><em><\/em><em>without exception, have<\/em><em>&nbsp;turned to business&nbsp;<\/em><em>ventures<\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>God<\/em><em>\u2019s<\/em><em>&nbsp;money&nbsp;<\/em><em>is not being<\/em><em>&nbsp;spent on God&#8217;s children!<\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><em>They<\/em><em>&nbsp;cajole us to ob<\/em><em>tain money in His name but end up spending<\/em><em>&nbsp;it in their names.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>We do not judge them, but we are humanly humiliated.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kabiru&nbsp;Ayofe,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ibadan, Oyo State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Well stated. And it\u2019s the truth<\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yemi&nbsp;Farohunbi,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ibadan, Oyo State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This is a very incisive and pungent intervention. I pray and hope our leaders across board would reflect on the message and not who the messenger is.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Today, most institutions established from funds significantly collected from paupers are not within the reach of the children of such masses.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>50<\/em><em>%<\/em><em>&nbsp;of funds realized from harvest<\/em><em>s<\/em><em>&nbsp;go to the Bishop here in the Catholic Diocese of Abeokuta<\/em><em>,<\/em><em>&nbsp;aside other collections such as for&nbsp;<\/em><em>Cathedraticum<\/em><em>, Vocations, etc.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The deceit is humongous<\/em><em>&nbsp;and heart-<\/em><em>breaking under the guise that we must embrace docility.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Today, we are all crucifying and vilifying the late T<\/em><em>.<\/em><em>B<\/em><em>.<\/em><em>&nbsp;Jo<\/em><em>shua but the waiting<\/em><em>&#8211;<\/em><em>game days for other G<\/em><em>eneral&nbsp;<\/em><em>O<\/em><em>verseers, Archbishops, Bishops, Sheikhs, Seers,&nbsp;<\/em><em>Babala<\/em><em>wos<\/em><em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<\/em><em>Chief&nbsp;<\/em><em>Imams are near the corner.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Thumbs up&nbsp;<\/em><em>and enjoy your day in relish<\/em><em>&nbsp;sir<\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Adeola&nbsp;Otolorin,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asese,&nbsp;Ogun&nbsp;State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This an<\/em><em>alysis of the functions of our c<\/em><em>hurches in Nigeria has spelt it all and it is all over. Looking at all your analysis so far read, it signifies that you are aware of what is going on around you. You have already showcased the aims and objectives of our self-centered religious leaders.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Looking critically into the religious leaders\u2019 contributions, one discovers that they have absolut<\/em><em>ely nothing to offer&nbsp;<\/em><em>to the poor<\/em><em>. Imagine a r<\/em><em>eligious leader having two&nbsp;<\/em><em>P<\/em><em>rivate Jets and h<\/em><em>is members are dying of hunger!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Visit our different hospitals and you\u2019<\/em><em>ll see many&nbsp;<\/em><em>Gabriels<\/em><em>,&nbsp;<\/em><em>Deborahs<\/em><em>,&nbsp;<\/em><em>Dorcas<\/em><em>&nbsp;and Josephs&nbsp;<\/em><em>suffering due to lack of funds to offset their medical bills as well as procure needed medications<\/em><em>. Only what&nbsp;<\/em><em>our religious leaders&nbsp;<\/em><em>know how to do best is<\/em><em>&nbsp;tax&nbsp;<\/em><em>c<\/em><em>hurch members for self-centered projects.&nbsp;<\/em><em>Unfortunately, most of the schools established by these&nbsp;<\/em><em>religious bodies<\/em><em>&nbsp;are beyond the reach of those members who contributed money to build such schools.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Thanks.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a><\/a>Chief Joseph&nbsp;Olusola&nbsp;Fayemi<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dada Estate Baptist Church,&nbsp;Osogbo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My discussion about&nbsp;the performance of&nbsp;Governor&nbsp;BabajideSanwo-Olu&nbsp;must be put in the context that I met him at Saint Andrew\u2019s Anglican Church,&nbsp;Okepopo,&nbsp;Lagos;&nbsp;and that was&nbsp;in 2003,&nbsp;under the&nbsp;vicarship&nbsp;of the then Reverend&nbsp;Canon&nbsp;\u2018SegunAjayi.&nbsp;Meeting him, I remember&nbsp;Sanwo-Olu&nbsp;as&nbsp;a man&nbsp;with a good dose of&nbsp;human empathy.&nbsp;By the time I became a member of the&nbsp;Christian Progressive Association&nbsp;(CPA) of the Church later that year,&nbsp;he&nbsp;had already completed his tenure<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8788,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[4474,5475,4146,4163,4225],"class_list":["post-13925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-context","tag-abiodun-komolafe","tag-babajide-sanwo-olu","tag-news-analysis","tag-nigeria","tag-nigerian-newspapers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13926,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13925\/revisions\/13926"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}