As you read this, City People Magazine is in celebration mood. We are 21, having started publishing in 1996. And recently, the Editors brainstormed on which prominent personality in Nigeria is deserving of honour, that we can celebrate with, at a time like this and we unanimously picked Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode. Reason? For a first time Governor, he has done phenomenally well. Suddenly, what should have been a long distance race of 4years has been taken as a 100-metres dash, running with aplomb, at a dizzying pace, to the applause of Lagosians.
So, in just 2½ years, he has virtually turned around all the vital sectors of Lagos society, from Road, Security, Health, Education, Sports, Tourism, Culture, Entertainment to Infrastructural facilities, et al. He is also delivering on all the promises he made to the electorate and with each passing day, he is ticking items on his list of campaign promises.
When we approached him for a special interview, a few weeks back, we were a bit skeptical that he might not grant the interview because, by nature, he seldom grants interviews, except it is absolutely necessary. That is why you can count on your fingertips the number of interviews he has granted in over 2 and a half years in office. He is one of those leaders who believe that you should let your work speak for you. His philosophy is: “Less talk, more work”. We made a formal request to him and behold, His Excellency agreed to talk to City People about his other sides you don’t know.
We were not going to talk about how many roads he has done, or how much he has spent on tackling security issues. No. It was not going to be about figures and statistics. No. But it was going to be about what drives the man, who runs Lagos State. What kind of a man is he? What motivates him? Why is he running at full throttle? Why doesn’t he sleep before 1a.m everyday? Why is he at his desk by 7.30a.m? Why does he drive his team so hard? How does this Epe-born Governor run the 5th largest economy in Africa?
These were the questions that ran through my mind as I drove to the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja, the office and official residence of the No 1 man in Lagos State last Tuesday to pick his mind on various issues.
But there was a condition attached to the interview. And that was: He would grant it after he finishes the commissioning of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s statue at the LTV-Oluwalogbon Motors junction. I was also to attend, as a Guest, so as to see him in action.
That was very acceptable. Once the task was completed, Gov. Ambode headed back to work. He changed from the sky blue Agbada he wore to the commissioning, into a simple blue Buba and Sokoto. And he looked very relaxed, sitting behind his big desk. His table was bare of files. It wasn’t littered with papers. The Governor is IT compliant. All he had beside him, to his right side was his IPAD and his phone, which didn’t ring at all throughout the duration of the interview. Gov. Ambode cut the picture of a modern-day CEO. He does not allow files to spend more than a few minutes on his table before treating it. He is a workaholic and a deep thinker and he has created for himself an ambience that allows him work smoothly. He doesn’t keep friends, who could disturb him with calls. All his chums are old friends he grew up with, and they’ve come to know the kind of person he is.
Despite his tight schedule, he has the zeal that enables him to accomplish his task on a daily basis. He has a time for meetings and for sober reflections. He has a time for events and a time for socials. He has a time for recreation, which explains his trim physique. And he creates time to visit all his on-going projects across the 3 senatorial zones, daily.
He admits that he is a workaholic. “I work hard and I play hard”, he told City People. That was how the interview began and what was meant to be a very short interview took close to 2 hours. Before the interview began, His Excellency chatted for about 40 minutes on why he seldom grants interview. He explained that he prefers to listen and hear other people out than to keep doing the talking. He believes there is much he could learn from the next person to him, no matter how lowly he or she is to him. That was how the interview started and His Excellency went deep into the philosophical underpinning of the man called Akinwunmi Ambode. For the very first time, Gov. Ambode revealed many things that he has never said before about his life. Not only that. His interview was a lecture on the essentials of Leadership and why his real mission is to make a difference in the life of every Lagosian. This is part one of a 3-part interview.
-Seye Kehinde
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