<p><strong><em>The Executive governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on 12th December 2019, delivered University of Lagos, UNILAG, Faculty of Engineering 3rd Alumni Lecture at the school Main Auditorium. </em></strong> <strong><em>The lecture, titled “Professionals in Politics: Panacea For Sustainable National Development,” is reproduced below unedited</em></strong></p>



<p>Protocol.</p>



<p>I am delighted to be here with you today, to deliver this Alumni Lecture. It is always a pleasure to return to events organised by my alma mater, and in particular the Faculty of Engineering from which I graduated. I am also somewhat relieved that you have not asked me here today to provide an update into the latest thinking in Sequence Statigraphy, or to venture into the venerated realms of Spatial-Temporal Analyses.</p>



<p>Of course, if you had done
that I would not have complained, I would just have taken it as an assignment
to be handled with the same seriousness the University would expect from any of
its students.</p>



<p>You have instead asked me to
share my thoughts and reflections on a very interesting theme: ;<em>Professionals
in Politics: Panacea for Sustainable National Development</em>.</p>



<p>There are a couple of keywords in there: professionals, politics, sustainable, national development. The most loaded of these is no doubt, Politics.Politics is an umbrella term that captures multiple shades of meaning and interpretations. I am sure if I asked everyone in the room to define it we would get as many definitions as there are people here.</p>



<p>Some will associate it with
noble aims and ends, some will frame it in negative or dismissive terms, while
others will argue it is a neutral concept that only acquires positive or
negative connotations by association.</p>



<p>What is however not in doubt
is that politics is a big part of our everyday lives and our existence, as
human beings. Very often we make the mistake of assuming that politics is about
colourful campaigns, and the trappings of power and authority, but nothing
could be further from that notion.</p>



<p>Politics exists not only in
the grandest of things but also in the mundane; it is played at many different
levels, small and big, everywhere from the home to the workplace. It is not out
of place to say that to be human is to be political, and to be political is to
be human.</p>



<p>Any discussion of politics will
necessarily throw up a number of questions and contentious arguments, such as
“Who is a politician?” or “What qualifies a person to be a politician?” Is it
merely a matter of self-perception, or are there some criteria to be met and
fulfilled before one can qualify to be recognised as one?</p>



<p>At this point, I think I
should bring myself into the picture, and use my personal story to illuminate
some of my views and thoughts about this very interesting theme.</p>



<p>I graduated from this great
University in 1988, with a Bachelor’s degree in Surveying and Geo-Informatics.
My earliest years were spent working as a Surveyor, and I also tried my hands
at entrepreneurship, launching a Dial-A-Plumber Service here in Lagos in the
late 1980s. (Time will not permit me to share the full details of that very
interesting entrepreneurial period of my life here).</p>



<p>From there I joined the
banking industry in 1994, and worked there for almost a decade, until 2003,
when I was appointed Special Adviser on Corporate Matters, first to the then
Deputy Governor of Lagos State, and subsequently to the Governor.</p>



<p>From that role I was appointed
Acting Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, in 2007, and then
substantive Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, and after that Commissioner
for Establishment, Training and Pensions, during the first term of Governor
Fashola.</p>



<p>When I left Government in
2011, I went back into the private sector and entrepreneurship, and then
returned to public service in 2016 as the Managing Director and Chief Executive
Officer of the Lagos State Development Property Corporation (LSDPC).</p>



<p>Let me point out that all of
these public sector positions I’ve outlined above were appointed offices, not
elective. It is worthy of note that during this period, which lasted over a
decade, I did not consider myself a politician.</p>



<p>I don’t know whether other
people definitely saw me as a politician or not, but I must say I saw myself
purely as a professional – a technocrat – in politics and public service.</p>



<p>I did not begin to consider
myself a politician until around 2018, when the opportunity emerged for me to
step up to contest for the Office of Governor of Lagos. A bigger responsibility
than anything I had ever done, and, unlike everything before, not a role to
which I could be simply appointed. I can say that it was at that point that I
became a politician.</p>



<p>First, I had to submit myself
to campaign and contest the Primaries of my party, the All Progressives
Congress, for the Governorship ticket of Lagos State. Then an even bigger
challenge followed: I had to campaign and contest for the seat of Governor. I
had to sell myself and my party to the people of Lagos, the most populated and
most sophisticated State in Nigeria, and hope that our message would resonate
over and above that of all other contestants.</p>



<p>To the glory of the Almighty
God, and by dint of the hard work that my campaign and our party put in,
Lagosians gave us their mandate, in March of this year.</p>



<p>So, today, I speak to you as a
full-time politician.</p>



<p>Having established this point,
however, I must again go back to my earlier point about politics being all
around us, even in the private sector; an integral part of the human existence.
You will all agree with me that politics is present in every office, in every
boardroom, in every social club. That’s why we speak of the concept of “office
politics”. In publicly quoted companies, shareholders and board members vote
often, to take important decisions. A CEO can be voted out by the company
board.</p>



<p>Even here in the Ivory Tower,
politics is not an alien concept to you. You have a Senate, which often makes
decisions by casting votes. The selection process for Vice Chancellors often
includes a campaigning process and an election.</p>



<p>Occupying the position of a
Faculty Dean or a Vice Chancellor anywhere in the world – not just in Nigeria –
is typically the outcome of a political decision – there are competing or
alternative candidates and decisions need to be made after taking various
factors into consideration.</p>



<p>You will all agree with me
that even to become an executive of the Alumni Association that is hosting this
event today requires politics and politicking.</p>



<p>I therefore do not subscribe
to the view that there is a rigid and distinct line between a “professional”
and a “politician”. This is why I refer to my time before being elected
Governor as the ‘professional-in-politics’ stage of my life.</p>



<p>This is a very common
trajectory for many people. We start out as professionals in various fields of
expertise, and then naturally, along the way, the lines blur into the territory
of politics. Not everyone ends up becoming a full-blown politician as I have;
but many will comfortably occupy the professional-in-politics segment, like I
did.</p>



<p>Think of many of the greatest
politicians that Nigeria has produced; they have come from various professional
callings and walks of life.</p>



<p>For example, many of the
founding fathers and first generation of political leaders in Nigeria were
journalists, who had made their name with their pens and writing skills: I’m
thinking of names like Herbert Macaulay, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Ladoke
Akintola, Anthony Enahoro.</p>



<p>Even in the generation that
followed, a good number of political leaders were from the media: Bisi
Onabanjo, Adamu Ciroma, Bola Ige, Lateef Jakande, Segun Osoba.</p>



<p>Accounting, Law, Engineering,
Business are all professions that have supplied and continue to supply
considerable numbers of people at the highest levels of politics and political
service in Nigeria.</p>



<p>There is indeed also a case to
be made that politics itself can be viewed as a professional calling – similar
to a religious calling, but that might possibly be the subject for another
lecture another time.</p>



<p>With these thoughts as
backdrop, let me go on to outline some of the things I’ve learned from my time
as a professional-in-politics, and, I should add, as a professional politician.</p>



<p>First is that I think we must
not shy away from embracing our political natures. We are all political
creatures, regardless of whether or not we ever get involved in partisan
politics. In any case, the act of voting in elections, which we all partake in
from time to time, is a very political act.</p>



<p>I believe that we must reclaim
the word ‘politics from negativity. It is often given a negative coloration
that it does not deserve, and that is misleading.</p>



<p>As many people as want to go
into partisan politics must be encouraged to do so. We must stop seeing people
as “sell-outs” when they choose to fly the flag of partisan politics.</p>



<p>Many centuries ago Plato said
that one ;of the penalties for declining to
take part in politics is that people end up being governed by those inferior to
them.</p>



<p>We
must acknowledge the power that politics has to shape our lives and our
societies for good or ill. It is arguably the most potent tool that exists for
influencing the course of a society. We owe, to a great extent, our happiness
or unhappiness to the way politics is played on our behalf.</p>



<p>We
must educate ourselves about the way politics is played in our society – from
the smallest level all the way to the top. We must stay engaged at all times,
and resist the strong temptation to stay aloof or give in to despair when
things don’t happen the way we would like them to.</p>



<p>Politics
in Nigeria definitely needs more professionals, more ‘outsiders’, not less.
Politics thrives best in the face of diversity. Different professional callings
bringing different skill-sets and perspectives to the table.</p>



<p>If
we complain that it is politics that has robbed Nigeria of many opportunities
in its history then we must also be willing to concede that it is politics that
will redeem us and set things right.</p>



<p>Nigeria’s
development will not happen outside of politics and political activity. All of
the countries we look up to, deployed political leadership to take the
decisions that set them on the path of development. And this did not happen
overnight.</p>



<p>But
it is very important for us to prepare ourselves for politics. As professionals
working outside the sphere of partisan politics, it is not enough to go into
politics armed only with your professional skills.</p>



<p>The
first thing any professional who comes into politics realizes is that the
technical and professional skills acquired outside of politics are mostly of
limited usefulness in the sphere of partisan politics and public service. That
you are the most published or cited Professor in your field or the most
brilliant and high-flying accountant, banker, lawyer or doctor will not
automatically translate into success in politics.</p>



<p>Politics
takes a lot of learning and unlearning. As an Engineer or Doctor or Banker your
training makes you take precision very seriously. Any hint of ‘compromise’ in
any of these fields would immediately suggest professional misconduct.</p>



<p>But
in the field of partisan politics, compromise is not only acceptable, in many
cases it would be a necessity, a condition for progress. Let me quickly make it
clear here that I am not referring to ‘ethical’ compromise, but instead, to
pragmatism – what ;the German politician and statesman German
Statesman Otto von Bismarck had in mind when he said, and I quote, that
“Politics is the art of the possible.”</p>



<p>Many
of the decisions you will be faced with will not be clear-cut choices between
good and bad, but instead more complicated scenarios. Politics is the art of
making difficult decisions; foregoing present comfort for future progress.</p>



<p>It is never about insisting
you must have your way, but instead about considering the often-incompatible
wishes and desires of large numbers of stakeholders and forging an acceptable
course of action out of it.</p>



<p>Distinguished
guests, ladies and gentlemen, politics requires different skills and strengths
and abilities, many of which will have to be learnt and imbibed, some the hard
way.</p>



<p>Successful
politics requires tact, it requires humility, it requires empathy. You will
have to give some and take some, even when you feel like you deserve to take
everything and give nothing.  ;</p>



<p>You
require people skills, you have to be comfortable with people, you cannot
afford to be arrogant or impatient. Politics is more about emotional
intelligence than it is about intellectual and technocratic knowledge.</p>



<p>People
will not always understand; in many cases they will misunderstand motives and
intentions. Often, it’s a case of damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Politics is not a turf for self-pity or for the faint hearted.</p>



<p>It
is about having the confidence to make a decision, having satisfied yourself
that you have sought counsel and you are acting for the good of the majority.</p>



<p>It
is about seeing the long-term even when the short-term threatens to be
distracting. Here in Lagos I can boldly say that my administration is
benefiting from the existence of a blue print that has been laid out since
democracy returned to Nigeria in 1999.</p>



<p>That
blueprint has made governance easier and more seamless. Lasting change takes
time, and we are privileged in Lagos to have inherited a culture of innovation
and service that we can build on.</p>



<p>And
it is my sincere hope and desire that I can build on the solid foundation I
inherited and carry the vision forward such that tomorrow, my successor will be
as grateful for it as I am today.</p>



<p>Let
me say again how happy I am that the topic of today’s lecture tries to connect
politics and development. Let me share a few thoughts on development, as I see
it.</p>



<p>Nigeria,
like every other country around the world, is on a journey in search of growth
and development. At Independence we were classified as a developing country,
but sadly, sixty years later, we are still classified as developing.</p>



<p>In
that same period of time, a number of other countries that were in the same
situation as us in 1960 have since left us behind. The countries that regularly
get mentioned in these comparisons are Asian countries like Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia, but even a European country like Norway was in the same
category as Nigeria in the early 1960s.</p>



<p>Today
those countries are all way ahead of us, in terms of industrialization, life
expectancy, human capital development indices, per capita income,
infrastructure, and so on. And we all instinctively understand that this is
what development means – consistent forward movement. And this is what seems to
have eluded us in Nigeria over the decades.</p>



<p>But
we also need to realize that we cannot afford to be discouraged or complacent.
It is important to look at what has worked for us in the past, or is working in
the present, and see what we can learn from it, to better guarantee future
growth and development.</p>



<p>We
must be deliberate and methodical about development, it cannot be left to
chance. And this is where our training as professionals will come in handy. In
our various fields of study and career, we have been trained to follow
procedures, to pay attention to standards, to measure things, and to anticipate
risks and manage them. These skills must somehow be carried over into the space
of politics and governance, alongside the ‘soft’ skills of empathy,
negotiation, humility, compromise, generosity that I touched on earlier.</p>



<p>So,
this is the edge that we have as career professionals – we are able to bring to
bear on our politics extra skills and capabilities that can make a difference
in governance. We can combine political skills with professional skills and use
this combination to add value to governance.</p>



<p>We
must realize that the professional skills and habits and ways of thinking that
we have picked up and honed over the years can be useful not just in the
lecture theatres, research laboratories or the boardrooms, but also within the
corridors of power. I have no doubt that the training I received as a surveyor
and subsequently as a banker has made me a much better public servant and
politician than I would have been without that training.</p>



<p>And
this I think is the final lesson I would like to leave with you, as I conclude
this address. The best politicians will bring to their work a combination of
hard technocratic and soft political skills.</p>



<p>The
political skills are of course always the most important elements; no one can
succeed without them. But the value that a technocratic background also confers
must never be taken for granted or underestimated.</p>



<p>On
this note, I hope that I have been able to enlighten on my ideas regarding the
place of professionals, or technocrats, in politics; and the interplay of
politics and technocracy. ;</p>



<p>I
do not claim to have all the answers or insights, of course. I would certainly
not mind if my lecture today has raised as many questions as answers. I hope
that the conversation can continue beyond here and now, and that there will be
further enriching additions and contributions to follow.</p>



<p>I
thank you once again for inviting me to deliver this lecture, I am truly
honored.</p>



<p><em>God
bless the ;UNILAG Faculty of Engineering Alumni ;Association.</em></p>



<p><em>God
bless the University of Lagos.</em></p>



<p><em>God
bless Lagos State ;and</em></p>



<p><em>God
bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.</em></p>



<p>Thank
you. ;</p>

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