I’ve lost weight since taking over from Ambode, says Sanwo-Olu

Just days after assuming office as Lagos State governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Friday said he has started losing weight as a result of the enormity and pressing demands of the office.

“I dare say that I have lost weight and probably I will lose a little bit more but I think it’s what the job entails and is to also ensure that you have the right team of people that would also support you,” Sanwo-Olu told State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Sanwo-Olu, who took over from former governor Ambode said, “the challenges (of Lagos State) are real, they are there, it’s not a tea party. You don’t sleep and wake up and the traffic has gone down, you don’t sleep and wake up and there is no rain and that you’ve resolved Apapa gridlock, it’s real.”

The governor noted that leading Lagos State requires psychological preparedness to ensure the delivery of promises made to the citizens.

“So when as a leader, you show that leadership support, then the message itself will trickle down and trickle down very well and that is why we have to take that very bold idea and you’re going to see a lot,” Sanwo-Olu said

On how to address the gridlock in Apapa, Sanwo-Olu said “It’s work in progress. If you go to Lagos now, you will see that they have started clearing it. So for us, it’s not just to do it but to ensure that we sustain it.

He explained that “sustainability is critical. It’s to build a model where it’s sustainable and we are not also involving the big players we are also discussing with them – the shipper’s council, the shipping lines, NPA, NIMASA and all of them that are stakeholders in the conversations around port utility, we are settling it.

On Friday’s security meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, he said “Security is everybody’s businesses but as a governor, we also have a major responsibility to ensure that as number one security officer of the state, the security of lives and properties is also paramount as the chief executive officer of a state.