HIGHLIFE
American educational reformer, Horace Mann, said that “Education, then, beyond all other divides of human origin, is a great equalizer of conditions of men—the balance wheel of the social machinery.” This is a fact that the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has taken to heart. As the man has always insisted since coming to office in 2019, that education is the best tool to close societal gaps, whether these gaps exist in personal growth, regional development, or wealth distribution.
Lagos has seen quite a few governors, some of whom have expressed a desire to transform the state and city. None of these governors under the new democratic dispensation stand on the same dais of achievements as Sanwo-Olu. Within two months, the man has fleshed out Lagos and renovated both its human and physical components.
The primary point of concentration in Sanwo-Olu’s government has always been the maximisation of human capital. This has driven every project and programme that the governor and his team of progressive leaders have ever initiated or implemented. Of these projects, the one that stands out the most, that has the most direct impact on Sanwo-Olu’s overall goal, is the transformation of secondary school infrastructure.
Other state leaders might let one or two students be governor for a day. Sanwo-Olu gives every student the chance to be whatever they want to be, regardless of the height of their aspirations. He does this by availing the best infrastructures for learning and studying, for example, ultramodern and digital libraries.
Thus, thanks to the governor’s progressive thinking, many of the secondary schools in Lagos are undergoing needed phases of transformation. Students are taking a fancy to quality books because Sanwo-Olu has made them available. And this is a state-wide project.
According to reports from the Governor’s office, Sanwo-Olu has completed close to 1,200 projects in close to 1,000 schools within the space of 24 months. Some of these projects are renovative in nature, while others are brand-new constructions. Knowing the relevance of a study culture, Sanwo-Olu continues to pay special attention to libraries. And this is where he shines the most.
In the years to come, Sanwo-Olu will be remembered for toppling an inefficient and ineffective educational system and offering suitable options to aid the growth of the youths of his state.
