At Yoruba Tennis Club Centenary, Sanwo-Olu Tells Opposition To Present Better Ideas Instead Of Seeking Change For Change Sake

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has thrown a challenge to opposition parties in the state to come up with superior and workable ideas that can match the achievements of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The governor said this on Tuesday in Lagos while speaking as guest lecturer at the 100th anniversary celebration of the Yoruba Tennis Club held at the Greetings Hall, Onikan.

The event had in attendance the First Lady of Lagos, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, the Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, who is also the APC governorship candidate, traditional rulers, top government officials, members of the club and other dignitaries.

The lecture was themed Democracy, Governance, and the Lagos Spirit: A Century of Excellence.

Sanwo-Olu, who doubles as the South-West Zonal Coordinator of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, said Lagos and Nigeria have moved past the stage of experimenting with untested ideas. According to him, the state has seen the benefit of continuity in governance.

He noted that his party is campaigning based on its record of transformation in Lagos, and at the national level where President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the leader of the party. He added that the benefits of Tinubu’s reforms are already showing in areas like foreign exchange stability, education, agriculture and security.

The governor explained that what has sustained Lagos is what he called the Lagos Spirit, which is built on courage, self-reliance, openness and the desire to keep improving.

He recalled how Lagos stood firm during the June 12 struggle for democracy and how the state survived when its federal allocation was seized in 2004 by looking inward to generate its own revenue.

Sanwo-Olu said the Yoruba Tennis Club itself, founded in 1926 after indigenous Lagosians were denied entry into colonial clubs, is a perfect example of that Lagos Spirit.

He said since 1999, Lagos has followed a single development blueprint created by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu when he was governor, and every administration after him has built on it. He said this continuity is why projects like the Blue Line and Red Line rail have become reality.

He listed four principles that have guided Lagos governance. These are having a long-term vision, being self-reliant, embracing partnership with the private sector and the people, and judging governance by how it affects ordinary residents.

He said true governance is measured by whether a health worker in Alimosho can get to work on time, whether a child in Ajegunle has a desk in school, and whether a trader in Mile 12 can move her goods to market.

On his own administration’s record in the last seven years, Sanwo-Olu said his THEMES+ agenda has touched millions of lives. He mentioned the creation of two new state universities, construction of one of Africa’s biggest rice mills in Imota, attraction of submarine cables and data centres, construction of West Africa’s largest children’s hospital, and the ongoing Lagos Central Food Security Hub at Ketu-Ereyun to service the state’s N5.89 trillion food market.

He advised the Yoruba Tennis Club to keep its founding values, document its history properly, involve more young people, and maintain high standards for membership.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman of Yoruba Tennis Club, Chief Olawunmi Gasper, said the club remains committed to preserving Yoruba heritage and contributing to the development of Lagos.

Gasper described Sanwo-Olu as a progressive leader and reformer, calling him Mr Talk and Do and Mr Infrastructure. He noted that under Sanwo-Olu, Lagos now has an economy valued at about 259 billion dollars, making it Africa’s second largest city economy after Cairo, contributing over 26 percent of Nigeria’s GDP and over 50 percent of its non-oil GDP.

The centenary celebration also featured the launch of a history book documenting 100 years of the club, groundbreaking for a Legacy Building, and an exhibition of archival materials.