S.P.I.R.I.T.:Governor Tunde Fashola- Spirited leadership

BABATUNDE RAJI FASHOLA (SAN)
Governor of Lagos State, Nigeria

Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) is the recipient of the 2009 Yikzak Rabin Centre for African Development Governor of the Decade for Peace Award and the recipient of the 2010 Award of Excellence in Leadership of the Martin Luther King Jnr. Foundation.

He is the recipient of the 2009 Good Governance Award from the United Kingdom-based African Business Magazine. Here in Nigeria, he is The Guardian, The Vanguard and The Sun newspapers' Man of The Year for 2009.

Both nationally and internationally, he is acclaimed as one of the bright hopes for the future of Nigeria; one of the very progressive Governors determined to reclaim Nigeria's past glories through competent and transparent leadership.

In the past three and a half years, Mr. Fashola (SAN), has demonstrated excellence and uncommon commitment to his avowed pledge to lead the change that would transform Lagos into Africa's model mega-city.

Some of the key projects which his dynamic and proactive business-minded skills have inspired and advanced include the Eko Atlantic City project, the 10-lane Lagos-Badagry Expressway, the expansion of the Lekki-Epe Expressway, the Lekki Free Zone, the Bus Rapid Transit System, massive Infrastructure Renewal in all parts of the State, that has won the State honours from as far as Australia for undertaking the fastest infrastructure renewal ever in Africa, and the establishment of the Security Trust Fund.

His other achievements include Environmental Regeneration that helped reduce violent crimes by over 70% in 1 year; the massive cleanup of Oshodi and other metropolitan open sores once regarded as irredeemable. Concrete steps have also been taken towards improving Agriculture and Food Security among many others.

A passionate lover of children and the youth who represent the future of our continent, Governor Fashola has, in the three and a half years of his tenure, embarked on projects aimed at improving their lives and the opportunities open to children and youths in the State. They include, the construction of Maternal and Childcare Centres across the State to improve maternal and child health, immunization against polio and other child-killer diseases, the revitalization of voluntary uniformed organizations in the State's public schools to build character and leadership qualities in children and provide a choice away from street gangs, renovation and rehabilitation of classrooms as well as the building of new structures and the provision of educational facilities including desks and chairs.

Others are the provision of free uniforms and textbooks to pupils and students in public schools, provision of Summer Vacation jobs for students, the formation of youth clubs and societies in schools, including Climate Change Clubs and the Be Road Friendly Club designed to inculcate environmental and road traffic awareness respectively in children at an early age. These have been projected at making school more attractive to children; the school should also become that real centre of a well rounded learning.

The Governor, during his first term in office, has also undertaken the construction of mini-stadia with the provision of sporting facilities to engage the energy of youths in the State in productive and responsible ventures. These were accompanied by establishment of Vocational and Skill Acquisition Centres that has graduated over 20,000 young people and provided jobs for them.

Born on June 28, 1963 in Lagos, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) is a truly made in Nigeria product. He obtained his First School Leaving Certificate [FSLC] from the Sunny Fields Primary School, Adelabu Surulere, Lagos, after which he proceeded to Birch Freeman High School, Surulere, Lagos and later Igbobi College, Yaba from where he acquired the West African School Certificate [WASC]. He, thereafter, went to the University of Benin, Benin City and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws [LLB Hons] degree in 1987. He was called to the Nigeria Bar in November 1988 after undertaking the statutory training for Barristers and Solicitors.

For the mandatory National Youth Service Corps [NYSC] programme [1988-1989], he served in Benin, the former Bendel State now Edo State. His flourishing private legal practice, running into nearly fifteen years, saw him acquiring appreciable expertise and vast experience in such areas as Litigation, Intellectual Property [registration of trademarks], Commercial Law, Mergers, Acquisitions, Right of Issues, Ownership of Shares and Equity of Corporations, as well as Land Disputes and Chieftaincy Matters.

In the course of his distinguished legal career at Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe and Belgore; the law firm of K.O.Tinubu & Company and as Managing Partner, Lead Counsel, Babatunde Raji Fashola successfully pleaded many cases at High Courts, various divisions of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, and to cap a successful legal career, he was elevated to the class of Nigerian Elite Lawyers in August 2004 when he was conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria [SAN], a leadership position of the Nigerian Bar and the nation's highest legal distinction and honour for lawyers.

He was appointed Chief of Staff by the former Governor of Lagos State [Governor Emeritus], Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who he later succeeded in office and served from August 16, 2002 to November 6, 2006, during which time he served as Member, State Tenders Board; Member, State Executive Council, Member, State Treasury Board, and Member, State Security Council amongst several other Ad-Hoc Committees/Panels. With the experiences he garnered he resigned voluntarily to contest for the Office of Governor of Lagos State under the platform of Action Congress [AC] Party now Action Congress of Nigeria.

With his victory at the April 14, 2007 Governorship election, he was sworn in as Governor of Lagos State on May 29, 2007. Since then, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) has been able to bring to bear on the governance of Lagos State all the invaluable experiences he acquired over the years. Given the spate of achievements recorded so far [May 2007-2010] by the Fashola Administration, pundits and colleagues alike are wont to describe him as the 'primus inter pares' in Nigeria in the 5th Republic...

Culled from tundefashola.com.

I share this today as an example of the S.P.I.R.I.T. Nigeria needs for transformation. Here is an individual dedicated to SERVICE, who is PASSIONATE; has INTEGRITY; shows RESPECT for his office and in turn is respected; his leadership style is hinged on INNOVATION and executed by TEAMWORK. 

This is the new Nigerian SPIRIT!