It was a unanimous judgment as the Board of Editors of The Sun Newspapers sat early last week to deliberate on who wins the Man of the Year diadem for 2009. Who succeeds Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, who won the laurel in 2008 for his single-minded commitment to the rule of law, which saw him wresting his purloined gubernatorial victory through the courts? This year, The Sun added a new dimension to the prestigious award. One person each should emerge from both the public and private sectors. And by the time a careful appraisal of those on the shortlist was done, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola towered above all others. He is, therefore, The Sun Man of the Year 2009, for his giant strides in the governance of Lagos State. And for the private sector, Mr Tayo Aderinokun, Managing Director, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) coasts home with the prize.

Why Fashola? The answer may well be, if not Fashola, who else? The Lagos State governor was first runner-up in the awards last year, as most of his initiatives were then still in embryonic stages. Now, the chrysalis has burst forth. You see his fingerprints, his footprints in all the areas, touching lives of the citizenry in diverse positive ways – security, roads, healthcare delivery, revenue generation, ability to motivate, devotion to duty, the environment, and many others. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say Babatunde Fashola is the new face of leadership. The face of inspiration.

The face of commitment to public good. The face of not only a man of the moment, but a man for all seasons. A reference point for performance.
When people now talk of Lagos, it goes beyond partisan considerations. Even governors elected on the platform of other parties doff their hats for the man in Lagos. Fashola, they say, makes them proud. He is the quintessential governor, the governor of governors.
Quite representative of the general opinion is the view of Dr Segun Ogundimu, a leader of the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos. He says not even his rampaging party would be able to unseat Fashola in 2011. His words: “At times, he does things that are against his party. That’s my own man. When I talk about Fashola, people sometimes say I am an AC (Action Congress) man. If not for what is going on now, I am sure that I would have been summoned by our disciplinary committee that I am supporting AC. No.”

But the former commissioner in Lagos, under the military, has merely expressed a sentiment that is common to people round the country. Round the country? Even beyond, as Nigerians in the Diaspora hear of what Fashola does back home, and have a sense of pride. Hope is kindled in their hearts that it is not over for their motherland, a nation long sentenced to decrepit, rickety, unimaginative leadership.
This man of small frame does big things. His lean shoulders carry heavy burdens, far above his physical strength. But when you are a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), like Fashola is, you need more of brain than brawn to get things done. Let’s amend that statement. You need a combination of brain and brawn, but then more of the former than the latter. Consider what happened in Oshodi.

Oshodi had been the sore of a city for many decades. It was the nation’s capital of chaos, of violence, of crime, of all that was vile and despicable. In Oshodi, you had the petty thief; you also had the big timers. You had the pimp; you also had the prostitute. You had the drug pusher; you had the addict. If you needed to buy anything, from cow’s dung to human head, Oshodi was the place. It was a monument to larceny, corruption, crime, and all that was ignoble, craven and degenerate.

Then came this intrepid young man who calls himself Raji Fashola. In the twinkle of an eye, Oshodi was down. Reduced to rubble. Demolished. Bulldozed. Overthrown. And from its womb came a new settlement, worthy of any mega-city in any other part of the world. A dream? No, it is reality staring Lagosians, nay, Nigerians straight in the face.

Lagos, according to Fashola, under the old order was losing at least N120 billion annually to the traffic jam and congestion in Oshodi. He added: “Though the demolition is painful, the interest of the few who have constituted a law unto themselves cannot override the general interest of the people of Lagos State.”
Talk of a man with guts, with spunk, and Fashola is it.
Leadership is all about touching lives and making a difference. Our Man of the Year was bold enough to publicly say he would resign as governor if adjudged a non-performer. According to him, the essence of holding power in trust for the people is to make visible contributions to their lives. True.
Lagos is now one huge construction site. From Alausa, to Surulere, to Lagos-Badagry route, to Victoria Island, Ajah/Lekki axis, it is new road projects everywhere. In fact, you can safely say Fashola has gone roadwire. Barrister Opeyemi Bamidele, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, describes the pace of the administration as “frenetic,” adding that in the months to come, “the temperature will certainly get hotter in the kitchen of governance in Lagos State.” Oh, who says interesting days are not ahead!

But what really is this man’s vision for Lagos, that makes him work at such “frenetic” pace, like the biblical galloping Jehu? Hear Fashola: “I want to leave behind a city where life is safe, businesses will thrive, families can be raised and children can grow up comfortably; a city where people would want to invest their life savings and call home.” We believe him.
When you have crusaders like the man in Lagos at the helm of affairs, and they receive such effusive accolades, they soon lose sense of balance and go overboard. Not Fashola. Though his head may be in the clouds, his feet are firmly planted on terra firma, the solid earth. So, he says he is not a messiah, and would not fix all the problems of Lagos.

“As a government, we are under no illusion at all that our tenure is time-bound, and that, therefore, we cannot fix all the problems of the state, despite all our best wishes. But the responsibility that we have set for ourselves is to lay a foundation that you can build on and further our efforts. That is our hope, that is our dream, and will be our fulfilment – that the generations after us achieved our dreams.”
Humility, no doubt, from an accomplished leader. But then, the Nigerian Constitution allows Fashola to go for a second term of another four years in office. Though he has not indicated interest to run, Lagosians are saying he can take their votes for granted. It’s a cinch, as sure as death, that he would win clean and clear if he runs.

The Black Book
The Black Book is supposed to be the book of perdition, the book that consigns sinners to hell. But in Lagos, Fashola has re-invented The Black Book. That is where he wrote all his campaign pledges and promises, and he consults the book from time to time, to ensure that he is still on the right track. Hear him at a lecture delivered in Cambridge University, United Kingdom, last December. “I kept notes of every promise I made at those rallies (2007 election campaigns) in a book that a friend and I call the Black Book, and I have recordings of each rally on my i-pod, which I carry with me everywhere I go. I read those notes regularly to remind me of what I may have forgotten.”