“We must be deliberate and methodical about development, it cannot be left to chance. And this is where our training as professionals will come in handy”
“It is never about insisting you must have your way, but instead about considering the often-incompatible wishes and desires of large numbers of stakeholders and forging an acceptable course of action out of it”
PROFESSIONALS IN POLITICS: PANACEA FOR SUSTAINABLE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
by
Babajide Sanwo-olu
I am delighted to be here with you today, to deliver this Alumni Lecture. It is always a pleasure to return to events organised by my alma mater, and in particular the Faculty of Engineering from which I graduated.
I am also somewhat relieved that you have not asked me here today to
provide an update into the latest thinking in Sequence Stratigraphy, or
to venture into the venerated realms of Spatial-Temporal Analyses.
Of course, if you had done that I would not have complained, I would
just have taken it as an assignment to be handled with the same
seriousness the University would expect from any of its students.
You have instead asked me to share my thoughts and reflections on a very interesting theme: Professionals in Politics: Panacea for Sustainable National Development. There are a couple of keywords in there: professionals, politics, sustainable, national development. The most loaded of these is no doubt, Politics.
Politics is an umbrella term that captures multiple shades of meaning
and interpretations. I am sure if I asked everyone in the room to
define it we would get as many definitions as there are people here.
Some will associate it with noble aims and ends, some will frame it in
negative or dismissive terms, while others will argue it is a neutral
concept that only acquires positive or negative connotations by
association.
What is however not in doubt is that politics is a big part of our
everyday lives and our existence, as human beings. Very often we make
the mistake of assuming that politics is about colourful campaigns, and
the trappings of power and authority, but nothing could be further from
that notion.
Politics exists not only in the grandest of things but also in the
mundane; it is played at many different levels, small and big,
everywhere from the home to the workplace. It is not out of place to say
that to be human is to be political, and to be political is to be
human.
Any discussion of politics will necessarily throw up a number of
questions and contentious arguments, such as “Who is a politician?” or
“What qualifies a person to be a politician?” Is it merely a matter of
self-perception, or are there some criteria to be met and fulfilled
before one can qualify to be recognised as one?
At this point, I think I should bring myself into the picture, and use
my personal story to illuminate some of my views and thoughts about this
very interesting theme.
I graduated from this great University in 1988, with a Bachelor’s
degree in Surveying and Geo-Informatics. My earliest years were spent
working as a Surveyor, and I also tried my hands at entrepreneurship,
launching a Dial-A-Plumber Service here in Lagos in the late 1980s.
(Time will not permit me to share the full details of that very
interesting entrepreneurial period of my life here).
From there I joined the banking industry in 1994, and worked there for
almost a decade, until 2003, when I was appointed Special Adviser on
Corporate Matters, first to the then Deputy Governor of Lagos State, and
subsequently to the Governor.
From that role I was appointed Acting Commissioner for Economic Planning
and Budget, in 2007, and then substantive Commissioner for Commerce and
Industry, and after that Commissioner for Establishment, Training and
Pensions, during the first term of Governor Fashola.
When I left Government in 2011, I went back into the private sector and
entrepreneurship, and then returned to public service in 2016 as the
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State
Development Property Corporation (LSDPC).
Let me point out that all of these public sector positions I’ve
outlined above were appointed offices, not elective. It is worthy of
note that during this period, which lasted over a decade, I did not
consider myself a politician.
I don’t know whether other people definitely saw me as a politician or
not, but I must say I saw myself purely as a professional – a technocrat
– in politics and public service.
I did not begin to consider myself a politician until around 2018, when
the opportunity emerged for me to step up to contest for the Office of
Governor of Lagos. A bigger responsibility than anything I had ever
done, and, unlike everything before, not a role to which I could be
simply appointed. I can say that it was at that point that I became a
politician.
First, I had to submit myself to campaign and contest the Primaries
of my party, the All Progressives Congress, for the Governorship ticket
of Lagos State. Then an even bigger challenge followed: I had to
campaign and contest for the seat of Governor. I had to sell myself and
my party to the people of Lagos, the most populated and most
sophisticated State in Nigeria, and hope that our message would resonate
over and above that of all other contestants.
To the glory of the Almighty God, and by dint of the hard work that my
campaign and our party put in, Lagosians gave us their mandate, in March
of this year.
So, today, I speak to you as a full-time politician.
Having established this point, however, I must again go back to my
earlier point about politics being all around us, even in the private
sector; an integral part of the human existence. You will all agree with
me that politics is present in every office, in every boardroom, in
every social club. That’s why we speak of the concept of “office
politics”. In publicly quoted companies, shareholders and board members
vote often, to take important decisions. A CEO can be voted out by the
company board.
Even here in the Ivory Tower, politics is not an alien concept to you.
You have a Senate, which often makes decisions by casting votes. The
selection process for Vice Chancellors often includes a campaigning
process and an election.
Occupying the position of a Faculty Dean or a Vice Chancellor anywhere
in the world – not just in Nigeria – is typically the outcome of a
political decision – there are competing or alternative candidates and
decisions need to be made after taking various factors into
consideration.
‘Funso Falade, Titi Omo-Ettu, ‘Jide Sanwo-olu, Oye Ibidapo-Obe, Oye Eribake
You will all agree with me that even to become an executive of the
Alumni Association that is hosting this event today requires politics
and politicking.
I therefore do not subscribe to the view that there is a rigid and
distinct line between a “professional” and a “politician”. This is why I
refer to my time before being elected Governor as the
‘professional-in-politics’ stage of my life.
This is a very common trajectory for many people. We start out as
professionals in various fields of expertise, and then naturally, along
the way, the lines blur into the territory of politics. Not everyone
ends up becoming a full-blown politician as I have; but many will
comfortably occupy the professional-in-politics segment, like I did.
Think of many of the greatest politicians that Nigeria has produced;
they have come from various professional callings and walks of life.
For example, many of the founding fathers and first generation of
political leaders in Nigeria were journalists, who had made their name
with their pens and writing skills: I’m thinking of names like Herbert
Macaulay, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Ladoke Akintola, Anthony
Enahoro.
Even in the generation that followed, a good number of political leaders
were from the media: Bisi Onabanjo, Adamu Ciroma, Bola Ige, Lateef
Jakande, Segun Osoba.
Accounting, Law, Engineering, Business are all professions that have
supplied and continue to supply considerable numbers of people at the
highest levels of politics and political service in Nigeria.
There is indeed also a case to be made that politics itself can be
viewed as a professional calling – similar to a religious calling, but
that might possibly be the subject for another lecture another time.
With these thoughts as backdrop, let me go on to outline some of the
things I’ve learned from my time as a professional-in-politics, and, I
should add, as a professional politician.
First is that I think we must not shy away from embracing our political
natures. We are all political creatures, regardless of whether or not we
ever get involved in partisan politics. In any case, the act of voting
in elections, which we all partake in from time to time, is a very
political act.
I believe that we must reclaim the word ‘politics from negativity. It is
often given a negative coloration that it does not deserve, and that is
misleading.
As many people as want to go into partisan politics must be encouraged
to do so. We must stop seeing people as “sell-outs” when they choose to
fly the flag of partisan politics.
Many centuries ago Plato said that one of the penalties for declining to
take part in politics is that people end up being governed by those
inferior to them.
We must acknowledge the power that politics has to shape our lives
and our societies for good or ill. It is arguably the most potent tool
that exists for influencing the course of a society. We owe, to a great
extent, our happiness or unhappiness to the way politics is played on
our behalf.
We must educate ourselves about the way politics is played in our
society – from the smallest level all the way to the top. We must stay
engaged at all times, and resist the strong temptation to stay aloof or
give in to despair when things don’t happen the way we would like them
to.
Politics in Nigeria definitely needs more professionals, more
‘outsiders’, not less. Politics thrives best in the face of diversity.
Different professional callings bringing different skill-sets and
perspectives to the table.
If we complain that it is politics that has robbed Nigeria of many
opportunities in its history then we must also be willing to concede
that it is politics that will redeem us and set things right.
Nigeria’s development will not happen outside of politics and political
activity. All of the countries we look up to, deployed political
leadership to take the decisions that set them on the path of
development. And this did not happen overnight.
But it is very important for us to prepare ourselves for politics. As
professionals working outside the sphere of partisan politics, it is not
enough to go into politics armed only with your professional skills.
The first thing any professional who comes into politics realizes is
that the technical and professional skills acquired outside of politics
are mostly of limited usefulness in the sphere of partisan politics and
public service. That you are the most published or cited Professor in
your field or the most brilliant and high-flying accountant, banker,
lawyer or doctor will not automatically translate into success in
politics.
Politics takes a lot of learning and unlearning. As an Engineer or
Doctor or Banker your training makes you take precision very seriously.
Any hint of ‘compromise’ in any of these fields would immediately
suggest professional misconduct.
But in the field of partisan politics, compromise is not only
acceptable, in many cases it would be a necessity, a condition for
progress. Let me quickly make it clear here that I am not referring to
‘ethical’ compromise, but instead, to pragmatism – what the German
politician and statesman German Statesman Otto von Bismarck had in mind
when he said, and I quote, that “Politics is the art of the possible.”
Mr Sanwo-olu with Ag VC, Dean, BoT Chairman and Exco Members, UNILAGFEAA
Many of the decisions you will be faced with will not be clear-cut
choices between good and bad, but instead more complicated scenarios.
Politics is the art of making difficult decisions; foregoing present
comfort for future progress.
It is never about insisting you must have your way, but instead about
considering the often-incompatible wishes and desires of large numbers
of stakeholders and forging an acceptable course of action out of it.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, politics requires
different skills and strengths and abilities, many of which will have to
be learnt and imbibed, some the hard way.
Successful politics requires tact, it requires humility, it requires
empathy. You will have to give some and take some, even when you feel
like you deserve to take everything and give nothing.
You require people skills, you have to be comfortable with people, you
cannot afford to be arrogant or impatient. Politics is more about
emotional intelligence than it is about intellectual and technocratic
knowledge.
People will not always understand; in many cases they will misunderstand
motives and intentions. Often, it’s a case of damned if you do and
damned if you don’t. Politics is not a turf for self-pity or for the
faint hearted.
It is about having the confidence to make a decision, having satisfied
yourself that you have sought counsel and you are acting for the good of
the majority.
It is about seeing the long-term even when the short-term threatens to
be distracting. Here in Lagos I can boldly say that my administration is
benefiting from the existence of a blue print that has been laid out
since democracy returned to Nigeria in 1999.
That blueprint has made governance easier and more seamless. Lasting
change takes time, and we are privileged in Lagos to have inherited a
culture of innovation and service that we can build on.
And it is my sincere hope and desire that I can build on the solid
foundation I inherited and carry the vision forward such that tomorrow,
my successor will be as grateful for it as I am today.
Let me say again how happy I am that the topic of today’s lecture
tries to connect politics and development. Let me share a few thoughts
on development, as I see it.
Nigeria, like every other country around the world, is on a journey in
search of growth and development. At Independence we were classified as a
developing country, but sadly, sixty years later, we are still
classified as developing.
In that same period of time, a number of other countries that were in
the same situation as us in 1960 have since left us behind. The
countries that regularly get mentioned in these comparisons are Asian
countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, but even a European
country like Norway was in the same category as Nigeria in the early
1960s.
Today those countries are all way ahead of us, in terms of
industrialization, life expectancy, human capital development indices,
per capita income, infrastructure, and so on. And we all instinctively
understand that this is what development means – consistent forward
movement. And this is what seems to have eluded us in Nigeria over the
decades.
But we also need to realize that we cannot afford to be discouraged or
complacent. It is important to look at what has worked for us in the
past, or is working in the present, and see what we can learn from it,
to better guarantee future growth and development.
We must be deliberate and methodical about development, it cannot be left to chance. And this is where our training as professionals will come in handy. In our various fields of study and career, we have been trained to follow procedures, to pay attention to standards, to measure things, and to anticipate risks and manage them. These skills must somehow be carried over into the space of politics and governance, alongside the ‘soft’ skills of empathy, negotiation, humility, compromise, generosity that I touched on earlier.
So, this is the edge that we have as career professionals – we are
able to bring to bear on our politics extra skills and capabilities that
can make a difference in governance. We can combine political skills
with professional skills and use this combination to add value to
governance.
We must realize that the professional skills and habits and ways of
thinking that we have picked up and honed over the years can be useful
not just in the lecture theatres, research laboratories or the
boardrooms, but also within the corridors of power. I have no doubt that
the training I received as a surveyor and subsequently as a banker has
made me a much better public servant and politician than I would have
been without that training.
And this I think is the final lesson I would like to leave with you, as I
conclude this address. The best politicians will bring to their work a
combination of hard technocratic and soft political skills.
The political skills are of course always the most important elements;
no one can succeed without them. But the value that a technocratic
background also confers must never be taken for granted or
underestimated.
On this note, I hope that I have been able to enlighten on my ideas
regarding the place of professionals, or technocrats, in politics; and
the interplay of politics and technocracy.
I do not claim to have all the answers or insights, of course. I would
certainly not mind if my lecture today has raised as many questions as
answers. I hope that the conversation can continue beyond here and now,
and that there will be further enriching additions and contributions to
follow.
I thank you once again for inviting me to deliver this lecture, I am truly honored.
God bless the UNILAG Faculty of Engineering Alumni Association.
God bless the University of Lagos.
God bless Lagos State.
and
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Thank you.
Delivered as the UNILAG Faculty of Engineering Alumni Association, UNILAGFEAA, 3rd ALUMNI LECTURE 2019, at the Main Auditorium, University of Lagos, on 12th December 2019.
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