Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has reiterated the commitment of his administration to upholding the tenets of democracy in the state.
Sanwo-Olu said this on Friday during the Lagos State Government Youth Pro-Democracy Webinar in Commemoration of the 27th Anniversary of June 12 and Democracy Day 2020.
The online celebration, with the theme, ”June 12: Learning From the Past, Shaping the Future,” was moderated by Dayo Israel, a United Nations Special Representative and British Council Global Change-Maker.
The governor said that the state government would ensure that governance was for the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
”As your governor, I assure you that the tenets of democracy will continue to live. We will continue to make democracy our guiding principles, that it is the greatest good for the greatest number.
”We will ensure that the sacred ballot that our citizens has given to us will be held to the highest level of responsibility and we will hold it with the highest level of commitment to ensure that the commitment that was given to us by the people is not thrown away,” Sanwo-Olu said.
According to him, democracy is about governance for the people and by the people, hence, government must ensure that the people are at the front burner of whatever they do.
He said the whole essence of democracy was for the vulnerable, the voiceless in the society, hence, they must not be left behind.
”As your governor sitting here today, that is what I have signed to, those are my commitments to all of you and I keep saying there are opportunities to work it and nothing will stop us until we achieve a democracy that we look forward to,” Sanwo-Olu said.
The governor said it was important that the younger generation understood the conversation that led to the struggle around June 12.
”It is important that they appreciate what June 12 was all about, what led to the struggle – Pre and Post June 12 – and being able to tie it to the democracy we see today,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu said there was need to give credit to the people that ensured that democracy came to stay in the country.
He said that there was need to continue to talk about the struggle around June 12, 1993, as it was the reason why some people were in full elective positions today.
”We have seen elections that has now happened back-to-back in the country, we are now in 21 years of untruncated, unaborted democratic process, so we need to give credit to the people that ensured that democracy came to stay in the country.
”We believe that democracy in Nigeria has come to stay, it is important that the younger generation understand the conversations that led to the struggle around June 12,” Sanwo-Olu said.
In his closing remarks, Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, appreciated all those who sacrificed for the emergence of democracy, adding that their labour would not go in vain.
Hamzat stressed the importance of data, as it was extremely essential for the development of a nation.
”Data gathering will allow transparency, planning and efficient record keeping. It will help for proper planning and documentation purposes,” he said.
The deputy governor appealed to veteran journalists such as Dele Alake and Babafemi Ojudu, who were part of the June 12 struggles and the emergence of democracy, to write memoirs for younger generations to learn more about the history.
‘The state government will work toward building a museum but through your memoirs which can be bought or accessed via social media, the younger generations will learn about the history of Nigeria and appreciate it,” he said.
