My Unquestionable Support For Sanwo-Olu/Tinubu -Emmanuel Amuwo
Published by Borderless Media
My journey with the APC family began in 2014 when I approached Ambode Campaign Organization (AMCO) with a proposal including one to boost President Buhari’s campaign because I have always been a secret admirer of Bola Tinubu and never had the opportunity to meet him.
As a content and strategy creator who was hopeful for a better Nigeria while trying to rightly position myself, I went all out to support Ambode and Buhari using my personal funds which some of my colleagues and relatives saw as a fruitless effort. Of a truth I tried to gain recognition by proposing different ideas when Ambode emerged, all to no avail.
In the year 2018, I initiated the Proactive Voluntary Campaign Team which comprised of vibrant youths. Our aim of setting up the team was to creatively sensitize Nigerians on how to get their PVC and also vote right.
While we used our personal funds for movements and other things , it was necessary that we reached out to political parties to prepare their plans, if elected. As a novel group, we couldn’t have organised physical events across different states , but we had coordinators in all the 6 geopolitical zones.
Narrowing down our physical activities to Lagos State, we reached out to most relevant political parties with structures and invited them to an event where they get to meet with a unique set of youth “Entertainment Models” whose population at that time was over 150,000 in Lagos State and with millions of social media followers.
The event was to enable the aspirants to share their plans for youth and the state in general. To successfully implement this program, we sent letters, text messages ,WhatsApp messages and reminders, but all to no avail.
We later decided to narrow it down to APC, PDP and ADP and we tried scheduling meeting with them all, but still no response from two of them except for APC through Dr Femi Hamzat who is now the Deputy Governor. It was a great time as I spent close to 2 hours with Dr Femi Hamzat discussing issues and what we hope to achieve with the event. At the end of the meeting, he supported the event with a sum of One Million Naira. Although we spent close to four million naira.
All I wanted was just a voice and good Governance. All I was concerned about was a Governor that will listen and commit to developing the youth with the mindset of improving the state by investing in them.
The event came and YES it was an avenue to sell the candidacy of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Dr Hamzat which I didn’t hesitate to do , giving the models reason why we should support Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
With no iota of doubt , the support we gave added to the victory which we are still grateful for.
A flash back, during one of our outings, I met with Mr Olusegun Dawodu who was later appointed as the Honourable Commissioner for Youth when Governor Sanwo-Olu appointed his cabinet members. It was a big surprise when I received a text message that I have been selected to be amongst the THINK TANK for his office.
My dealings with the office of the Lagos State Commissioner for Youth has further opened my eyes to Governance and to the Glory of God, I have been part of the committee for different youth empowerment initiatives.
In the year 2021, I needed to be sure of my stance and not to feel guilty at the end of the administration. I have been condemned by friends and families because of my support for Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu led administration. On the 25th of June 2021 through the LASGOBIG platform which I founded, I engaged different Lagos State ministries to come and showcase their two years achievements since this administration came into power. With no iota of doubt , the independent evaluators scored Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu above 70% which isn’t bad for a government that battle with the pandemic and then endsars that led to massive destructions of some amenities.
Furthermore , to ensure the evaluators were not bias in their evaluation, I did another engagement with Lagos State MDAs in December with the aim of giving them the Avenue to showcase youth focused initiatives they have embarked on with different youth leaders across the State in attendance along side different journalist.
It was clear that Lagos State is blessed to have Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at this pivotal period and he has been able to manage the affairs of the State to the best despite the different challenges.
No doubt people will always expect more from the government and that I am not against, but it is also important for the citizens to understand that governance is a collective effort and for the government to perform better, there has to be a synergy between the government and the people, this means it is important for citizens to also know that they have a part to play.
Through different ministries and agencies, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu led administration has created different opportunities for youth that are yet to be fully harnessed.
It is no news that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has made his second term ambition known and has also won the primaries. I have not seen anyone worthy to take over the mantle of leadership of the State and handle it better.
For Continuity in Progressiveness, I urge Lagosians especially youth to support the second term agenda of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Moreso, the emergence of a great Leader ,father and a mentor , the Jagaban of Borgu, HE Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a sign of restoration of Hope and purpose for Nigerians most especially youth who have given up or about to.
Emmanuel Amuwo is a youth advocate, the Principal Consultant at Horizontal Initiative Concept LTD, the founder of LASGOBIG and the Head Coordinator of THE BATSO PROJECT,an initiative to create massive support for Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Sanwo-Olu.
