Hamzat’s Lagos Promise
At the age of 14, he met the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who was passing by his alma mater, Oliver High School, Oyo.
Following what would later prove to be a defining handshake, the Elder Statesman told him: “When people of honour and intelligence rule a nation, the future is bright.”
From that day, the message shaped the future pursuits of Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, who, on May 29 next year, will assume the leadership of the state after 22 years in various leadership positions in Lagos. He is set to become the fifth chief executive of Africa’s fifth-largest economy since the beginning of the Fourth Republic.
Hamzat’s father, Oba Mufutau Olatunji Hamzat, it will be recalled, served as a Commissioner in Lagos under the leadership of the Second Republic Action Governor, the late Alhaji Lateef Jakande.
During his tenure, the first phase of the metro rail project, conceived to run from Yaba to Mile 2, was initiated in 1982 as part of Jakande’s resolve to address the transportation challenges of the Lagos metropolis by moving large numbers of people through an efficient mass transit system.
Today, it is an irony of history that, 21 years after the project was terminated, Hamzat’s son, Kadri, became part of the government that revived the dream and delivered the Lagos Blue Line. The state has since added the Red Line, and Hamzat, who remains the man to beat in next year’s governorship election, has promised to connect the two lines at Marina and partner with investors to kick-start the construction of the 68-kilometre Green Line, planned to run from Marina through the Lekki corridor.
The third metro line is among the 100 projects the governorship hopeful hopes to implement within his first four years in office.
Although the plan is undoubtedly ambitious, Hamzat, who has been part of Lagos’ power corridor since 2005, when he was appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to head the Ministry of Science and Technology, declared last Friday, while presenting his Seven-Point Agenda tagged The Lagos Promise, that 87 of the 100 projects could be executed within the state’s available resources.
By all calculations, Hamzat has little excuse to fail, particularly with his boss of the last eight years, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, urging him to leverage his wealth of experience to move Lagos forward.
For a man who is making history as the first Deputy Governor in the current political dispensation to succeed his principal after eight years in office, Sanwo-Olu’s baton should not be too heavy to carry.
In Sanwo-Olu’s words, “We have run the state together for eight years, not failing, not falling.”
To justify his boss’s confidence, Hamzat must, in the words of his predecessor, listen to the people who elected them and finish the work: “Every line, every bridge, every hub.”
That is a task he must accomplish within four years.
From his experience as Technology Commissioner, Commissioner for Works and Special Adviser to former Federal Works Minister, Babatunde Fashola, his former boss, Hamzat has accumulated considerable experience in governance and infrastructure development. He, therefore, has no reason to fail.
But will Hamzat be able to match his own targets, particularly after challenging Lagosians to assess his performance every 100 days based on the implementation of game-changing projects in healthcare, education, rail, power, youth development and transportation, including his plan to increase the state’s bus fleet to 4,000?
Having served in key ministries in the state over the last 21 years and benefited from both local and international exposure, Hamzat possesses the expertise to appoint competent Commissioners, advisers and other professionals capable of driving his ambitious 100-project agenda under the seven pillars of his PROMISE framework.
Today’s Lagos, unlike the city of his late father’s era, is bursting at the seams, with an estimated population of 23 million residents. This is a far cry from the estimayed 4.13 million people who lived in the state between 1979 and 1983, when his father served under Jakande.
However, with an annual Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of N1.666 trillion, accounting for approximately 76 per cent of the state’s N4.4 trillion budget for 2026, and the potential for further revenue expansion, Hamzat has the financial and institutional foundation to deliver on his promises. Neither should he have an excuse to fail.
Having declared his seven-pillar manifesto, built around People, Renewal, Opportunity, Machinery, Inclusion, Security and Resilience, and Everyday Dignity, Hamzat must justify the confidence Sanwo-Olu has demonstrated in passing the baton to him.
He must listen and finish the work, line by line, project by project, so that, in Sanwo-Olu’s words, “Let no Lagosian ever say that what we started together was abandoned.”
Sanwo-Olu’s candid message to Hamzat is also a reminder that he must not become carried away by the trappings of power to the extent of abandoning the existing development blueprint for a personal agenda.
The development plans initiated by President Tinubu and other Lagos leaders in 1999 were designed to sustain the state’s pace-setting image as the Centre of Excellence. Hamzat must therefore ensure continuity while introducing fresh ideas and initiatives that will take Lagos to greater heights.
For the Centre of Excellence to continue to flourish under his leadership, particularly as he seeks to establish a new University of Medicine, build more homes, establish additional schools and commit more resources to promoting youth entrepreneurship, he must tread carefully and avoid rupturing the political platform that brought him to power.
Sanwo-Olu’s message carries considerable weight because he speaks from experience. His own predecessor, Akinwunmi Ambode, attempted to upset the established political order and ultimately paid a heavy political price.
His words, “When your own time comes, hand over the way you were handed over to, so someone can run a similar race and understand the journey of Lagos,” constitute a candid piece of advice to his deputy and friend not to cut or burn the bridges upon which he rode to power.
Both Sanwo-Olu and his successor, Hamzat, are fortunate to have experienced the workings of the Lagos political and administrative system from within. They must, therefore, be careful in managing the delicate political platform that brought them to power.
For Hamzat, his enduring cool-headedness, humility and forthrightness are vital attributes that he must sustain and embrace as guiding principles for a successful administration.
Ultimately, The Lagos Promise must be more than an ambitious political manifesto. It must become a covenant with the people of Lagos, one measured not merely by the number of projects announced but by the lives transformed, the infrastructure delivered and the opportunities created.
The real test of Hamzat’s leadership will be his ability to build on the foundations laid by his predecessors while giving Lagosians a compelling reason to believe that the best days of their state are still ahead.
