HABIB ARUNA/
The first few days of Akinwunmi Ambode as the Governor of Lagos are adding up as eventful as his 52years on planet earth. Consider these: within only a few hours of his inauguration, Ambode announced well-received appointments, including the choice of the urbane and respected journalist, Tunji Bello as the Secretary to the State Government.
In less than a fortnight of Ambode’s ascension, he has visited scenes of fatal petrol tanker explosions at Iyana Ipaja and Idimu; he has met oil industry stakeholders; he has set up a committee and charged them to work out ways of putting an end to the excesses of fuel tanker drivers; he has met senior editors to honour them and establish the points that he will partner with the media as the Fourth Estate of the Realm.
It’s quite a handful with even more events yet to be mentioned. But to have a complete picture of the unfolding personality of the new governor of Lagos state one needs to look at the journey of his life: Ambode spent close to 30years in the public service in Lagos; he has straddled the local government system, where he reached the apex in the service; he went on to become the Auditor-General of Lagos State; he judiciously handled the finances of the state when the central government under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government seized the federal allocation due to Lagos such that the state did not go under or go abegging to fund its people-oriented projects.
Academically, Ambode received intellectual exposure in some of the world’s best universities including Harvard and Pennsylvania; and when he wanted more action and felt he wasn’t challenged enough to offer his services to society, Ambode left the public service for the private sector where again, he launched into several thriving enterprises. Now Ambode is back to the public service, this time as the elected governor of Lagos state. What a life!
What is he going to give the people this time around? Most of us are getting a hint of what this illustrious successor of the great legacies of Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Mr. Babatunde Fashola is up to, not necessarily from his worthy past or experiences. Our takeaway is from what the man has done in only a fortnight. As the old saying goes, the morning shows the day. What you do in the morning charts the course of the day. What you do with your youth determines what you make of your old age.
The principal characteristic of Ambode’s speech when he was sworn in was to pledge that ideas would form the fulcrum of his reign. Put another way, creativity would be allowed to blossom such that Lagos under him would accommodate the dream of every citizen. If Tinubu laid the foundation of excellence, and Fashola built on it, Ambode would exploit the successes of these two brave men to forge even more formidable exploits based on these invincible resources: creativity, ideas, dreams and the people.
Let’s hear him: “Creativity is the most valuable asset in any public institution. Progressive governments must reward contributors of good ideas. Therefore wherever practicable, we shall practice government by incentives and not by enforcement. We shall implement creative ideas and concepts that reduce the cost of running governments; ideas that make life simpler and happier for our people. I therefore invite you all to join hands with me to offer new ideas that will put resources to cater for the poor and needy amongst us. This will be a compassionate government.”
When you are armed with these – vision, ideas, creativity and human resources – you can’t fail. Ambode’s own life proves this. At a time Obasanjo had conspired to have Lagos as the only opposition state in the South West and he had gone ahead to strip the state naked financially as it were, Ambode called upon his creative professional acumen to steer the state through. He did not need oil money to do it. The story of how he performed the magic when nobody expected Lagos under the uncompromising and principled Tinubu to survive will be fully told one day.
But it is heart-warming that the man Tinubu’s government and the whole of Lagos counted on for survival is here again, and one more time at a critical point when oil wealth coming to the states from the central government is at its lowest depth. He isn’t scared at all by the challenges. On the contrary, Ambode is excited that he has work to do, that his skills of financial prudence are being put at the disposal of his fatherland.
These are his words: “The challenges we face today as a state are good enough ingredients to bring out the best of all of us. Together, we shall push forward and not look back, with our hands firmly on the plough. We would work hard to tackle poverty, ignorance and social decadence in our state.”
As we celebrate Ambode at 52 today, the thinking is that he has not arrived, even if materially he is classed as among the Joneses. He has not arrived in the sense that he wants to be judged more by how he strives to lift the poor from their poverty, how his government initiates and pursues policies to identify the administration as a compassionate one, how his team relates with the man in the street, how state institutions help the people to live their dreams, how a person of little substance but brimful of ideas and creativity would be honoured and rewarded, and in a word, how “everyone must have a voice in my administration.”
The cynic in our skeptical society would want to pooh-pooh this mission statement of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as a tall order. But before they do it, I invite them to examine the lives of remarkable men and women. It was their great dreams and dogged pursuit of these dreams that earned them a place in history.
I wish you a Happy Birthday sir, as you seek a place in history!
Haruna is the Chief Press Secretary to the Lagos State governor

The Man, Ambode
Akinwunmi Ambode was born on June 14, 1963 to the late Festus Akinwale Ambode (a teacher). His mother, Christianah Oluleye Ambode (nee Oresanya) was an entrepreneur.
Educational Background.
Akinwumi Ambode had his primary education at St. Jude’s Primary School, Ebutte Meta, Lagos. After his primary school, he gained admission into Federal Government College, Warri, Delta State in the year 1974. He later gained admission into the University of Lagos, where he studied Accounting and graduated in the year 1984 at the age of 21. He became a chartered accountant at the age of 24, also having his Masters Degree in Accounting.
Career.
Akinwunmi Ambode practiced his profession in the Lagos State civil service. He worked as an accountant, an administrator and a public finance management expert. He founded Brandsmiths Consulting Limited – a firm that specializes in public sector finance management. He served as the Assistant Treasurer, Badagry Local Government. He worked at the Shomolu Local Government as an Auditor. Mushin Local Government appointed him a Council Traesurer. In the year 2005 he became the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Lagos Sate. Eventually he was appointed the Accountant-General of Lagos State.
Akinwunmi Ambode is a member of several professional bodies including: Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and a Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management. He is also the founder of La Roche Leadership Foundation, a non-profit organization whose primary aim is developing the next generation of leaders.
Ambode is married to Bolanle Patience Ambode (nee Odukomaiya).
Source: nigerianbiography.com