Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has officially drop the title,
‘Your Excellency’ nomenclature, saying he should now be addressed simply
as ‘Mr. Governor.’
Sanwo-Olu, in a statement on Wednesday said in the last five months that
he had been privileged to exercise the mandate freely given to him by
the great and hardworking people of Lagos State, it had come to his
consciousness to review certain features of citizen-government relations
which impeded the genuine expression of the democratic spirit of the
society and the meaningful exercise of the sovereignty of our people.
“The office of the Governor has been celebrated as the paragon of
excellence, a temple of perfection and a throne of purity. This demi-god
mystique spreads over the entire machinery of the executive arm of the
government, symbolising an authoritarian disposition on the governed. It
has deformed the orientation of elected and appointed persons who are
paid from the taxes of the people to see themselves as oppressors who
can do no wrong and must be served, rather than serve the people.
“Whatever might have been the reason for this myth, let us be honest,
the office is occupied by a mortal who has been called upon to serve the
electorate with humility – and sincerity. The office of Governor is a
public trust that calls for sacrifice, modesty and willingness to add
value to the lives of the people,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu added that he had come to the conclusion that “for us to
change the narrative of governance, we have to strike down this seeming
symbol of executive arrogance that commands popular obeisance and
undermines the democratic role of citizens as the masters of those they
have elected and appointed to serve.
“It is a conviction that I believe will send the right signals to all
politicians and civil servants that service to the people has brought us
here. It is the duty we are obliged to do. It is the responsibility
that we bear wherever we find ourselves; whenever we are called to
serve.
“Only God, the Almighty, the Creator, the Protector is the Most
Excellent. No man can share His eternal qualities. Thenceforth, I wish
to be addressed simply as Mr. Governor, a title that will constantly
remind me that I have been chosen out of so many fellow compatriots to
lead a collective salvage of our political economy.
“A salutation that sanitises the paraphernalia of office and reminds us
all of our imperfections and mortality. To give official effect to this
announcement, I shall issue tomorrow an executive order that will
formally ensure full compliance with this new policy.”
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