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Managing Crises: The Example of Lagos
– July 8, 2018
David Adegoke
A tanker explosion of an apocalyptic magnitude occurs in Lagos, causing a horrendous number of human lives. mutilate several others. Many more vehicles are burned, others are burned to ashes, and dozens of citizens have been severely bruised in the process. Pronto, inhabitants of social media, moves to action, sending in the virtual space a pictorial, video and textual coverage of bloody scenes.
Soon, Nigerian phones begin to buzz with calls and messages from anxious compatriots in the diaspora. the location of their loved ones in the country. Are they caught in the fire? Are they close to the area of the accident? Are they safe? Where no immediate response follows, there is an urgent request to return a message to rebadure the agitated investigator.
But amidst this ruckus, something else causes a stir: the sudden appearance of the governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, in hours of tragedy, dressed in simple short sleeves and pants looking like a jeans. Those around are surprised. Why? There are two reasons for this: Nigerians do not have the habit of seeing their leaders arrive at the scene of disasters just moments after the breakdown of these incidents. Secondly, because he is not dressed in costume or agbada who is "uniform" with their leaders, there is more curiosity around the presence of the "I". man. The rumor ran that Ambode had arrived at the scene without warning, without fanfare. This inflates the crowd of spectators. The entire development deepens the link between the leader and the leader who would make a difference in governance by his empathic acumen when the people are bereaved.
A governor can build large bridges and roads with other physical infrastructure. That would put him on par with others who do it too. A leader can deliver moving speeches such as the Gettysburg speech delivered by US Civil War president Abraham Lincoln. But it would only be in the circle of other speakers like the former Roman senator and the late Ghana President Kwame Nkrumah. None of these distinguish him from the pack. You are not good if you walk on the beaten track; history would trap you in the "as-run" group. This is a category of footnote, hardly counted in the pages of the annals of a country
when it came to the scene of grief, blood and tears. (to use the words of one of Fela's legendary songs) both hope, comfort and lessons of empathic leadership that is lacking in our world. Evaluating the situation, the governor sympathized with the victims and comforted himself in "the fact (his government's quick response) was able to save more lives." We will continue to do our best and make sure that we mitigate things of this nature in the future … Nobody knows when this kind of incident will occur, but most importantly, our response time is operational and capable of saving lives. "[19659010TheobserverscongratulatedtheLagosadministrationforputtinginplaceadisastermanagementinfrastructurethatallowedtherescuetruckstoarriveatthescenewithin10minutesThiswasfastaccordingtoexpertswhoarguethatgivenourenvironmentandthesmotheringtrafficofthehourlossstatisticswouldhavebeenastronomicalsurpbadingthenineliveslostandmorethan50burnedvehicles
Really, it could have been worse with a fuel truck carrying 33000 liters of PMS free this fateful evening. "It was death on the lookout," commented Tope Ajayi, commentator of while advising Ambode to continue to invest more in staff and agencies in charge of the response functions. to accidents. That evening, the Governor of Lagos State provided the singularity we need in leadership and governance in Nigeria.
Ify Onyegbule, a well-known radio presenter in Lagos, captured the superlative performance of Ambode on her Facebook calendar: If you ask me, I think AkinwunmiAmbode would do well as president of Nigeria! He did not wait until the morning before going to the scene of the disaster. He never went to put his dhiki and buba over to go there just so that he was handsome in front of the camera. He has never asked that a red carpet be spread out so that he can walk on to the premises. Ambode did not arrive blaming the parked tanker or danfo that the brakes failed! In fact, the presidency must come to learn the model of Lagos … quote me on this subject! Enough of all the waste going on in Nigeria! "
Our leaders should not boast of adulation when they provide us with the dividends of democracy as we often call them, no doubt we will alert them when they do, but there is more to administering them. human beings, just like there is more to being a father at home than just providing money for family maintenance. "Ambode's succinct understanding of these leadership dynamics is what
But we should realize that in the long run, the applause is stronger for the government of which Ambode is a member because, without a group of such dedicated directors, he would have deserved little He is accompanied by competent accident management and rescue agencies who did a summer job last week on the Otedola Bridge.
What is the lesson here? Government must capitalize on this success by strengthening such institutions for the safety and welfare of the people of the state, as it is ready to badume the nascent status of Lagos as the main megacity of Africa of our time. In other words, it is sustainable state institutions that give honor to the government. This is what allowed us to greet the Lagos government last week.
Adegoke, a journalist from Surulere, Lagos
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