Sanwo-Olu: Govt’s Inability to Properly Communicate Policy is Why People Misread

•Fayemi: Nigeria rich in minerals, poor in natural resource governance, development

Olawale Olaleye

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, weekend, at the King’s College in London, said the government’s inability to properly communicate their policies was why people misunderstood and misread them.

 Speaking during the “In Conversation Session” at the African Week 2026, Sanwo-Olu said one of his instructive take-off points as the governor of Lagos State was because he knew that the state must be governed, not as a problem to be managed, but as a platform to be unlocked.

Sanwo-Olu, who seized the platform to market the state and his administration of nearly eight years, said apart from Lagos being the most cosmopolitan urban city in the country, Nigeria also derived its strength from the state.

 Also, a former governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who delivered a keynote address a day earlier, said, although Nigeria was rich in minerals, it was however poor in natural resource governance and development.

 Addressing the topic, “Exercising Agency Beyond the Nation-State” at the Bush House, Central Block, King’s College, Sanwo-Olu, said the theme was both timely and important, adding that, “For a long time, much of the conversation about power, development and influence has been framed almost exclusively around national governments.”

 Answering questions on some of the policies of the government, especially the Makoko demolition, Sanwo-Olu said, “I must admit that governments generally are poor communicators. Our inability to properly communicate our policies is why people misread and misunderstand them.”

According to him, decisions and actions of the government were usually for the overall good of the people, but because the government barely communicated them well, people misread the good intentions behind them and tagged them inimical to their interest.

Discussing why Lagos was relevant in the scheme of things, he said, “Lagos is not simply one state in a federation. Lagos is a living argument about African possibility. It occupies a very small fraction of Nigeria’s landmass, yet it has grown into one of the most economically consequential urban centres on the continent. 

“By current estimates, Lagos is now Africa’s second-largest city economy, with GDP at roughly $259 billion on a purchasing power parity basis. 

“It remains Nigeria’s principal commercial gateway, a major destination for capital, enterprise, talent and ideas, and one of the clearest examples anywhere in Africa of how a sub-national government can shape not only local outcomes, but wider regional and global conversations. 

“But Lagos is not important only because of its size. It is important because of what it represents. It is youthful. It is restless. It is diverse. It is globally connected. It is a city that absorbs people, ambition and pressure at extraordinary speed. 

“We currently estimate a median age of just 23.5, a very large working-age youth population, strong female labour- force participation, and more than 2,000 new migrants arriving daily. Those numbers are not abstract. 

“They mean that every day in Lagos, the demands on transport, housing, health systems, schools, security, the environment and jobs are renewed in real time. That is the context in which we govern. 

Sanwo-Olu explained that, “Another reason Lagos is relevant to this conversation is that it demonstrates how policy and enterprise can reinforce each other. Lagos has emerged as the anchor of Nigeria’s startup landscape and one of the most dynamic technology ecosystems in the world. 

“Lagos was recently ranked the world’s fastest-growing tech ecosystem, in that it hosts more than 2,000 startups, and has produced five unicorns across fintech and digital commerce. 

“What this tells us is something profound: Agency in the 21st century is not exercised only through ministries and memoranda. It is also exercised through enabling platforms, regulation, talent formation, connectivity, payments infrastructure and the confidence to let innovation scale. 

“In Lagos, we have tried to create an environment where the government does not suffocate enterprise, but rather clears a path for it. That same story is true in the creative economy. One of the great mistakes often made about African cities is to treat culture as an accessory rather than as economic infrastructure. Lagos teaches a different lesson. 

“In Lagos, music is an industry. Film is an industry. Fashion is an industry. Design is an industry. Digital content is an industry. Identity itself becomes productive capital. 

“Nollywood’s scale, the density of production companies in Lagos, the global reach of our musicians, the visibility of our fashion ecosystem, and even new frontiers such as technology- themed filmmaking all point to a city in which creativity is not merely expressive, but developmental. 

On his part, Fayemi, who spoke on the topic: “From Passenger to Pilot: Critical Minerals, Energy Transition, and the Future of Resource Governance in Africa,” said though Nigeria was rich in minerals, but poor in natural resource governance and development, adding that why it was indispensable to the global economy, it was disposable within it.

According to him, “Bush House has always provided a space for global conversations for the greater part of the last century and ideas emanating from such conversations have contributed to shaping our world. 

“Tonight, we add another layer to that history. The important topic for my keynote address is “Critical Minerals, Energy Transition and the Future of Resource Governance in Africa.”

“This topic is not merely a policy question; rather it is a defining question of our generation, our current reality and I want to congratulate the convener, Dr Sefa Nyarko for the ‘Justice in Critical Minerals Governance and Energy Transition’ project being formally launched today as it is precisely the kind of initiative we need – one that asks not just ‘what can we extract but who defines what is critical?’, but ‘who benefits, who loses and who decides?”. 

“Indeed, only two weeks ago, thirty-eight artisanal miners died with several others injured at an underground mine that collapsed in Zurak, in the mineral-rich Plateau State of Nigeria. I still see communities where the school is a crumbling shack, even as trucks laden with ore rumble past them toward the coast. It is the same story across the continent.

Fayemi explained that, “The global political economy is currently undergoing a structural transformation comparable in scale and consequence to the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century. 

In his final take, the former Ekiti governor stated: “As we gather here today, the message is clear, Africa is no longer a testing ground for external experiments. It is a strategic actor, a partner, and a co-creator in shaping the future of global energy and resource governance.