Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday, said the global COVID-19 pandemic has clearly underscored the need for the people to adopt a lifestyle of continuous strategising and repositioning to keep up with new realities.
The Governor, who stated this while declaring open a two-day virtual training for members of the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO) on Protocol, Security and Etiquette, said the pandemic is a perfect pointer to the fact that people must be willing to constantly review, adjust and innovate to suit changing times.
He said, “It is important that we keep restrategising and positioning ourselves for optimum performance in the future. It is important because life, as we used to know it, has been drastically altered and we need to adapt and innovate with the changing times. We can only do this effectively when we are willing to review, adjust and innovate to suit changing times, priorities and needs. In the new normal, this is an absolute must”.
Sanwo-Olu commended COWLSO leadership for not allowing the emergence of the virus to slow down the activities of the Committee, saying "that in itself, was made possible through innovation".
“I must say that much of this year has gone by in a blur amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic that has ravaged much of the world to date, with Lagos State and Nigeria at large not being spared. We are, however, emerging slowly out of the perilous season, even though there is still so much we do not know about the virus or the rate of contagion”, he said. Applauding the COWLSO team, the Governor stated that “It is, therefore, apt and pleasing to note that this conference is being conducted virtually, a sign of our new season and times and it is the third in series of the seminar organised for COWLSO members. I want to thank the First Lady, Lagos State, Mrs. Claudiana Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu and the wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Oluremi Hamzat for not allowing the pandemic to slow them down. They have taken advantage of the difficult times we face to educate members of the Committee”. Speaking on the essence of the workshop, he said it was designed to enhance the professional skills of COWLSO members in representational duties, coupled with a solid and sufficient grasp of the security implication of State assignments, while supporting their spouses who hold key public positions. In his words: “As spouses of the officials of the Lagos State Government, you all have very key important roles to play in shaping, influencing and communicating the policies and programmes of our administration. This can only be done when you have been properly equipped through such training as these”. He enjoined participants to make the best of the training to benefit the society, imploring them to influence lives, especially in their places of worship and the larger society, to achieve a better nation. The Governor also expressed solidarity with COWLSO leadership and members as they plan for the 20th edition of the annual National Women Conference scheduled to hold between the 14th and 15th of October, 2020, just as he promised to extend necessary support to the committee. In her opening remarks, COWLSO Chairman and Lagos State First Lady, Dr. (Mrs.) Claudiana Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu said the training is in line with the vision of the founding mothers of the Committee towards training and retraining of members to complement their spouses in delivering good governance to the people. She said, “Our world and times are changing and so we too have to continuously do a needs assessment and improve ourselves. We need to be ‘Incident Commanders’ at all times in our homes, environment, State and Nation”. “We need to bridge the gaps in communicating the ideals of the government to our people; be the listening ear, be the voice of the voiceless galvanising the youths and women, caring for the aged, lifting each other up, teaching technology to the grassroots women in rural areas, having a clean environment, better health facilities, improved learning techniques, having clearer and sharper communication skills and defending the welfare of our State and country at all times”, the First Lady said.
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