The Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and his wife, Ibijoke, on Friday visited the Lagos Island Maternity Hospital, Broad Street and some other hospitals in different parts of the state to celebrate Eid-el-Kabir with in-patients and health practitioners.
The governor and his wife, while at the various hospitals chatted with the patients and the medical personnel, cheered them up, encouraged them and also prayed for their recovery.
Sanwo-Olu, who spoke to journalists, said his unscheduled visit to Lagos Island Maternity, was to share Eid-el-Kabir moments with those in the hospital at a time when every other person was in a joyous mood at home.
“It is really about the season. So, if you reflect, Eid-el-Kabir is about the season of love. It is about the season of remembering one another. So, people are remembering Prophet Ibrahim; he slaughtered ram, which showed it is a season of giving.
“There are people on two sides, the medical officers on the frontline that are meant to be at work but more importantly are patients who for one reason or the other, cannot be with their loved ones,” he said.
Justifying his decision to pay unscheduled visit to health practitioners and in-patients at the hospitals, Sanwo-Olu said: “I felt that this is the best place to come and show love; not just to see them but to encourage them and to give them little support from myself and my government.
“Coming here, we would also see things around ourselves. It is an unscheduled visit. So, we didn’t prompt anything. I saw them in their natural habitat. You can see so many doctors and nurses are on duty and patients are also happy.
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“We have also seen several patients; mothers that gave birth overnight to fresh new born babies. So, it is just a season to come and thank God for them and their lives and for their families who are not here. For me, that is the most important thing.
“We all have to stay calm. It is a period we all need to understand that we need to stay calm and know that the government cares. We might not be ‘A Star’ but we have a good conscience. We have a good heart to do something good to almost everybody. I just want my citizens to see that if we have more resources, we will do a lot for them. This is just a simple way of saying thank you to everyone.”
On the recent viral video of a boy begging his mother to calm down while trying to punish him for an offence he committed, Sanwo-Olu said he believed strongly in paying attention and creating time for little things because there might be somebody somewhere who needed help.
He said: “You look at big things. But, you need to certainly create time for little things as well. That is the difference. You know, you are going to build a bridge and it is nice; but, you have somebody who is just somewhere who needs a help.
“Just this morning (Friday), we rescued somebody who was planning to jump at the Third Mainland Bridge all because he said he has a debt of N500,000. We had to rescue him and we paid the debt. Those little details are what make the difference.
“I don’t have two heads, I don’t have 15 fingers. We are still the same human beings. So, we need to show that human part of us while we are not losing sight of the big picture.
“The big picture is that we want to build roads, bridges and new schools. But, we also need to pay attention to little one like the young boy in that video. By the way, I have spoken to him and his mother. They are doing great and I will see him one of these days very soon.”
