By Sunday Ani
Prose stylist and biographer, Dr. Lanre Alfred, has released a new seminal work to celebrate Governor Sanwo-Olu’s 60th birthday.
Titled, ‘The Man Who Carried a City,’ the book, which chronicled Sanwo-Olu’s biography is a tribute to his 60th birthday, coming up on June 25, 2025. It also captured the evolution of his public life, starting from his formative years to his emergence as the Governor of Lagos State.
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Dr. Alfred said the decision to write the book was to pay tribute to a man, whose governance defies the noisy theatrics of politics and replaces it with quiet, consistent devotion to the people. “Governor Sanwo-Olu is not simply a public servant. He is a civic artisan, meticulous, selfless and deeply humane. He governs with empathy, listening more than he speaks and building more than he boasts.
“We all know that these days, governance has been reduced to sound-bites and spectacle, but he has shown that power can be wielded with grace, and leadership can thrive on humility. He has mastered the art of presence and commitment to the people without being performative. This book is my way of preserving that rare philosophy of service,” he stated.
Citing the country’s chronic amnesia as a critical flaw in its cultural and political memory, he said: “One of the great failings of our nation is our inability to document the journeys of those who have truly served. Nigeria is poor not for lack of heroes, but for lack of memory. We do not archive greatness when it blooms among us; we let it wither in silence. I wrote this book because Sanwo-Olu’s story, including his sacrifices, vision and silent triumphs, must not be left to the mercy of rumour or forgetfulness.”
He stressed that the Governor’s legacy transcends brick and mortar, as well as rails and bridges, to the quiet strength of a man who bore the weight of Lagos with composure, from the darkest moments of 2020 to the enduring pressures of rebuilding a megacity. “It would be unjust to history to let such a burden of grace go undocumented,” he added.
The author also described the governor as a public servant deeply attuned to the pulse of his people, translating citizen voices into state policy.
According to Alfred, this volume is more than a birthday gift; it is a civic intervention. He said it is a historical compass for youth and leaders alike, especially at a time when society yearns for authentic role models.
“The biography not only chronicled his achievements from infrastructural renaissance to social investment, crisis management and cultural revitalisation, but also captured the soul of the man behind the office,” he said.
In ‘Ibijoke,’ a chapter on the governor’s wife, Alfred explored the bond between husband and wife as a stabilising force in his journey, depicting love, not as leisure but as a legacy.
Deputy Editor of ThisDay Newspaper, Olawale Olaleye, who wrote the foreword to the book, said the book has not only done justice to his leadership as he steps into the sixth floor on June 25, it has also done so without taking anything away from the truth of the accounts of his stewardship thus far.
Olaleye further wrote: “From one crisis to another, Sanwo-Olu has experienced such hard-to-believe baptism of fire in the last seven years. Yet, he has taken his travails of leadership with equanimity and grace, a quality that sets him apart and establishes a different standard for whoever eventually succeeds him.”
The book also distilled six decades of service, sacrifice and civic calling into a gallery of defining moments that mirror not just his life, but Lagos itself.
As Nigeria looks towards the future, ‘The Man Who Carried a City’ stands as both a mirror and a map, reflecting the trials of leadership and charting paths for those who would dare carry a city on their backs.
The post Lanre Alfred celebrates Sanwo-Olu @ 60 with book appeared first on The Sun Nigeria.
