•Lagos deserves this and even more
It may well be a worthy cause whose time has come. But the overwhelmingly negative reaction to its formal presentation for consideration by the majority of the country’s senators failed to focus on the merits of the proposal. The emotionally charged unfavourable response and the intensely dramatic collision it provoked on the floor of the Senate were conveyed by a report that said: “Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who presided, banged the gavel several times for calm. As the disorder persisted, Ekweremadu sprang up from his seat, pleading for calm.”
The immediate cause of the October 5 contention was “A Bill for an Act to make provision for Federal grants to Lagos State in recognition of its strategic socio-economic significance and other connected purposes” sponsored by Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central). It is worth noting that opposition to the proposed legislation was based on a premise that is beside the point, which is that Lagos State already has enough to meet its present needs. Even if that were true, which is not the case, what about its future needs? After the bill was put to voice vote thrice, the naysayers won.
The reasoning that resulted in the defeat of the proposal was fundamentally flawed because it refused to accommodate the current reality as well as the dynamic expansion of the megacity, the country’s former capital which nevertheless remains its economic nerve centre, apart from being the veritable hub of the West African sub-region.
The key points of Senator Tinubu’s proposal deserve attention. She said: “It is incontrovertible that Lagos State generates much of Nigeria’s income outside its oil sector…Lagos is placed under a huge strain that affects its infrastructure…Other problems faced in Lagos include overcrowding, emergence of slums, over-stretched healthcare facilities, decreased productivity because of hours lost in traffic, environmental challenges. It is obvious that Lagos State has been left to deal with these pressures on its own at huge cost…”
This backdrop informed the proposed bill, which “ aims to remedy the remaining problems faced by residents and visitors in Lagos by empowering the Federal Government to make provisions for economic assistance through grants as provided for under section 164 sub-section (1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.” According to Senator Tinubu, “The bill allows the grants payable to be determined by the President and Commander-in-Chief on the recommendation of the Governor of Lagos State with the proviso that recommends the modest amount not less than one percent of the share of the revenue accruing to the Federal Government. The amount is payable upon appropriation by the National Assembly.”
It is proper to appreciate the import of the proposal and the far-sightedness of the proposer. There is no doubt that the burgeoning population of Lagos, a consequence of several factors including, notably, the irresistible attraction of the space as a metaphor for greener pastures, is not about to stop increasing. Observers like Senator Tinubu must be commended for their acute consciousness of the reality that the state must prepare for a sure evolution from megacity to metacity or hypercity, meaning it would be home to more than 20 million people, with all the associated challenges.
The campaign for special recognition for Lagos State did not begin with Senator Tinubu’s proposed bill, and it is a measure of its desirability that the call has endured to this point when she formally sought the Senate’s endorsement.
Evidently, the debate is not over, and the rejection of the proposal cannot be the end of the matter. What is required is a reinvigorated rethinking of the approach. There is an urgent need for wider consultation toward building a broader consensus that will rise above the politics of narrow-minded antagonism.