Being Nigerian comes with a certain sense of humiliation. You are expected to endure the provocation that, while serious nations are building subways and developing biofuels, somehow you should be happy that your governor has constructed a roundabout. As a people, we have been reduced to a minimalist existence, so much as to make us grateful for the ordinary–roads, power, water–grateful for necessities too basic for celebration. They are our proud references in governmental achievement, raised to that status by the sheer banality of failure. The citizen with a proper sense of development feels either provoked or humiliated by the touting of elementary competence. Yet one understands the logic of complacency: it could have been worse. We can celebrate the construction of drainages because there could have been nothing at all. There is sufficient history in our clime to justify gratitude for underwhelming performance.
And there is context to performance even. To be fair, the analysis must factor in resource, time, population, and all such elements upon which governance depends. For Akinwunmi Ambode, the clean-shaven Governor of Lagos State, it might be too early to celebrate, yet the circumstances can excuse at least a sense of delight. First terms for governors in Nigeria often end with some brilliance. And the brilliance wins the electoral argument for a second term marked by a costly, official indolence. Hence excellence at first term deserves a suspended, if not a cautious cheering.
Like Babatunde Fashola, Ambode had come lacking a certain sure-footedness: almost shy, without Tinubu’s electricity at the podium. Having emerged governor through highly contested electoral processes, Fashola had earned validation with the sheer energy of performance. He found his voice upon his own vindication and became suddenly charismatic. Governance was serious business and work was done. His second tenure was less satisfying–some will say utterly woeful.
Enter Ambode, striking a curious familiarity. The approach is remarkably different, one must admit. The government courts a milder countenance and is getting the work done at that. Upon resumption of office, the governor was faced with what was no less than an epidemic: traffic robbery. It was as if the underworld had read his calmness as indulgence and poured into the streets. Lagos motorists followed suit with traffic indiscipline, causing untold logjams, making the work of traffic robbers very convenient. The outcry was loud and, within a few weeks, normalcy returned without government hype.
Ambode, once the poster child for a viciously divisive campaign, is quietly bridging the gaps and breaking stereotypes. Most remarkable is the inclusiveness in governance. An area like Isolo tagged ‘Igbo-dominated’ and ‘PDP’, and allegedly left to rot on that account, noted government presence early enough, despite that the APC was rejected there at the polls. The streets, especially in Okota, remain shamefully impassable, but there is public confidence in the governor’s expansiveness.
So far, there appears to be better accountability, and the state’s recurrent-capital ratio of 42:58 in this year’s budget is an improvement on last year’s 44:56. An improvement reflecting Ambode’s pedigree as an accountant, yet by global standards it is unsatisfactory. The 2017 proposal further reduces the recurrent vote. Lagos is arguably Nigeria’s reference point in modern governance and can achieve a 70:30 mark. From education, power to health, remarkable facelifts are taking place in ways better than past records within a time frame. It is hoped that the N500 billion entrepreneurship trust fund will further boost the state economy if only it will receive adequate publicity. Most Lagosians are unaware such window exists, nor do many know exactly how to access the funds.
Overall, infrastructure is getting more developed, and one can see there is a focus on road development. Some 114 roads were fixed in the first year, and a lot more projects ongoing. There is the proposed Fourth Mainland Bridge, and the Marina-Badagry rail work is moving fast. Which raises the question: the APC has been in government in the state for almost two decades now: if the party is really working, how come there are still so many roads to be constructed?
There is the excuse of population explosion putting undue pressure on amenities. Perhaps, but the favourable part of the story is left out, namely, that the vibrant economy of the state is funded, even literally, by urbanisation. Internally generated revenue has maintained a robust incremental impact, enough to rise to the challenge of the population factor. There is a point in this road discourse: despite endless road works in the state, Lagos remains pressed for roads. One can explain this in two ways.
One, the quality of most newly constructed Lagos roads is poor, with regard to the tonnage capacity of traffic on those roads. Hence we have eight-year-old roads already wearing off. It leads to government running cycles in road construction. Which answers the question on why the APC government is stuck on roads for close to two decades, yet far too many roads in the state are in need of work.
Two, what Lagos needs to meet its mega city status is multiple overhead routes. Property obstruction will not allow for proper expansion on the ground and, with unbridled urbanisation into the state, the traffic and population challenge will only get worse in the next decade. No amount of road work will solve the problem. The state government should work out modalities for public-private partnerships and licence companies to build tolled overhead routes across the state.
It may be premature to clink glasses yet, but the quiet energy being brought to work in Lagos is refreshing. One can at least afford to nod calmly. Should he continue at this rate, Akinwunmi Ambode may succeed in making work difficult for critics. And that is good. For there is no argument more convincing than success.
- James, wrote from Lagos
