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Tag: Babatunde Raji Fashola

  • Patronise made in Nigeria meter, says Fashola

    Patronise made in Nigeria meter, says Fashola

    Minister of Power, Works and housing Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola yesterday in Kano called on Electricity Distribution companies in the country to  patronize locally manufactured meters so as to contribute to the growth of the nation’s economy.

    Fashola, who was in Kano to launch the mass meter deployment for Kabuga axis Kano Electricity Distribution company (KEDCO), argued that the quality of the locally manufactured meters in Ogun State remains the same if not better than the ones imported from China and India.

    The minister, who revealed that the power sector is spending over N500 million for the installation of meters across the country, noted that the development has also opened windows of opportunity for job creation for the unemployed youths.

    According to him, the power sector would be distributing about 115,000  meters across the nation this year alone. He urged consumers to be patient as the ministry is committed towards ensuring that in no distance time all consumers nation wide would have their own meters.

    He said he personally inspected some local meter manufacturers in Ogun State and found them having similar quality with those imported from China and lndia.

    He said, “So far, KEDCO has spent N5. 7 b for the procurement of the meters, while N500m is for its installation and the work will be done by Nigerians which will contribute to employment generation.”

     

  • Power generation ‘ll increase to 2,000Mw, says Fashola

    Power generation ‘ll increase to 2,000Mw, says Fashola

    Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has expressed optimism that given the various plans undertaken by the government in the sector, power generation would increase with additional 2000megawatts (Mw) by the last quarter of this year.

    He spoke during the Ministry’s budget defence before the Senate Committee on Power and Mines adding that a lot has changed in the management of the sector in recent times.

    Distribution of Power is no longer government business, but has been taken over by private firms.  Also government has privatised power generation which has steered towards the full privatisation of the sector with transmission aspect being managed by Manitoba International of Canada, he explained.

    Assistant Director (Press), Power Ministry, Etore E. Thomas, in a statement quoted Fashola as saying that  the 2016 budget focuses more on  transmission, completion of ongoing projects, refurbishing power plants and tackling gas supply issues.

  • Comrade and his women

    Comrade and his women


    [dropcap]W[/dropcap]e arrived Abeokuta in the first ink of dusk, at about 5:00pm. We were visiting the city’s most iconic figure, the white-haired, white-bearded, tall, grand fellow of many battles and accolades.

    Before we made the turn to the bush, a sign was unmistakable. Louis Odion, the writer in resting, who sat beside me in the car, read the sign. Roared Louis in a guttural register: “Any trespasser will be shot and eaten.”

    The imprimatur of the poet. All around were trees. We drove on, and a sense of rural splendour fell over me. The serenity of trees. Birds. Leaves in lush colour. Earth Edenic. Modernity alienated. A shadow cast not by twilight but by the peculiar colouring of a forest. It was as though I was on my way to my mother’s home village in Delta State.

    In a few moments, we saw what looked like a clearing. Looking farther, a big house, unpainted but tasteful, with a grandeur one would describe as quaint. Nothing ornate. Not the windows, not the stairwell. It was a house sitting in arboreal paradise.

    The vehicles parked, and in a few moments, the guest of honour, the sprightly Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole  and his elegant wife, Lara, materialised from a vehicle. We moved in and waiting was chief host, playwright, poet, writer extraordinaire Wole Soyinka. It was billed as a lunch but the vagaries of technology associated with his flight arrangement turned it into a dinner. Former governors, Babatunde Raji Fashola and Rotimi Amaechi, had visited earlier in the day.

    As we sat, I delved into wordplay and described the setting as “Adamic.” The Edo Governor appreciated it and turned to his wife and they exchanged a joke about the Garden of Eden, and the wife quipped that if the Governor was the Adam, then she would be the Eve. At that moment I started to contemplate Adams, just as W.S. served wine and later asked us to the dinner table with his wife Folake.

    I thought here was Adams, and the story of the man in the past few months revolved around women. The first was his wedding. He, a Nigerian, above 60, and the bride young and from Cape Verde. The news generated quite an attention.

    Those who attacked, especially young men, were probably envious it was not them. Those women who condemned the bride, mostly girls, were also envious she was not them. I wonder what W.S. thought about the couple during the bonhomie of conversation over wine and food.

    He, too, wedded Folake, but to less flurry of envious rage, maybe because we did not have Internet or Facebook then. But essentially he was a prophet of his own nuptials with his play, The Lion and the Jewel. I told myself, we had two lions and two jewels at the table.

    Nothing about this irony propped up in the conversation, and so I reined in my mischief. I took my time to watch, speak with and listen to a man I had admired all my life. That was enough peace for me eating his jolof rice, fried plantain and fish with the lubricating grace of red wine.

    But what I also thought of were Oshiomhole’s other women. The one was former so-called coordinating minister of the economy, Okonjo-Iweala and, of course, the big-eyed oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke. When the Edo Governor started lashing out at the other women, attention swiftly turned from his beauty parlour to the beasts of the economy.

    Adams had noted how the so-called World Bank, Harvard and all the phony accolades of western brilliance of the finance minister gave us nothing but poverty. Ngozi was a failure. She was a disaster. When the Edo governor reeled out her financial iniquities, I felt especially vindicated.

    Very early I was not moved by her resume. She was not trained for the Nigerian economy, just like her bow-tie colleague now roosting like hens in another African agricultural employment. She was trained about the dependency of African economies.

    I know because I attended quite a few of them and I inoculated myself against their paradigms. She did not and that explains why she met a buoyant purse and left a leaky one.

    Then he visited the United States with President Muhammadu Buhari, and when he returned he unleashed a bombshell. One minister stole as much as six billion dollars from our purse.

    How much is that in naira? In my own calculation, it is at least N1.2 trillion. That money will pay all the salaries owed the state workers, build quite a respectable cancer centre in the country. He would not say who the minister is out of decency. But we cannot but know that the finger pointed at the oil minister. She was the only one who could have had that kind of access.

    The American officials cannot say such a grave thing without evidence. Diezani was the worst of the Jonathan era. She was a disgrace of a minister just as Jonathan was a scandal of a president.

    We raked in the most money in that era, we are broke today because of them. Adams had to come out with the facts because he, too, was outraged. It was Adams the activist, the fulminating labour leader that squared off against Iweala and Madueke.

    Was it not in the same era we had other women, like Mama Peace, and Stella Oduah. Mama peace, the first lady, with whom many Nigerians lost patience, spoke as though the nation was a Mammy Market and all Nigerians were subaltern, backwater denizens without culture.

    The evening eventually came to an end after close to four hours of exchange of jokes, ideas, etc. I could not but also note the sheer number of carved masterpieces in W.S. home. I called back his recollections of his search for an African artifact to as far away as Brazil. He wonderfully delineated the adventure in his memoirs, You Must Set Forth At Dawn.

    We left into the bush again, and then back into the urban jungle. But it was a gradual descent into modernity. We saw buildings here and there  interspersed with bushes until it was bricks and tars and cars.

  • Siasia felicitates with Fashola at 52

    Siasia felicitates with Fashola at 52

    Chairman of Mosilo group, Moses Siasia on Sunday congratulated the immediate past governor of Lagos state, Raji Fashola on his birthday.

    This was contained in a congratulatory message signed by Siasia, Chairman of the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum and governorship candidate for Bayelsa state.

    The Bayelsa gubernatorial candidate in his message described Fashola as an inspirational and detribalized leader of this age.

    “BRF Sir, as you celebrate your 52nd Birthday, I heartily congratulate you on your sincere leadership to humanity, you have displayed an unusual care to everyone you come in contact with by giving a listening ear and attention expecially those who are seen as trustees of posterity from other parts of the country.

    “You are indeed an inspiration to our generation. May God continually grant you success in all your pursuits and give you good health to achieve your desires.

    “Happy Birthday to a true Nigerian leader, a father and a gentle man,” he summed.

  • Fashola, Agbaje, Tinubu speak on Lagos guber

    Fashola, Agbaje, Tinubu speak on Lagos guber

  • Lagos to pay 305 CPS retirees N1.41b

    Lagos to pay 305 CPS retirees N1.41b

    The Lagos State Government is set to pay another set of 305 workers who retired from the State Public Service N1.411 billion being their benefit before the commencement of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in 2007, Director-General, Lagos State Pension Commission, Rotimi Adekunle Hussain has said.

    In a statement, the Commission’s Press & Public Relations Officer, Taofeek Lawal Hussain, said the retirees would be receiving their retirement benefits during the 16th Retirement Bond Certificates presentation ceremony that will hold on 24th of February, 2015 at the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) auditorium in Lagos.

    He said the presentation ceremony is in fulfillment of the commitment of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, to making life worthy of living for his workers whilst still in service and after retirement adding that the administration has not relented in its resolve at ensuring that the retirement benefits of every retiree is paid as and when due.

    He said during the 15th bond presentation, the state government paid a total sum of N30.47 billion to 5,773 retirees.

  • Risk management key to economic growth, says Fashola

    Awareness of the existence of risk as a natural phenomenon to human existence, and the responsibility to manage it for the betterment of the people, is key to driving economic growth, the  Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), has said.

    Fashola, who spoke at the Maiden Public Lecture organised by Insurance Correspondents (NAICO), in conjunction with Lagos State Government, with the theme: ‘The Role of Government in Management of Risks in the Society,’ explained that  risk is the probability, or the threat of damage, loss, injury, or any other negative occurrence that is caused by external or internal vulnerabilities, the consequences of which may be avoided through preemptive action.

    Represented  by Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Pastor Ben Akabueze, Fashola noted that people are often impervious to the risks they face on a daily basis, but noted that as a government, “we are responsible for the wellbeing and welfare of the people we serve.

    “We have a responsibility to provide social security for both the young and the elderly; a responsibility to provide security of lives and property, and also a responsibility to ensure that the Infrastructures put in place, are properly maintained in a way and manner that the State can be described as having a developed economy status.”

    He cautioned that where we fail to take pre-emptive steps to attend to the risks that come with the responsibilities that have been placed on us, “we would be perceived as a failed government.”

  • Let’s rededicate ourselves to the service of Nigeria

    Let’s rededicate ourselves to the service of Nigeria

    Independence Day address by Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (San), on October 1, 2014, at the National Day Parade, Police College Ground, Ikeja, Lagos.

    Dear Lagosians, today, October 1, 2014, we are once again celebrating the anniversary of our independence from British colonial rule.

    Today marks 54 years since Nigeria became an independent sovereign nation, following the germination of a seed that had been sown seven years earlier, when in 1953, Anthony Eromosele Enahoro introduced a private member’s bill demanding self-government.

    For emphasis and clarity, let me repeat that by records and history Nigeria is 54 years old irrespective of what the centenary revisionists say.

    We have never celebrated amalgamation day. We have only celebrated Independence day.

    When our first Prime Minister mounted the podium on the October 1, 1960 he spoke to an independent and a newly born nation. That happened 54 years ago, not 100 years ago.

    We can only imagine the exultant joy felt by our Prime Minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa when he said in his Independence Day Speech:-

    “This is a wonderful day, and it is all the more wonderful because we have awaited it with increasing impatience, compelled to watch one country after another overtaking us … when we had so nearly reached our goal.”

    Indeed he mirrored the views of millions of Nigerians and echoed their thoughts.

    When the British “Union Jack” flag was lowered for the last time and the green-white-green Nigerian flag was hoisted in its stead, the crowd went wild with jubilation, filled with high expectations of a greater tomorrow.

    Independence Day soon became easily the most significant day in our national life, accorded a pride of place that was difficult to surpass.

    Independence day became synonymous with the Governor or President in open-top cars inspecting Guards of Honour; beautiful parades; exciting fireworks and National Day Award ceremonies.

    As a school boy, I remember struggling hard to get selected to march for my school in the National Day Parade, the endless rehearsals, and the keen anticipation of waiting to see if I would be picked.

    There was no prize given and none was expected. It was enough that your school had participated. Bursting with pride, we would milk our success for weeks and months afterwards, wearing our school uniform with pride, basking in the recognition as we went to and from school in public transportation and displaying a sense of superiority over other less fortunate schools.

    October 1also became the day on which political batons changed, and elected officials handed over to their successors. A day for inspiring speeches and sober reflection on our growth as a nation.

    Such was the depth of our civic pride.

    Today, sadly, the excitement has waned. October 1appears to have now become a hollow ritual. The flame of national pride seems to flicker.

    October 1 has regrettably become no more than just another work and school-free day.

    This is not how it should be.

    I know that our teeming youths and children, who now form a sizeable proportion of our population, expect more from Nigeria on a day like this. And so it is to you that I dedicate my remarks on this 54th Independence Day.

    What is the importance of a day like this? What does it mean to you? What should it mean to you?

    All over the world, Independence Day anniversaries are celebrated with great fanfare, splendour, respect for the nation and a deep sense of patriotism.

    In some countries, festivities leading up to Independence Day start up to three weeks earlier. Some hold Independence Day beauty pageants; some re-enact their independence, others play the National Anthem on the dot of midnight on all radio and TV stations.  All put country before self, at least for that day.

    We should not be any different.

    As I said on Independence Day in 2007; my first Independence Day address as governor:

    “Irrespective of our varied political temperaments, the occasion of our nation’s independence should serve as a rallying point for renewing faith in her capacity for greatness and a platform for the rededication of those of us privileged to exercise authority to the most important responsibility of the sacred mandate bestowed on us – SERVICE TO THE PEOPLE.”

    These are the values that inspired and motivated our founding fathers. In his historic Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa also said:

    “Words cannot adequately express my joy and pride at being the Nigerian citizen privileged to accept from Her Royal Highness, these Constitutional Instruments which are the symbols of Nigeria’s independence. It is a unique privilege, which I shall remember forever, and it gives me strength and courage as I dedicate my life to the service of our country.”

    Service to our country. Noble words indeed and the words upon which the foundation of our nation was built.

    It seems to me that there is no better time to rekindle the flame of Nigeria’s promise than now.

    We should reflect on Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa’s words and re-dedicate ourselves to the service of Nigeria.

    We ought to see October 1 as a day to rekindle our national pride.

    Being young Nigerians, you may well ask, how do I serve my country?

    Let me answer by telling you about the Spirit of Lagos.

    The Spirit of Lagos embodies all the values that should make us good citizens of this wonderful country called Nigeria.

    The Spirit of Lagos is the embodiment of all things good about Lagos and Nigeria, and the lifeline that connects our glorious past with the bright future we all desire.

    Having the Spirit of Lagos means having the understanding that we all have a part to play in the wellbeing of our country, by doing the right thing in every and any little way we can.

    For example: by disposing of waste properly and observing basic rules of sanitation and hygiene, by obeying traffic rules and using pedestrian bridges, by offering a helping hand to the elderly, the young and the less able, by being honest and acting with integrity, by being safety-and-security-conscious, by protecting public property because it is your own property, by being courageous and law-abiding, and setting good examples and by being considerate and looking out for one another  – one for all and all for one.

    That is the spirit of Lagos.

    These were some of the values that coursed through our veins in Lagos and by extension, Nigeria, in what we commonly refer to as “the good old days”.

    Nigeria of those “good old days” has not changed. It is us who have changed, and it is us who must again change.

    Some of the changes that we need has already started happening. And this is why one of the things I would like to do today is to publicly acknowledge the heroic efforts of our health workers in the management of the Ebola epidemic.

    Because of their service and heroism, we were able to declare Lagos State Ebola-free on  September 18, 2014.

    I have heard some stories emanating from campaign podiums with claims of conquering Ebola.

    The question we must ask is whether those who make these claims saw Ebola?

    It is women like Stella Ameyo Adedavoh to whom such a claim rightly belongs.

    It is young Nigerians like Dr. Morris Ibeawuchi, who first made contact with the index case patient and continued to treat him who saw and conquered Ebola.

    He got infected, from doing his job, got sick, survived and is back to his job.

    It is first responders from the Lagos State Ministry of Health like Dr. Jide Idris, Dr. Yewande Adesina, Dr. Wale Ahmed, Dr. Kayode Oguntimehin who saw Ebola.

    They responded to the call from First Consultant Hospital. They spent 12 hours daily in the early days supervising the construction of Ebola containment facility when the epidemic broke.

    The Lagos State Infectious Disease Hospital which later became the epicentre of Ebola management used to house tuberculosis patients and patients with infectious diseases.

    Those patients vented their anger on these people when they had to be moved to create room for the Ebola centre. I know they spat at Dr. Adesina for doing her job.

    Dr. Abdul-Salam Nasidi of the National Disease Control Centre in Abuja saw and conquered Ebola. He helped in no small way to co-ordinate the containment.

    Dr. David Brett-Mayor of the World Health Organisation saw and conquered Ebola. He single- handedly started the Ebola isolation ward having cleared and cleaned the room. He admitted and cared for the patients before any Nigerian doctor joined him.

    Professor S. A. Omilabu, the dedicated virologist at LUTH, saw Ebola and conquered it. He coordinated the fault-free testing for Ebola and managed all the samples professionally.

    Peter Adewuyi saw Ebola and conquered it. He led the contact tracing team of many dedicated officers for the first two weeks.

    Mrs. Funmi Lagbokun, Mrs. Modupe Aiyedun Davies, Mrs. Basirat Adeoye, Ms F. O. Bamgboye, Mrs. K. O. Oshisanya, Mrs. Kazeem Abioye, Mrs. Abiola Lasaki and Mrs. K. Adeshina all saw and conquered Ebola.

    They were the dedicated team of nurses, nursing aid, care giver, health assistant and hygienist who commenced work voluntarily in the Ebola containment ward without any demand other than the sense of duty.

    Yemi Gbadegesin and Abdulsalam saw and conquered Ebola.

    They coordinated the de-contamination, removal and burial of the index case and other cases, and it is because of them that First Consultant can reopen for business.

    Dear Lagosians, these were the people who saw and defeated Ebola. Let no person tell you otherwise.

    These men and women, who showed courage, who risked their lives are our true champions and heroes.

    They showed the spirit of service, the spirit of Lagos and the spirit of our “good old days”.

    Nobody should take this credit away from them.

    They are not celebrating because they know that the work is not finished. They are already working with our people and planning to volunteer to go and give help in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

    Their reward for hard work will be more work and they tell me that they are ready.

    You and I also know that Dr. Adaora Igonoh, Dr. Akinniyi Fadipe, Mr. Dennis Echelonu and Mrs. Kelechi Enemuo also saw Ebola and conquered it.

    They are the survivors whose stories you have read about. Whose anxiety we saw live, when they agreed to visit me in the office at the risk of stigmatisation.

    At great personal discomfort, they stepped out and forward, to help you and I find our feet. To re-assure us that all was well.

    They saw and conquered Ebola.

    Businesses such as First Consultant Hospital, and hotels that have suffered cancellations and yet have not laid off their staff are the heroes of our Ebola experience, and we all must rally round them in the spirit of Lagos to help them get back on their feet.

    Words will never be enough but bringing back those values they represent, will.  This is the spirit that used to course through our veins; the spirit that made us the great nation that we are. And we can bring that spirit back. By changing our thinking.

    How can you serve your country? I say, take the spirit of Lagos everywhere you go. From Badagry to Bayelsa; from Somolu to Sokoto; from Epe to Ebonyi; Alimosho to Adamawa; from Lekki to Lafia; From Ikeja to Ijebu-Ode, all of us, Nigerians all should serve our country by changing our thinking and striving to give our best for collective benefit.

    By making a conscious determination to changing the way we act. We can serve our country by doing something good and positive in our homes, in our schools and in our communities.

    It doesn’t matter how little it is. Together it makes a whole. We can serve our country by pledging in our hearts to restore, share and protect our communities, our states and our nation.

    In the weeks and months ahead, we will begin to celebrate ordinary Nigerians doing extraordinary things.  And on a dedicated day in the near future we will come together to celebrate and honour our heroes, and hold them up as shining examples. Heroes recognised and chosen by you and I for the things they are doing for the benefit of others and the society at large without expectation of reward.

    Let the arm bands you are wearing be a constant reminder to change your thinking. We will distribute wrist bands all over Lagos and beyond. Wear them with pride but more importantly, let them remind you to act with integrity.

    As I have said before, I know that the temptation to focus on our failures and lament our national deficiencies is great. I know that the temptation to compare our achievements with our potential and conclude that we could have done much better is perhaps inevitable. But I say to you the Nigerian youth, choose to take on a more positive attitude. It is a choice and that choice is yours.

    Let us see the cup as half full rather than half empty. Let us thank God even for the mistakes of the past, from which we can learn invaluable lessons to face the future with hope. Let us count our blessings, address our weaknesses and harness our strengths, so that we can courageously turn yesterday’s shortcomings into tomorrow’s successes. Let us change our thinking.

    Fellow Nigerians, next October 1, I will not have this opportunity to address you. The lot will fall on my successor. So while I have this opportunity, let us thank God for endowing us with undying faith in our innate capacity to fulfil our divine destiny as a people.

    Let us patriotically reaffirm in our hearts that Christian or Muslim, we are one nation under God; that North or South, we are one indivisible nation; that PDP or APC we are all Nigerians and that what binds us together far outweighs what little divides us.

    We will yet attain those great lofty heights we sing so gustily about in the second stanza of our National Anthem. And it will happen in my lifetime. So help us God.

  • Much ado about okada ‘ban’ In Lagos

    One never really anticipates that the issue of the ‘ban’ of commercial motorcycles popularly called ‘okada’ in Lagos could become a major subject of discourse at this point in time. But then, this is Nigeria! It will be recalled that the Lagos Traffic Law was signed into law on August 2, 2012 by the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola.

    An aspect of the law restricts the operations of commercial motorcycles operators in 495 designated strategic highways and routes out of a total number of 9,700 available routes within the metropolis. The import of this is that the law does not in any way bans the use of okada. Rather, what it does is to regulate the activities of commercial motorcycle riders in the state. As at presently, there are more than 9000 routes in the state through which okada riders could effectively operate within the confines of the law.

    Being a government that takes a scientific and methodical approach to governance, the enactment of the law restricting okada operation in the state was primarily meant to protect the interest of the public. It was enacted to ensure that people do not ride on okada along routes that could put their lives and those of others in jeopardy. Universally, one of the major responsibilities of government is the protection of the lives of its people. Hence, the Lagos State government is only performing one of its constitutional duties in restricting okada activities in the state.

    Without a doubt, the misery and grief that okada has brought into several homes in Lagos, and indeed across the country, is not unknown to many.  Available statistics from the Lagos State Management Authority (LASTMA) reveals that not less than 619 people were killed or seriously injured in okada accident between 2011 and 2012.

    Aside safety issue, there is also a security angle to the whole okada issue. A 2012 police report shows that out of the 30 armed robbery incidents recorded in Lagos between July and September 2012, 22 involved commercial motorcycles.

    Looking at these available facts and figures, there should be no controversy about the fact that the operations of okada in the state need to be regulated for the common good of all.

    Besides the agony and grief it brings upon its victims, the lawlessness of okada riders on major highways is quite nauseating thereby making commuting an harrowing experience. Therefore, to  a guarantee the free-flow of traffic and to ensure that the movement of investors coming into the state is not hindered and put at risk, the introduction of the law becomes necessary. No doubt, every attempt to sanitise and restore order to the hitherto chaotic situation on most of our  roads should be embraced, especially going by the traffic situation in Lagos. That is what any responsible government should do.

    It is important that Lagosians cooperate with the state government in ensuring the success of the Lagos Traffic Law since it was mainly enacted to protect the people. Life is a precious gift by God. Self preservation is, therefore, the responsibility of every human being. Self-preservation is keeping you alive, either physically or psychologically. The desire to stay alive is a natural instinct in every human being. The restriction placed on okada in the state is about preserving lives. We must, therefore, collaborate with government to preserve lives. The different between animal kingdoms and human societies is that in the latter laws are made to regulate human conducts in order to avoid the creation of a state of anarchy.

     

    Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

  • Ladipo traders to Fashola: fix our road

    Ladipo traders to Fashola: fix our road

    The authority of the Ladipo Auto Spares Market, yesterday urged Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola to fix the damaged roads linking the market.

    The affected roads are: Akinwunmi linking it with the Five Star bus stop on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway; Ajibade Close, and a long portion of Ladipo Street, linking Toyota bus-stop, Oshodi.

    The President of the Ladipo Central Executive Committee (LACEC), Mr. Iyke Animalu, who spoke during the traders’ their monthly sanitation, said the situation of the roads had reached a devastating peak as their spares’ container trailers could no longer access the market.

    Animalu said the traders could no longer get spares to sell and thus, losing a lot of revenue on a daily basis, while their clients suffer.

    He stated that the traders might not be able to meet their obligations of paying their taxes and rates to both the Mushin Local Government and the state government if the situation persists.

    “A contractor came with a tractor and graded the Akinwunmi Road without tarring it and went to a television programme that he had already completed the work, which is a blatant lie by the contractor,” he recalled.

    Animalu also said that the “park and pay” operators brought to Ladipo Road by politicians had been flouting the memorandum of understanding signed by the traders and state government by parking on both sides of the road, thus obstructing traffic.

    The LACEC boss called on Fashola to save the situation immediately before things went out of hands.