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Tag: Fashola

  • Fashola advocates promotion of societal values

    Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has enjoined parents and guardians to promote societal values among their families. He said whatever a state or country turns out to be is a function of the kind of families that constitute that state or country.

    Speaking during the Justice Muri Okunola Memorial Ramadan Lecture at the Eko FM Open Field, Agidingbi, Fashola noted that the art of governance starts from individual families, saying the people eventually become president, governors, legislators and commissioners as well as local government chairmen were first members of individual families.

    He said: “You should all know that government starts from individual families and the way and manner we handle or operate our families is how our state and our country will be.

    “There is nothing at all that Governors Tinubu, Fashola, Amosun, Aregbesola, Fayemi, Ajimobi and others can do in this case. They cannot enter every family to govern. The husbands and their wives are the governors and the deputy governors of their families. They have their budgets and they have those they cater for every month as the state also present their budgets.”

    Noting that the people who are armed robbers and suicide bombers today came from individual families, Governor Fashola declared: “When those children were born, everybody rejoiced with their families. It was the government of these children – the families – that have problems and this affected the children”.

    Obviously preaching birth control, Governor Fashola also asked: “If we say there is poverty, what exactly are we doing to put a stop to it? If a family has already had four children and later adds twins, it is then that they will be challenging government”, adding that it would be in the interest of both the individual family and the state to control the population.

    He dismissed the excuse by some men that the inability to have a male child prompts them to produce more children than they could hardle. The governor said every child, male or female, has the potential to attain the highest height in life.

    The two presentations delivered at the lecture were entitled: “Spiritual Rebirth Towards a New Nation” by Alhaji Shaykh Isa Akindele and “Building a Viral marriage” by Alhaja Sherifat Yusuf.

  • Fashola promises to redevelop industrial estate

    Lagos State Governor Mr. Babatunde Fashola has promised to redevelop the Yaba Industrial Estate to conform with modern trend and compete with others.

    The industrial estate, established in 1954 by the Federal Government to promote small scale enterprises, is not functioning to full capacity.

    Governor Fashola, who visited the estate yesterday with the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Sola Oworu and Special Adviser on Commerce, Mr. Seye Oladejo, reiterated government’s commitment to redevelop it.

    He said some businesses in the area have outgrown the space they are operating in, hence the need for government to move in and intervene.

    Fashola added that the redevelopment would include solution to power outage, which he said was one of the major challenges of the industrial estate.

    His words: “This place was created around 1954. It has quite a long history, chequered history in some cases, success stories here and there. We’ve just come out of court after a fire and an attempt to redevelop. So we can work together here.

    “It’s possible to create steady power supply here, which is the main problem of most of the manufacturers we talked to. They are doing business, they are producing, but they could do with cheaper power.”

    Governor Fashola said government might subscribe to the model of the Isolo Industrial Estate, where a central unit provided power to the industries, thereby saving cost for the manufacturers.

     

  • Construction begins at Lekki seaport

    Construction begins at Lekki seaport

    Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) yesterday said construction has started at the Lekki Sea Port.

    Governor Fashola, who spoke while addressing the Organised Private Sector at the Lagos Second Corporate Assembly, said its contractors have been mobilised to site.

    Fashola, however, stressed that the speedy completion of the project was subject to availability of funds. He solicited the cooperation of the investors to ensure that the objectives of the project are achieved.

    “I cannot tell you the date that the port will be finished, but work has started at the port and the contractor is on site.

    “There are still a few issues in terms of getting funding and commitment from the private sector because clearly both the management and the private sector own the zone. They are not government-owned, but government has an enabling role to play in the regulation of the zones.”

    He said plans were on to drive the zone on water transportation because it is bound by the Atlantic Ocean and the lagoon.

    “This zone is located on a peninsula. That is why we are considering the need to transport our goods on the water. We have put the cat before the horse. This peninsula sits so strategically in that it has access to its own transportation which is water transportation.

    “That was why we have decided to fast-track the plan of accessing the zone and evacuation of cargo by using the lagoon. This lagoon goes as far as Ondo State. Most logs come into the state through water. I do not know any country where the haulage of its industrial cargo are transported by road.

    “It is not sustainable.The roads will not last. The water ways would be our immediate and short term focus. And before the end of the year, we would ensure the possibility of water transportation in the zone,” Fashola explained.

    Governor Fashola also informed the crowd of business owners and investors that the design for the construction of airport on the zone is also ready, adding that soon the bid would be sent to the public for investors who want to build to indicate interest.

    He said the state was strategically positioned, citing the advantage of population and proximity to Europe, Middle East and South America, all of which the development of the airport would benefit.

    He said the management would source private capital to develop Lekki International Airport, noting that the airport would be of international standard according to the approved plan.

    “We have shortlisted bid for people who want to build the airport. For me, my responsibility is that you want an airport through which you can run your business, but I don’t have the money to build it. But I can provide the land which is what we have done. It will be an airport that would drive business at all points like we have seen all over the world.”

    He assured that the state government is committed to providing infrastructure needed to make the trade zone functional.

    Governor Fashola faulted the plan by the Federal Government to sell the National Theatre, stating that it was like wiping away the country’s national history.

    “I wondered which kind of people offered to buy the edifice. If someone who had visited the country in 1977 for the FESTAC 77 comes back and wanted to see the National Theatre, we would now say that it is now an hotel. Stop wiping away history,” he said.

  • Five things Gov. Fashola ain’t getting right

    Five things Gov. Fashola ain’t getting right

    Let me first raise a mug of my favorite beer (no brand name dropping now) to our dear governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola (BRF) on his turning 50 last Friday. I welcome him to our club, the golden age of gray and wisdom; a great club if you know how to live it. Great guy yea; and the song has been sung ad nauseam, I bet even he doesn’t want to hear it anymore.

    But suffice it to articulate in a few words what one considers to be the BRF essence. He stands out clearly as the best governor in Nigeria today and perhaps the greatest leader of this age first because he has remained unaffected by power and second, he has exhibited leadership by sheer force of personal example more than any one else among his peers. Put differently, bewildering grace under the enormous influence of power and such transparency that is self-accounting, self-evident and that seems to ring through and true. Let us add a work ethic that is alien to today’s leaders. He has indeed been the real breath of fresh air in a Republic that is suffused with charlatans and power hogs.

    We are daily embarrassed by governors and political leaders who seem to have no clue as to why they are in office, who are so excited by the office they occupy that it has become an end in itself and indeed, the end of the world for them. Many show such manifest greed that you can see currency notes sticking out of their ears and dangling from the neck of their spouses and family members. While BRF has managed to put a handle on power, most of his contemporaries are virtually being storm-tossed in the rise and tide of power. And the tragedy is that they are not aware of that fact. But while a book could be written on the BRF paradigm in this murky ocean of mis-governance, here are a few things not quite right in Lagos today.

    LGAs AS ROAD TO NOWHERE: perhaps the most tragic phenomenon blighting the country today is that we have turned our local council governments into a mere concept. Our LGAs have become an endless, worthless and mischievous argument while the hapless inhabitants languish. All over the country – from Sokoto to Borno, from Bayelsa to Anambra, Edo, Ondo, one cannot find any glittering example of a 3rd-tier administration at work. What we have now range from the most opaque system to sheer brigandage. And the result across the country: extreme impoverishment of the larger population which yields itself to extreme crimes like violent robberies, kidnapping, cultism, human trafficking, militancy and terrorism. Because hardly any economic activities go on in our local administrative units, large swathes of our people and territory are left bare and barren.

    This is the case in Lagos under BRF as it is in most parts of the country. This explains why the more BRF does, the more he has left undone. For every one facility he provides, there are about 57 others thus the need to work in tandem with the 57 administrative units for Lagos to lift from its morass of decay, crimes and slumhood. While one does not wish to be embroiled in the constitutional debates and politics of it, the point remains that BRF has not been able to device a mechanism that would make the local councils work.

    ONE MAN SHOW? Another point to ponder about the BRF era is a lack of robust delegation of responsibilities to cabinet members and aides. Though it is a national affliction of Nigeria’s leadership and not peculiar to BRF, we long for the day when our governors, presidents and heads at all levels would retreat to the background, to the quiet crannies where concepts and ideas reign while the aides are allowed ample initiatives to play the field. I look forward to the day when a works commissioner for instance, would own his projects, run his projects, sell it to the people and commission it without the governor ever showing his face. Most governors are busy building roads, culverts, gutters, classroom blocks and flyovers that they miss the most important point which is governing.

    OTHER POTENTIALITIES OF LAGOS: There is a notion that Lagos State is so fortuitously situated; that indeed the gods had provided all the food the state needs and that she only needs to prepare it. That is true to some extent. The revenue templates are there for instance and the dough would stream in in billion unhindered, no matter who is in the Round House. The BRF government has particularly perfected taxation as its main stream of revenue (you won’t believe that one has been taxed off one’s pants!). We have not seen this government pursue the other economic potentialities of the state other than taxes and rents. For instance, tourism, her aquatic splendor which is largely dormant, agric export, ICT and entertainment could be catalyzed to be huge revenue machines.

    REAL SECTOR IN REGRESS: Lagos State used to be the thriving hub of manufacturing and industrialization. Today, though there are still some machines rolling but they seem cranky, exhausted while many have simply packed up. Recently no fewer than 70 companies were delisted from the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE); these were hitherto thriving entities mostly based in Lagos, providing quality jobs and impacting the state’s economy. A drive through Oba Akran Avenue/Henry Carr axis of Ikeja Industrial estate is sure to make your heart sink – vast industrial complexes have been converted to miracle churches.

    Apart from picking juicy taxes from companies, when was the last time government engaged organized business groups with a view to ameliorating their challenges and ensuring their continued existence? How many new major real sector operators have berthed in the state in recent years and what are the strategies for attracting and sustaining businesses?

    HIGH-MINDED and HIGH-HANDED? BRF’s obvious high mind seems to naturally breed high handedness and this has largely defined his style of governance. It is a style that earns bounteous results but it also draws its flaks. Examples abound: the doctors’ strike palaver could have been better managed knowing that we are dealing with the high end of our society that could not be banished. The reverse case is the commercial cyclists (okada) who were off-handedly banished just because we could do so. With a little more circumspection, they could have been better managed and contained to the benefit of all. The okada affair is ironically, to the benefit and ruination of the police in the state today. The state university affair is also a point to note. The state must never be perceived to be profiting from public education. If subsidies are banished, if fee must be charged, it ought to be just enough to run well. The suspended bridge toll too could have been priced at half the current rate and the economy of the state would never have collapsed in September or even the near future. If we have paid for the bridge to be built, why do we have to pay even more to use it?

    Having made these points, we reiterate that BRF remains the best among his peers by miles.

  • How Fashola defines service

    How Fashola defines service

    Rivers State governor Chibuike Amechi and his Akwa Ibom counterpart, Godswill Akpabio, who are the leading dramatis personae in the feud which has engulfed the Nigerian Governors Forum since May, have at least one thing in common: they both have private jets. A number of Nigerians seem not have issues with the acquisition of executive jets for the exclusive use of the Rivers and Akwa Ibom governors because both states earn so much revenues from Nigeria’s oil sales. True, these states are reaping fortunes from unearned income or what economists call transfers from the federation account. But neither Rivers nor Akwa Ibom is as rich as Lagos State which makes money from truly productive ventures and regenerative endeavours. Interestingly, the Lagos State governor has no private jet or even a helicopter. And there are no plans to get one in the foreseeable future.

    The stark difference in the lifestyles of the Lagos State governor and his counterparts is no happenstance. It is fundamental. It is revealing of their mindsets. Apart from Peter Obi of Anambra State, Babatunde Fashola of Lagos is the only governor in Nigeria who goes about with no siren blaring away or long motorcades complete with a platoon of fierce-looking and heavily armed security officials. He is the only public officer since the restoration of democratic rule in 1999 who has bluntly refused to accept any kind of award, including the national honour, because of the conviction that honours should be bestowed on office holders only after they have left office. In a country where high office holders use stupendous public resources to bribe and lobby for accolades the Lagos governor has provided us all food for thought.

    Fashola marked his 50th birthday on June 26 and, characteristically, there were no squandering of public funds on any razzmatazz. There is in him a deep belief that every high public officer is a servant of the people, and not their conqueror who must at all times lord it over them. In other words, leadership is all about service. In the language of the Scriptures, the son of man has “come to serve, and not to be served” (Matthew 20:28).

    Very few things illustrate the profound failure of leadership in Nigeria at every level as the rash of private aircraft at our airports in the midst of growing mass misery and collapse of infrastructure as well as ruination of institutions. Whether in the private or public sector, our people equate leadership with ostentation and vanity rather than service and sacrifice. This is why Nigerian evangelical pastors, whose congregations are overwhelmingly poor, would consider it infra dig to fly on anything less than a private jet while the Pope, who leads the world’s biggest and wealthiest church, always travels by Alitalia. Why should the Taraba State governor insist on a private aircraft when American governors, for example, drive themselves to work daily because their states cannot afford to procure the services of official drivers?

    Olusegun Obasanjo, who popularized “low profile” in Nigeria in the 1970s when he was the military Head of State, was regrettably the person who, as Nigeria’s democratically elected president between 1999 and 2007, led an assault against the concept. By the time Obasanjo returned to office in 1999, Peugeot which Obasanjo made the official car from the mid 1970s was still the official brand for public officers. It was assembled in Nigeria. But Obasanjo quickly jettisoned it in favour of Mercedes and very expensive Japanese SUVs imported into Nigeria by a handful of Indian traders and Nigerian merchants. Ministers and state governors followed in his footstep. Consequently, the Peugeot Assembly of Nigeria (PAN) is now moribund, with the local engineers and the other employees and consultants and suppliers out of work.  The same fate befell ANAMCO, the Mercedes truck assembly plant in Enugu.

    In his world famous memoir, Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew expresses shock at the sight of presidents of poor nations like Nigeria and Kenya arriving at the 1980 Commonwealth summit in Canada with presidential planes. Some of the African rulers were at the summit to solicit for aid from countries whose leaders came by commercial planes! Not long ago, the King of Swaziland, a tiny and very poor country in the belly of South Africa, insisted before Parliament on the acquisition of a presidential jet, arguing ferociously that he needed it to fly around the world in search of aid for his kingdom which depends on foreign assistance for survival. It does not matter to African rulers like this king that the prime ministers of prosperous nations like the United Kingdom and Singapore have no presidential jets, even though Britain is a major aircraft manufacturer. The Fokker brand, used widely in Nigeria and elsewhere, is British. And Rolls Royce of the UK is a key manufacturer of plane engines worldwide.

    The false consciousness of Nigerian—nay African—rulers is the primary reason why development has over the decades eluded us. Therefore, it gladdens the heart anytime one sees a leader like Fashola who is in a different mould; he is purpose-driven. Fashola understands that leadership is about service to the people, and not self aggrandisement.  His performance in office has been sterling and inspiring. Lagosians, who are historically difficult to govern because of the robust tradition of activism, have been star-struck, charmed. At the President Goodluck Jonathan’s launch of Road Map for Power Sector Reform  at Eko Hotel in Lagos on August 26, 2010, the governor made other top government officials look very unpopular, almost making them cut the image of personae non grata. Immediately Fashola was called upon to speak, the large audience comprising leading entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bank executives, manufacturers, international and local media went into a long frenzy of adulation. The master of ceremonies could not stop the audience. It even took the governor himself time and effort to stop the fawning audience. The first sentence President Jonathan uttered when he got up to speak was “I can see clearly that the people of Lagos State are very happy with their governor”. And the audience responded enthusiastically as one man, “Yes oh!”, followed by another sustained round of applause.

    The inimitable thinker, Obafemi Awolowo, has said it all: “The greatest legacy a leader can bequeath is to etch his name in gold in the hearts and minds of his people”. As I happily and proudly welcome my great friend and brother, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN- a Nigerian without bile, a Nigerian not held hostage by the errors of the past or by such primordial sentiments as regionalism, ethnicity or religion—into the golden age, I say:  Not even the sky will be your limit. Ad multus annos.

    • Adinuba is head of Discovery Public Affairs Consulting.

  • NIPSS Politicians; Fashola: Builder; ‘Fasholaites’ Legacy Projects, not adverts; Bail; INEC; Solar

    NIPSS Politicians; Fashola: Builder; ‘Fasholaites’ Legacy Projects, not adverts; Bail; INEC; Solar

    How many billionaires in Nigeria are secretive billionaires and not on the Forbes rich list? Why? Corrupt money!

    NIPSS has at long last initiated a course for politicians. Education is a key to development. For years we have suggested that politicians, their aides and special advisors, instead of setting up the ‘Associations of Special Advisors to President and Governors and Ministers’ aka ‘ASATPAGAM’, should ‘get an education in delivering political agendas’ through 1-3 month diplomas in ‘Budgeting for beginners’, MDGs et cetera to reduce ‘delivery of democracy’ time.

    In Nigeria the more you look the less you see. Look at the billions put into ‘power failure’. We now know that the money went to terrorist activities against power supply. As someone said, one Japanese airport has 6,000Mw, more than Nigeria after trillions of naira ‘went up’ in ‘the darkness powered by PHCN’. Now see headlines like ‘Nigerian government to ban generators’. Ban whose generators- Government offices and employees’ homes? Or from the common man suffering no power after 1999-2013 i.e. 14 years of one-party rule? Is powerlessness a Nigerian ‘dividend of democracy’?

    Congratulations to Governor BRFashola@50 for showing that Nigeria is not bereft of good leaders and that with the right leadership a ‘Normal Nigeria’ is possible. He is a governor who has shown that governance is more than delivering the barest minimum and that delivering exercise books to school children is a child right and not a misguided dividend of democracy. In addition he has built bridges as his legacy!

    I hate birthday newspaper advertisements as a waste of millions in public and private funds, totally 10,000 adverts@ N500,000/ annual or N10,000,000,000 or N10b/annum for sucking up to the person in power –soon to be forgotten after a political power cut. Remember that each advert gives a finder’s fee of 10-20% totally N1-2b/year. Who listened to State of Osun’s Ogbeni and indeed Fashola’s own request that all adverts should instead be monetised for charities. However in the special case of Governor Fashola@50, I want, in spite of that massive advertorial ‘incumbency-only’ waste, to say how proud we Lagosians are of Governor Fashola. The 50 odd adverts in one paper would have been N25m in a Fashola Legacy Project. I would have preferred to see 50 or so N500,000 endowments for events, scholarships, competitions, prizes, a play in Fashola’s name in education, business, law and creative arts to raise the next generation of ‘Fasholaites’. It will take money –that advertising money would have been useful! You never hear of newspapers doing much CSR with their profits! I won a prize of a huge green Stedman’s Medical Dictionary in the USIS J. F. Kennedy Essay Competition from St Gregory’s College in 1965 or so. A Fashola Essay Prize for leadership among students or prefects is not too much to establish for a man who is so politically savvy and modest as not to name the Principals’ Cup and other major rejuvenated and new initiatives and events after his person. That takes guts, leadership, vision and a resistance to sycophants. As ‘Class Captain’ we hope he is spreading his philosophy among the Progressive Governors Forum. Nigeria has a sprinkling of visionary governors. There are a lot of ‘if only’ regrets in Nigeria. What if Obasanjo had ‘allowed’ Asiwaju Tinubu’s power dreams for Lagos in 1999 or had not withheld the N10b or if the civilian government had corrected the military induced 20 LGAs for Lagos versus the 77 for Kano State? Where would Lagos State be now without these anomalies?

    Celebrate ‘Fashola: The Builder’ or ‘Fashola: The Bridge Builder!’ I was on the beautiful architectural masterpiece Lekki-Ikoyi Suspension bridge. That is what government is about –executing the visionary solution and employing Nigerians. Government is supposed to pay attention to masterpieces beyond the ability of others. Jonathan agreed to allow the bridge but would Obasanjo or Buhari have? Why is there only that bridge when the Seine and the Thames have many bridges? Are the next bridges planned? Those still building the second and third Niger Bridge should be ashamed. The bridge is about shortening distances and the toll should be cheaper. Happy Birthday: Fashola the Builder’.

    A student who allegedly kidnapped, beat and raped an undergraduate was bailed with three sureties of N250,000 each. That is not a deterrent but an encouragement to violence against women.

    Readers of this column will know that it has promoted Addresses on State of the Nation, State, LGAs, Professional Bodies and Associations throughout Nigeria to highlight problems, encourage performance and development. Hurray, the Oyo State Governor Ajimobi gave a State of Oyo State Address just last week. So should the Presidency and NASS.

    Senate wants new recruitment into the military but how many of the senators will put their children and relations forward?

    So INEC says ‘no’ to e-voting, ‘No’ to Diaspora voting, perhaps ‘no’ to APC registration. What next? The CBN announced that N22b is repatriated home annually by the Diaspora Nigerian community. Does that not qualify them to vote?

    It is a pity that the Governors’ Forum does not have as a priority the prevention of further violence against farmers on the murderous North-South Cattle ‘Blood Meat’ corridor.

    So the World Bank supports a Nigerian university to produce solar panels. Who is afraid of a ‘Solar Powered Nigeria’? Government and its cronies in ‘Nigeria’s Great Petroleum Scam’? Meanwhile JAMB cut-off points cut off merit and youths lives.

  • Fashola inaugurates 166 lighting poles on Carter Bridge

    Motorists plying the Carter Bridge, a major arterial road connecting Lagos Island with the Mainland, can now heave a sigh of relief as Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has inaugurated 412 light fittings on the bridge.

    The aim is to improve security and encourage human and vehicular traffic at night.

    The bridge, first built by the colonial government in 1901 and later rebuilt in 1973, had, for many years, been abandoned at night by motorists, motorcyclists and pedestrians because it was always dark and considered unsafe.

    In a brief ceremony performed atop the bridge on Sunday night, the old facility took on a new life as the 166 poles holding the lamps, 52 attachments on the poles to illuminate the walkways, 204 indicator lights and 48 blue reflective lights placed underneath the bridge as well as a lighting under the bridge that reflects the Lagos State colours on the water came alive to the joy of residents and traders.

    Governor Fashola said the lighting of the bridge was in fulfilment of his administration’s commitment to power facilities in transportation and housing, adding that in the area of power, his government has focused on traffic lights and street lighting.

    Governor Fashola, who noted that the lighting of streets has improved security in the state and enabled people to move around safely at night, described the lighting of the bridge as “a transport solution as well as a security solution.”

    “The significance of these street lightings is that it has improved security in the state, making Lagos safer at night,” the Governor said, adding: “On the Carter Bridge particularly, this is a transport solution as well as a security solution.”

    Making history as the first bridge in the country to have public lighting powered by an independent power project, the Carter Bridge project covers public lighting starting from the Idumota area to Ijora Olopa, Iddo Terminus and towards the Third Mainland Bridge, Adeniji, Ebute Ero and Ofin.

    In addition, the switch on ceremony for the Carter Bridge public lighting project marks the first public infrastructure facility to be powered by the Lagos State Independent Power Project (IPP) and forms part of the Island Power Expansion Project, which will also include the connection of four general hospitals, 14 schools, two waterworks, one transfer loading station, two court facilities, two stadiums and a 30- kilometre additional public lighting as well as Tinubu Square.

    The Carter Bridge connects several roads on the Lagos Island, including Ijora Olopa, Iddo Terminus, Offin and Ebute Ero.

  • Tribute to Fashola at 50

    Tribute to Fashola at 50

    SIR: The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria salutes the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) as he attains the golden age of 50. His 50 years have been well spent in the service of fatherland and the country will always reflect the laudable landmarks he had brought to re-define governance in Lagos in generations to come.

    Fashola entrenched noble values in the years he spent as the Chief of Staff to the Lagos State Governor and mostly in the six years he has steered the ship of Lagos. His tribe needs to be replicated in every state and at the federal level for Nigeria to start real and meaningful progress march, in the face of the seemingly insurmountable challenges that strut the country.

    We salute Fashola, as he marches on with the template of good governance and redefines the sphere and scope of good governance in a badly governed country as Nigeria. We salute his courage, dexterity, sense of purpose and discipline in governing a complex, heavily populated and sophisticated state like Lagos, with its potentials and challenges. We salute the vision with which he creates a state that will not only serve the present but deal with the challenges of the future. We salute his competence in working out an effective state that handles the problems and anxieties of the bulk of Nigeria’s youths and employable, yet unemployed population. We hail Governor Fashola’s proactive role in equipping out a mega city with a capacity to absorb the over 50 per cent of Nigeria’s productive sector and fend for their dependents in other parts of Nigeria.

    We cannot but hail him as he continues to make indelible improvements in all sectors of the governance of Lagos. At 50, we believe he is still at the early stages of his service to Nigeria. We see him as a rare gift, acknowledged by all Nigerians across party lines and we believe that men like him hold the key to the country’s progress at a time the country is overwhelmed by feeling of hopelessness occasioned by bad, incompetent and corrupt leadership, especially at the centre. We see Fashola as nature’s rare gift the country needs to further tap to engage and fruitfully resolve the multifarious problems besetting the nation. We see Fashola as a positive role model the nation needs to export and indeed popularize among its youths and coming generations for the resuscitation of the flagging country.

    Lagos ACN feels proud of his achievements and holds it as a testimonial of the commitment of the party to improving the lives of Lagosians and Nigerians in general. We see him as a very positive brand the country needs to improve on the ever worsening face of governance in Nigeria. We therefore recommend him for higher roles at the national level, after his service in Lagos for we still insist that only the best is good for Nigeria.

    • Joe Igbokwe.

    Publicity Secretary.

    Lagos ACN.

  • Fashola: The making of an actualiser

    Fashola: The making of an actualiser

    Eyes were not on the tall, slim lawyer when he joined the Tinubu Administration in 2003 as the Chief of Staff. He had filled the gap left behind by his predecessor, the shrewd and vocal politician from Kwara State, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. He resumed quietly, became a powerful and influential executive member and yet, succeeded in evading partisan politics.

    The apolitical aide was loyal and faithful. He resumed work early and closed late. In the office, he was said to have deliberately behaved as a recluse. He was firm and focused. In addition, he was meticulous and incorruptible. Before he embarked on any course of action, he would weigh, first and foremost, the legal implications. Then, he would be less inflexible-completely adamant. Then, his boss would nod affirmatively.

    At work, Babatunde Raji Fashola impressed the two-term governor, Senator Bola Tinubu. Four years later, he was catapulted from the back to the front seat. No fewer than 14 Action Congress (AC) chieftains nursed the ambition to succeed him. The party leader had likened them to the many children of the biblical Jesse, who competed for the Hebrew crown, but were not anointed by Prophet Samuel, who eventually discovered David. “The candidate is the SAN with a sound mind; Babatunde Fashola the actualiser”, intoned the master strategist, Asiwaju Tinubu, who eventually handed the baton to him.

    To observers, the young technocrat was just fulfilling his destiny. Despite his huge administrative experience, Fashola started to learn the hard political ropes. Necessity compelled him to start appearing in Agbada, waving like politicians, dancing to the talking drums, mounting the rostrum at rallies, holding strategic electoral meetings with diverse stakeholders and entertaining worries about the electoral economy and scheming by the opposition.

    During the governorship debate, he had an edge. As a member of the cabinet of talents and key participant in the development of the blue-print, he knew where to continue after Tinubu’s exit. His former boss, mentor and political leader had laid the solid foundation upon, which he has continued to build. Five years after, Tinubu, who exuded happiness about making the right choice, declared at his 60th birthday ceremony in Lagos that he had no regret handing over to the able lieutenant.

    It is an understatement. Many people-governors, ministers, diplomats- have attested to the fact that BRF is a model governor. He is not afraid to take decisions, no matter how controversial, if the action is either in the short or long term interest of the state. As the governor of the most populous state, which has been aptly described as a mini-Nigeria, Fashola, like his predecessor, has continued to shoulder heavy national and continental responsibilities.

    Politically, Fashola has his strengths and weaknesses. He is a professional in politics. He is an administrator. He has brought honour to his party, political leader and the state because of his achievements. But stakeholders have not rated him high as a consummate politician with an uncanny capacity for the rough game of politics. Also, only providence will determine his next political role after his exit from the Alausa Secretariat in 2015.

    Fashola also has certain constraints to contend with. Indigenes who are not ready to make sacrifice for development are not cooperating with him. It is ironical that the people who demanded for new roads decided to sue the government for encroaching on their land when the contractors arrived on the sites to commence construction works.

    Between 1999 and 2007, Tinubu Administration acquired an enviable reputation for its people – oriented programmes in all the sectors. Through his exemplary character, courage and commitment to public welfare, he left behind worthy legacies. In post – Tinubu era, the beat goes on. At its inception, the Fashola Administration was described as a government of continuity. Now, the governor has lived up to the billing as the best man for the job.

    Governor Fashola inherited a massive dosage of responsibilities. Governing a complex, plural polity and mega city posses a lot of challenges, especially in the area of re-orientating and empowering the people for full realisation of their potentials for development. On daily basis, the population is soaring, with the attendant pressure on the infrastructural facilities. All the sectors – education, health, social services – continue to yearn for improved attention.

    In other climes, Lagos, the former Federal Capital Territory, should have acquired a special status. But, despite the fact that the state is the commercial headquarters, no additional penny has accrued to it from the power – loaded, distant Federal Government. However, Fashola has remained undaunted, in spite of the predictable and unpredictable constraints. As he forged ahead, he stood before the mirror of history, using the progressive manifestos of Action Congress Nigeria(ACN) as the compass to navigate into the future.

    Remarkably, he stuck to the 10-point agenda which his processor bequeathed. The result is the endless delivery of dividends of democracy. Through good governance, accountability, transparency and zero tolerance for graft, Fashola Administration set the standard for others to emulate. Even, the members of the opposition could not withhold respect for his transformational activities. Like King Solomon of old, the fame of the performer grew beyond the shores. As many state governors visit the state to learn useful lessons on prudent management, Lagos became a big Academy for Good Governance, with Fashola as the tutor.

    The first decisive action of the administration was to clear the melting point, Oshodi, of its peculiar mess. For almost 25 years, no administration could do that. It was a no-go area. Traffic rule was restored, hoodlums were sent packing and sanity returned. At that point, it was clear that the governor meant business. Every hundred days, the governor tenders his stewardship and showcases his achievements as the servant of the people. There is no sector that has not been revived.

    Fashola Administration has aggressively embarked on massive infrastructural renewal and job creation through various policies and programmes across the sectors. The projects include road, public transportation, health, rural development, education, security, tourism, housing, agriculture, youths and sports and poverty alleviation.

    The first priority was the radical upgrading of the infrastructure in the state. Lagos needed more roads, bridges and highways. These were necessary to stimulate sustainable economic growth. To achieve this, Fashola turned the state to a huge construction site. Prominent among them is the dualised Isheri – Olofin – Iba – LASU road. The coast is put at N6.28 billion. Commuters along the chaotic Mile 2 – Badagry Expressway have hailed the project because it has eased the traffic situation. Also, the Ajah – Badore Road, in Eti osa local government has been completed

    Worthy of mention is the expansion and modernisation of the Lekki – Epe Expressway. It is the first public – private ownership road project in the Sub – Saharan Africa. Previously, the first phase of the 49.4 kilometre Lagos Infrastructure Project (LIP), along the two kilometer stretch of the Ozumba Mbadiwe Waterfront, has completed. It is reputed for having a vehicular traffic in excess of 80,000 daily. Now, the people of Ikorodu will start enjoying a new road as from next year. The most populous sub-zone in the state is Alimoso. There, Fashola government decided to construct 13 major roads. They more satisfied the yearning of the people for infrastructure development. In the past, their traditional rulers complained that development was only restricted to the Island.

    Also, along Eti- Osa/Lekki – Ajiwe/Ajah – Ogbomo – Ikate, the administration has over 21 road projects to its credit. In Cosmpolitan Surulere, the people have savoured 15 major roads. They include the network of roads within the guardant of Eric Moore and Bode Thomas. Funsho Williams Avenue, Surulere, was also rehabilitated. On the Island, government has upgraded and expanded 45 milometre roads, stretching across Boudillon, Alexander, Gerard and Osborne. It was consistent with the Ikoyi Model City plan.

    Others include the upgrading and reconstruction of five major roads in Lagos Island to High Street status i.e. Brook (125m), Odunlami (212m), Martins (176m), Campbell and Adeniji Adele (134m) as part of the implementation of the third phase of the Lagos Central Business District Project; the upgrading of the 45km Ago – Palace way extension, Okota – Isolo, and construction of Okota – Itire overhead link bridge/road, about 998.5m, to ease traffic snarls and enhance mobility between communities in Apapa, Amuwo, Mushin, Surulere, Oshodi/Isolo and Alimoso areas, and the construction of Adetokunbo Ademola Street extension and Victoria Island, Phase II, to improve traffic connectivity and complement the Lekki – Epe expressway.Lagos Mainland, including Muritala Mohammed Way (5.0km), Herbert Macaulay (5.973m) and Oyingbo/Ido (1350m). Also, there have been construction of pedestrian bridges at Sanya bus stop,

    However, the most laudable is the award of design contract for the transformation of Lagos – Badagry Expressway into a 10 lane international highway, complete with pedestrian walkways, Bus Rapid Transit light rail tracts, pipe ducts and dramage channels.

    Owing to large scale human traffic and economic activities, Lagos environment is exposed to abuse. This has implications for ecological balance, public health and human development. To ensure environmental sustainability and promote well being, Fashola Administration took some revolutionary steps.

    Under the “Operation Green Lagos,” the government embarked on aggressive greening and beautification of open spaces, decrepit loops, verges and medians. Now, there are luxuriant vegetation and aesthetically appealing sites across the state’s strategic neighbourhood.

    Notable beautiful sites are Alausa, Ikeja Secretariat, its environs, old Lagos State Toll Gate, Oworonsoki Interchange, Lagos – Marina Water front, Ojota Curve, Simpson Street, Adeniji Adele Interchange and Ikoyi.

    Government also embarked on the social rehabilitation and economic empowerment of the Area Boys. They were hired for the beautification and landscaping. This included in them the dignity of labour. In the interim, they earned a living.

    Remarkably, the Olusosun land filled was upgraded. Three access roads were constructed to tackle the Oregun perennial traffic. Eight deodorizers were also installed to eliminate pollution, thereby enhancing air quality and public health of the adjoining neighbourhoods.

    In addition, 240 waste collection trucks and three Tana giant land fill compactors were procured for efficient management of wastes at land fills. It was the first in Africa. In over 2,000 locations, Dino bins were introduced, illegal dump sites were evacuated at 10 locations. The more was to foster waste disposal and environmental culture. The dumb sites were located at Obele Oniwala in Surulere, Oba Ogunji Street, Agege, Opebi, Ikeja, Aba, Eti Osa and Festac Gate, Amuwo. The government also established the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and built seven mini-fire stations in seven locations, including Palm Shopping Mall, Lekki, Simpson Street, Ojo – Alaba market, Ikotun, Oriade and Apapa Dockyard.

    Rescue equipment were purchased to rescue victims of fire disasters during emergencies for improved response to distress calls, four fire stations in Alausa, Isolo, Ikeja and Agege were rehabilitated while 250 fire officers were recruited.

    Transportation in Lagos State is usually chaotic. This is because six million passengers hustle daily between Lagos Mainland and Island. The mini buses that convey them are regulated. The drivers are not trained. Lagos has the highest vehicular density of 222 vehicles per kilometer. Motorised transportation accounts for more than 90 per cent of passenger and freight traffic.To maintain a clean break from the past, the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport rolled out 100 high capacity blue buses on March 17, 2008. The exercise signaled the launch of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. Again, it is first in Black Africa.The next level is the Lagos Urban Transport Project (LUTP), assisted by the World Bank on segregated lanes to ease intra-city road traffic and enhance commuters welfare.

    The contract for the design of the proposed ultra-modern Lagos Light Rail Mass transit System was awarded. Lagosians are full of nostalgia, because the same project was frustrated by the military intervention in politics when it was initiated by former Governor Lateef Jakande in the Second Republic.

  • Fashola inaugurates COWLSO’s retirement villa

    A RETIREMENT resort built by the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO) for retired public servants was inaugurated yesterday in Lagos by Governor Babatunde Fashola.

    Fashola said only the spirit of continuity in the public service could guarantee national development.

    The governor’s audience at the opening of the first-ever retirees’ resort at Lekki, Lagos Island, included: Alhaja Abimbola Jakande, wife of former Governor Lateef Jakande; Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central District) and a representative of Mrs. Obafunmilayo Johnson, among others.

    According to Fashola, many laudable projects had gone moribund across the country because of lack of continuity.

    He said rather than complete on-going projects, successors often prefer to initiate their own pet projects.

    Fashola singled out the Centre of Excellence as a state that respects the culture of continuity.

    He said: “These ideas are fundamental; they are important because in our lifetime, we have witnessed instances where projects were abandoned by successors only because they did not start them. We have witnessed instances where the acquisition of land, as in this case, ended up in court.”

    Noting that the event being celebrated was the dedication of a building, Fashola said the underlying issue was an idea that gave birth to the edifice.

    He said: “Although we have come to dedicate and commemorate a building, I think what we have come to dedicate and commemorate today actually is a greater cause – the idea that gave birth to this building, an idea that was resting in the heart and in the mind of the very First Lady that Lagos had when it became a state, Mrs. Johnson.

    “That idea is now represented by the word COWLSO and that is why we all have gathered here to celebrate.”

    He hailed Senator Tinubu for reviving and following up on the idea 40 years after.

    Fashola said: “Of course, it is the same cause, the same idea to continue with what somebody has started, to suppress ego, control vision and run with good ideas, irrespective of where they originate, from that has enabled your current chairperson to run with an idea she did not start and deliver it to fruition.

    “Clearly, continuity of ideas and projects has become a way of life in our state and our citizens are better for it. Therefore, we must salute the women of Lagos.

    “So, while this building will age, while it will need to be maintained, while another first lady will come and say I want a 20-storey retirement villa, the underlying idea that gave birth to this will never fade.”

    Mrs. Johnson, who is COWLSO’s Grand Matron, expressed joy that the Committee has grown by leaps and bounds.

    She said: “Since 2004, COWLSO has come of age in looking after children. Your caring hearts have been demonstrated in the many projects you have done for the young people of Lagos. You have been a fortress and tower of strength for women.”

    Senator Tinubu said the vision to build the Villa originated from her love for old people and the thought to find a relaxation centre for them.

    Thanking the governor’s wife, Dame Emmanuella Fashola, for bringing the vision to fruition, Senator Tinubu expressed joy that the idea conceived many years ago was not abandoned but implemented beyond her vision and expectation.

    Dame Fashola said the project “was conceived and executed to provide a venue for our active citizens, who have contributed to the development of our country and particularly Lagos State, to engage in healthy recreational activities in a conducive environment.”

    She paid glowing tributes to individuals and corporate organisations, who contributed to making the Villa a reality.

    The highlight of the event was the planting of 50 trees donated by COWLSO by the governor, the first and former first ladies, wife of the House of Assembly speaker Mrs. Mayowa Ikuforiji; State Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) , Chief Henry Ajomale and his wife, Adetoun .

    At the occasion were: House of Representatives’ member Yakub Balogun and representative of the wive of the Ogun State governor and members of the State Executive Council, among others.