The governor-elect has to hit the ground running
Come May 29, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Governor-elect of Lagos State will assume duty, after the incumbent Governor Akinwunmi Ambode would have bowed out, upon completion of his four-year term. I do not envy the incoming governor. There is a lot to do. Therefore, he has to hit the ground running. Governance has taken the back seat in the state recently, apparently as a result of the frosty relationship between the outgoing governor and his party, which led to his losing the privilege of running for second term. Yes, privilege because it has now become clear that second term is not automatic; not even in Lagos which has been in the hands of the progressives since the return to civil rule on May 29, 1999, and where second term had until now been taken for granted, so to say. Party dynamics have rewritten the narrative and incumbents can be checkmated right at the party level, even before general elections. That was probably where Ambode missed it. I guessed that was why he said he had learnt his lesson. He thought the votes were on the streets; but he forgot that the party must first push you forward before the votes on the streets can be yours for the asking.
Anyway, that is now history.
Even in normal situations, an elected official becomes lame duck a few months to the end of his tenure. With Ambode being the first governor in the state not to have that privilege of second term since 1999, the lame duck era set in pretty earlier. So many things have gone haywire since the party primaries last year. Nothing seems to be working again, with many people, particularly commercial motorcycle riders, plying any route of their choice, in flagrant disregard of the law banning their operations on some roads in the state. What is more? They ride against traffic with impunity these days even as they have appropriated the BRT corridors newly constructed to themselves.
Street lights are no longer functioning in many places. And where they are, they are only partially so. Let me use the ones on Fatai Atere Way, Matori, Lagos, as example. I make bold to say that those lights worked last about two years ago. As a matter of fact, I ran a campaign on this page for weeks in 2017, trying to draw attention of the state government and officials in charge to the problem. It was like no one in government was reading the newspaper; or that they just could not be bothered that that was enough a problem to lose sleep over. Indeed, I drew the attention of two of the commissioners to the problem, alongside the state of Fatai Atere Road which never knew the kind of neglect it suffered in the last eight to nine years. It was after a long time that the road was only partially and reluctantly fixed. Even then, the quality of the repair was such that several portions were bad again shortly after the so-called repairs, even before the next cycle of rains. As at Friday when this piece was being concluded, only about 10 or so street lights on Fatai Atere Way were on. This is even an improvement as many of them had been bad for months.
Yet, I remember that the state government launched the Light Up Lagos project with fanfare. Part of the aim was to make the state unsafe for marauders who take advantage of darkness to perpetrate evil, and there is enough proof that their activities have been significantly curtailed, even in a place like Oshodi which was notorious for all kinds of crimes before the advent of the street lights. The other reason for initiating the project was to beautify the streets. Fatai Atere is only used as metaphor for this problem. There are several other places where the street lights need attention. I remember the state government even gave some helplines for Lagosians to call in case any there is problem with any of the lights. What I am trying to say is that maintenance culture that is lacking generally in the country is also a problem in Lagos. It should not be.
The Sanwo-Olu government also has to pay particular attention to the several manholes that are death traps on Lagos roads. You cannot drive with your two eyes closed on many Lagos roads as a result of these manholes. Again, let me start with the one on Fatai Atere Way, where this newspaper is situated, after all, “charity”, they say, “begins at home”. This one on Fatai Atere by Ladipo Junction has been there, as they say, ‘since time immemorial’! There is another one at Mulero Bus Stop on the old Ipaja Road, inward Agege that has been partially blocked with garbage by some concerned citizens. There is also another one at one of the major junctions between Atan Cemetery and Herbert Macaulay Way in Yaba, Lagos mainland. I bumped into this particular one in December, last year, and had a burst tyre instantly despite the fact I was not speeding. The hole on the road had some sharp wires that punctured my tyre. It was there right in the middle of the road. There are countless others that I cannot mention, including the ones on Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway at the Airport road junction which is sometimes closed and sometimes open. I guess it is because we have not cultivated the habit of dragging government to court for negligence that we have these many manholes all over the place. Some of them are life-threatening. So, the incoming administration has to take care of all these little details that matter in governance.
There is also this question that has been agitating my mind and I have had cause to discuss it with some of the state’s officials. And that is the question of inner roads. Without doubt, successive administrations in the state have made it a point of duty to list the inner roads they intend to repair or construct and they have remained relatively faithful in this regard. But then, given the sheer number of such roads in the state, it would appear the number selected for repair or construction is hardly enough in any given year. So, the impression has always been that not much is happening in this regard. I have therefore had cause to ask some of the state government’s officials if it is not possible just to grade some of these roads if there aren’t enough resources to tar all of them, and provide good drainage to allow for free flow of water. This would at least save motorists and even pedestrians some trauma of dancing ‘Palongo’ on these roads. It would also relieve residents of agonising whenever they want to go out or whenever they are returning from outing.
Moreover, if resources are limited because of the contending forces for them due to the huge population of the state, would it not have been better for the Ambode administration, for instance, to face just two of the three major projects it concentrated in one axis of the state, and spend the money on the third on inner roads? I had asked one of the state government officials as soon as it was announced that the state government was going to create BRT corridor on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway; construct flyover at Pen Cinema as well as expand the Airport Road if they ever had an executive session where the implications of the simultaneous construction works were thrashed out because I knew it would come with a lot of pains that even those that were meant to enjoy the projects would not find amusing.
I cannot remember what the response of the official was. But my fear soon turned out to be prophetic when Lagosians began to reject the usual answer that Lagos Traffic Radio (I sympathise with my colleagues in the station who were always on the defensive during those moments, trying to defend their employer) was giving to those who were asking if Lagosians must ‘die before they live’ (to paraphrase one caller on a Saturday night that I too would not forget because I spent more than four hours from my place in Agege to the office, a distance of about 15 kilometres). The presenter said tribal marks are incised in pains but they become objects of beauty when they heal. In other words, Lagosians should bear with the government because they would have cause to smile after the pains! That was a palliative many listeners were not happy to hear on this particular night. Anyway, it is hoped that the Sanwo-Olu administration would quickly complete these projects that are yet to be completed before people start wondering what the hell is happening again. Some are even saying the new government may not want to complete them; especially if they are not part of its own agenda for Lagosians. This would be suicidal. But I do not see this happening because it just would not make sense.
(TO BE CONTINUED).