The need to accord Lagos State a special status among the comity of states in the country was the concern of former presidential aspirant, Dr. Dele Patrick Cole, while speaking during a lecture he delivered in Lagos at the weekend. In the lecture titled ‘Lagos 1861: Matters Arising’, Dr. Cole, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Brazil, said the time has come for the federal government to recognise Lagos State as the former capital of Nigeria with special status and grants.
The lecture was part of the series of activities to celebrate Lagos at 50. In his statement, Cole reminded the public that in 1975, the then Head of State, the late Muritala Muhammed, directed that Lagos State should immediately be made a special state with special grants to carter for what he feared was an imminent population explosion.
“In the document which I and others prepared for this exercise, both Kaduna and Enugu were included in the arrangement. Later, Port Harcourt was used to replace Enugu. So what Senator Oluremi Tinubu is agitating for at the national assembly currently, is in conformity with Murtala’s dream for the state back then. It is the ideal thing to be done to make Lagos function well.
The Lecture, he said is to draw the attention of the federal government to the issues that must be tackled to make Lagos a better place as its attains the golden age of 50. According to Cole, a former Managing Director of Daily Times, all the federal institutions in Lagos State should have been established and managed in agreement with the federal government under a special arrangement.
The guest lecturer blamed the endless traffic logjam in places like Apapa and Ikorodu road on the population explosion being experienced by the state. He added that the lopsided design and management of the Muritala Muhammed International Airport is part of the problems that are confronting Lagos due to the absence of a special status.