THE article, “Fostering inter-state socio-economic union”, published recently in The Nation, in so far as it relates to the socio-economic and political relationship between Ogun and Lagos, is a product of comprehensive ignorance, to say the very least. The writer claims to be from the Ministry of Information & Strategy of Lagos State, but I am aware of the extant civil service rules across the states of the federation and at the centre. Civil servants are forbidden from espousing (overtly) political views, since they are duty bound to serve every administration irrespective of their personal political leanings. The write-up, in my view, breaches the neutrality code of the civil service. Therefore, it should not be out of place if the Lagos Ministry of Information decides to investigate the source of the publication.
It is also possible the writer is a political hack or fifth columnist working to sour the enviable relationship that exists between the APC-led Governments of Lagos and Ogun States.
Not long ago, another publication sought to create an imaginary commercial contest between Ogun and Lagos. The report, which was on Mile 12 crisis, gave the Lagos and Ogun State Governments short shrift.
Surely, the alleged commercial contest between the two states only existed in the imagination of the writer and his conclusion that the two governments were only concerned with revenue rather than the welfare of the traders was most uncharitable.
For the writer and his ilk, the Lagos Government should not have shut the Mile 12 market following the bloody clash but left the parties to undo themselves at the abattoir of mutual annihilation. And Ogun Government should equally have looked the other way while the traders flocked the Kara market blocking access road to Lagos, endangering lives and property, including the health of the traders and their customers.
One is amazed and bemused by the motives of the author of the first report and the current one because you cannot have a winner or loser when there is no contest or competition.
Ogun and Lagos are not just controlled by the All Progressives Congress, they both enjoy excellent relationship that should be the envy of other states. For instance, Lagos has supported the Residency Rule in the implementation of the Personal Income Tax Act, which has seen public workers in Lagos who reside in Ogun pay their tax to Ogun State as different from the past practice where they remitted their tax to Lagos in violation of the tax law. Ogun State has equally leased some agricultural land to Lagos State in a win-win partnership for the two neighbouring states.
Indeed, the areas of mutual collaboration between the two states are innumerable. Both Ogun and Lagos are partners in progress. The mayhem in Mile 12 caught everyone unawares, including its immediate consequences. While both governments weighed the options in such tense and difficult period, the eventual actions of the two states were laudable and fired by noble intentions.
It is unfair to impute any other motive to the humanitarian gestures of the two friendly and responsible governments.
In the same vein, it is an exercise in futility for the current writer to preach about “inter-state socio-economic union” to Ogun and Lagos when the two states are already reaping the fruits of their “geographical proximity, cultural diversity, political affiliations…” and are maximizing “the gains of the APC’s broom revolution as a way of making the entire process of economic integration seamlessly achievable.”
Development, the world over, is work-in-progress. Therefore, what distinguishes one government or party from the other is the quantum of work done in relation to the available resources within a period of time. And by all accounts, the APC governments of the two states have been outstanding. We have delivered value for money. Yes, there is still a lot to be done. Population is increasing on a daily basis and new towns are opening up with new challenges. It is the responsibility of government to meet the challenges within the available resources.
The current economic downturn has clearly affected all the states of the federation. Where it has not totally affected recurrent expenditures, it has impacted in one way or the other on capital expenditures. But the APC governments are thinking out of the box, and in spite of the economic realities, are doing their best to raise the standard of living of their people.
•Soyombo is Special Assistant on Media to the Governor of Ogun State
The union between Ogun and Lagos
