Fashola Urged To Support Creation Of Lagoon State

Agitations have been mounted on Governor Babatunde Fashola to create a new state to  be called Lagoon State out of Lagos State, South West Nigeria .

This time around, the agitation is coming from lawyers as they joined the leagues of  prominent Lagosians championing the call for a new state to be created out of the  state .

The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Ikorodu Branch, said it has become necessary to  create Lagoon State  because many Lagosians were championing the cause.

Speaking at the 6th Annual Babatunde Olusola Benson Lecture to commemorate the  branch’s 2010 Law Week held in Ikorodu yesterday, the Chairman, NBA, Ikorodu Branch,  Prince Kazeem Adebanjo, said the move would bring about greater development,  economic advancement and prosperity of Lagos State as a whole and the proposed  Lagoon State in particular.

According to him, the Ikorodu NBA chapter would convene a special forum to discuss  the possibility of the creation of Lagoon State , urging all stakeholders to give  support to the agitation.

Also, the chairman decried the congestion of cases before the Lagos and Ibadan  division of the Court of Appeal and called Fashola to fast track the creation of an  additional Court of Appeal division in Ijebu-Ode or Ikorodu.

“There is need to arrest this trend by increasing the number of court rooms and/or  panels to guarantee the appearance of more lawyers at the appellate courts as well  as ensure speedy dispensation of justice at the appellate courts so that the efforts  made at the High Courts to achieve quick conclusion of cases could be completed at  the appellate court level”, he said.

Speaking at the event, Fashola did not comment about the agitation  for the creation  of Lagoon State, rather his speech,  was anchored on taxation.

He advocated the need for voluntary tax payment, saying it is rooted in the essence  of representative and good governance.

“Tax gives us the choice of the type of life we want to live”, he said, adding that  it also helped government to fulfill its part of the Social Contract.

According to the governor, the landmark achievements credited to his administration  across the state in the last three and a half years could not have been possible  without the people fulfilling their own part of the social contract by paying their  taxes as and when due.

Explaining the correlation between Politics and Law, Fashola said as the various  political parties began to contest for power, all their engagements and processes  being used by them were founded in law.

Also present at the occasion which took place at the Ikorodu Town Hall were  President of the Appeal Court, Justice Isa Ayo Salami; his immediate predecessor,  Justice Umar Farouk Abdullahi; Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of  Lagos State, Mr. Olasupo Sasore; the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, His Royal Majesty, Oba  S.A.A. Oyefusi; and his wife, and the Chief Host, Chief Babatunde Olusola Benson,  among others.

Highlight of the event was a lecture with the topic, “Taxation and Good Governance  in a Developing Democracy”, given by Special Adviser to the Governor on Revenue and  Taxation, Mr. Ade Ipaiye.

—Kazeem Ugbodaga