7th June, 2011
As the brouhaha that characterised the 2011 general elections in Nigeria begin to simmer down, it is imperative for Nigerians, particularly the political class, to begin to take stock of issues and events that took place the elections.
The election, which was adjudged to be free and fair from various quarters, is though skirmished by condemnable post electoral bloodletting that reverberated through some states in the northern part of the country. However, in spite of this setback, one of the highpoints of the 2011 elections is the emergence of a sophisticated and enlightened electorate. The voters demonstrated high level political sophistication by voting for candidates of their choice and refusing to vote along party line as it was in the past.
The politics of bread and butter that has bedeviled our polity was jettisoned. The electorate shunned all forms of inducements and harassments and persevered to reward integrity, reliability, accountability, hard work and diligence. The landslide victory of the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), in his bid to secure a second term in office is a reward for hard work and performance. It is, therefore, imperative for the political class, and indeed the newly sworn-in governors, to draw inspiration from this man who himself claimed to have been inspired by that late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, whose legacies in the southwest of Nigeria have endured till today. The political class and all other office holders must begin to key into the vision and the strategy which Fashola developed to achieve a new Lagos.
It has taken the government of Babatunde Fashola no more than four years to build on the foundation of his predecessor to transform the face of Lagos from the suffocating mega-trash of the past to, slowly but surely, make the state the pacesetter in modernity and decent living. Fashola’s Lagos has become a reference point for good governance and best brand that markets Nigeria to the international community.
To actualise his vision of making Lagos State Africa’s model megacity and global economic and financial hub through the eradication of poverty, sustainable economic growth and aggressive infrastructure renewal and development, the first strategy deployed by BRF was to create a developmental operational document called Ten Point Agenda that would serve as a compass for the implementation of policies, programmes and projects of his administration. Under the agenda, the state’s development challenges are grouped into roads and transportation, power and water supply, public security, food security, health, education, housing, environment management and physical planning, employment generation and revenue enhancement.
On each of the agenda, BRF administration has recorded plethora of landmark achievements. For instance, the administration developed an integrated transportation system through the popular Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) scheme, first of its kind in Africa, which moved over 150 million passengers along the mile 12/CMS route. The greatest breakthrough in mass transit in the city will come with the commencement of the nearly completed Badagry expressway incorporating BRT lane and light rail in 2012.
Another vital area which the Fashola administration has demonstrated its creativity and doggedness is in its environmental regeneration programme. Lagos highways and streets are now cleaner and beautiful as flowers and trees adorn hitherto neglected and rejected spots which have now been transformed into relaxation centers. Cynics who had initially thought that this government initiative will not stand the test of time are beginning to have a second thought as the government has displayed enough resolve and tenacity of purpose to convince everyone that it means business in its mission to change the face of the environment in the state. In this instance, the transformation of the once notorious Oshodi comes to mind.
Also, Lagosians now have access to qualitative healthcare without financial, cultural or political barriers. As a boost to primary healthcare, health centers have been built across the state with the aim of decongesting secondary and tertiary health institutions in the state. In the area of secondary health care, the state government constructed the four storey 100-Bed Maternal and Child Health Complexes at Ajeromi General Hospital and Gbaja, Surulere, as well as the four storey 110-Bed Maternal and Child Health Complex at Amuwo Odofin, construction of 20-Bed Highway Accident and Emergency Centre at the Toll Gate, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
It is, therefore, on the basis of this and other numerous achievements that Lagosians used their ballot power to overwhelmingly affirm their satisfaction with the good works of the state government and renew the Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) administration’s social contract of developmental democracy with the people. Before the elections, Mr. Fashola has become a benchmark for performance.
Despite its numerous challenges, especially that of limited resources, Lagos has become a reference point. The city has suddenly become one of the rising cities in the world where human creativity combined with passion has reduced human misery and helped in improving the life of the people. Nothing illustrates this better than the tireless effort to improve the condition of public infrastructure and utilities in the state. Hardly a week passes without seeing a positive transformation on Lagos streets.
The lessons from the democratic experience paying off in Lagos is that a political leader, who is truly interested in rendering service to the people, can always excel no matter seeming insurmountable odds. The leader may lack the ingenuity to deliver the Ginsburg Address of President Abraham Lincoln, he might be excused for lacking the personality or charisma that endears him to the hearts of the people, but he cannot be excused for lacking courage.
The good changes we are savouring in Lagos today are the fruits of dogged courage. If governor Fashola had been overwhelmed by the myriads of problems in Lagos and postponed governance till 2011, if he had sat down quietly in comfortable air conditioned office at the state house admiring the drawings of the mega city projects, a lot of the remarkable changes we are witnessing in Lagos today would not have taken place.
It is gratifying to note that, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) has since forgotten his landslide victory at the poll and moved on to other useful things. For instance, he attended the World Economic Forum recently held in Cape Town, South Africa immediately after the election while some of his colleagues were still popping champagnes. Same governor Fashola immediately moved to Canada in continuation of his mission to ensure that the Lagos Light Rail project becomes a reality. On his return from Canada, he commissioned the Island 10 megawatts Independent Power Project that guarantees 24-hours uninterrupted power supply to some public institutions and street light in 20 streets on the island. This is why Lagos is working!
•Sola Ogunmosunle is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.
