19th October, 2014
Kazeem Ugbodaga
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state has warned the Federal Government to stay away from the Lagos-Badagry Expressway reconstruction after the central government indicates interest to take over the construction of the road.
The Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen recently announced that the Federal Government has concluded plans to take over the construction of the expressway from the Lagos State Government.
Reacting to the development on Sunday at his 2,700 Days in office held at the Lagos Television Ground, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, Fashola warned that the Federal Government would have the Lagos State Government to contend with if it actually wanted to take over the road from it.
He said he wanted to believe that the minister did not say anything like that, saying that he had not read the story in the newspaper neither has he had it.
“The statement credited to the Minister for Works, honestly I don’t know. I haven’t heard it. I haven’t read it. I think it will be wise to hear what he has to say about the matter.
“I think it will be a very unfortunate journey to even contemplate that kind of idea. They will have us to deal it, should that be the case and I don’t think that anybody who is sensible want will want to stand in the way of development.
“What will the objective be to do that when you are not providing the money and not providing the design? We are doing the road so that our state can move forward. I don’t want to believe that he made that statement; I think we will leave it there,” he said.
On the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, the governor said his administration braved the odd to curtail the spread of the disease, saying it would have been calamitous if the disease had reached a stage of epidemic in Lagos.
“But in the spirit of Lagos, we know that our work is not finished. The lessons of hygiene must remain with us, regular hand washing with soap and water, stopping the practice of public urination and open defecation must continue,” he said.
The governor appealed to the Federal Government to maintain the highest vigilance at the nation’s land, air and sea borders as well, stressing that maintaining close scrutiny of persons from countries and regions where Ebola remains a challenge must be the nation’s first line of defence.
“Importantly, we must send help to these countries if we truly want to keep the gains we have recorded. Our work on Ebola continues because we must do everything to avoid a re-infection. We have put many policies in place which the Commissioner for Health will be communicating to you.
“Some of the lessons learnt are the need for a Government Scientific Adviser to be our co-ordinator not only for providing scientific information about infectious diseases but also co-ordinating other areas of science based research, food sufficiency, water sufficiency, air pollution and all other things that are likely to affect our well-being,” he stated.
Fashola, however, announced the appointment of Dr. Adekemi Sekoni as his Chief Scientific Adviser.