My Greatest Regret —Jakande
A former Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande said in Lagos that his greatest regret in politics was the cancellation of the metro line project started by his administration in the 80s.
The metro line project was conceived as a means of mass movement of goods and services by rail within a thickly populated city such as Lagos metropolis, and Jakande was governor from 1979 to 1983 in Lagos State.
Jakande, who went down the memory lane in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said it would have helped to reduce the problem of traffic congestion in the metropolis.
“The greatest thing I regret in the politics of our country is the cancellation of the metroline project, I had foreseen that we would need a metroline.
“The land size of Lagos, compared with the potential growth of the people, made it imperative in my view to have a quicker means of transport to reduce vehicular traffic.â€
The former governor said the project was cancelled by the military junta that truncated democratic government in 1983 and had made traffic problems in Lagos state, at present, a big issue.
Jakande, while commending Gov. Babatunde Fashola for embarking on the light rail project, advised him to expedite action in order to complete it as soon as possible.
He also decried the quality of education in the country and appealed to the leaders to intervene in the sector.
The veteran journalist and politician, who delivered 22,000 housing units during his 50-month tenure, further appealed to the government to provide low-cost houses for Nigerians.
“The extent to which housing has been commercialised is not good for the country.
“The governments have an onus, the private sector has its own responsibilities; but it is the government and government only that can make it available to the ordinary citizen,†he said.
Jakande explained that although some rural areas of Lagos State had vacant patches of land, there was nothing wrong with reclaiming land from the wide expanse of lagoon in the metropolis for housing projects.
The ex-governor, who built many functional classrooms during his tenure to ensure that primary and secondary schools stopped operating on shift basis, noted that the standard of education had fallen badly in Nigeria.
According to Jakande, the neglect of teachers’ education and welfare are the culprits and should be arrested urgently.
The 81-year-old politician said the upgrading of teachers’ colleges to colleges of education as well as turning the latter to degree awarding institutions were mere window-dressing, if quality was lacking.
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