If Lagos had not chosen Fashola...

updated: Monday 16-02-2009

BRTGovernor Raji Babatunde Fashola can be either of two things to a Lagos resident - friend or foe. Kunle Awosiyan takes a panoramic view of Lagos State in the first 600 days of Fashola’s administration and concludes that it has been so far so...

He had a firm and intelligent response to every question asked. At a time, the panel of judges, chaired by veteran journalist, Dr. Doyin Abiola, nearly turned the town hall meeting into a probe session.

Despite the “probe,” Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State was unperturbed and without any sign of anger, he responded to the questions asked.

He was meeting with the media and some other stakeholders to mark his 600 days in office, and for the sixth time, the governor had chosen to give account of his stewardship to Lagosians via the town hall meeting.

He was not the first to do that. The incumbent US President, Mr. Barack Obama, attended 39 town hall meetings as a senator from Illinois within four years. But while Obama visited villages to address town hall meetings, Fashola had delegated members of the state executive council to the three senatorial districts to feel the pulse of the grassroots.

Fashola’s administration had been marked with a series of activities in the last 600 days. It had been days of pain for many, and days of gain for others. It had been days of demolition to relocation; days of tenement to land use charge; days of coroner chaos to coroner law and of corruption allegations and suspension.

Not only this, the administration had witnessed a massive transformation of the transport system with the introduction of the Bus Rapid Transit, the construction of jetties and rehabilitation of major roads, including the Third Mainland Bridge. For every member of the state executive council, it had been days of stern decisions and absolute loyalty.

The plan to make Lagos a mega city had led to the creation of a Central Business District on the Island, which would later translate to the demolition of the popular Oluwole community.

The N50-billion-dollar mega city project threw the residents of Oluwole out of their comfort zone, as the state government mowed down the community and relocated the original landlords to Shasha in Alimosho Local Government area of the state.

Although the mega city project is a good one, it must be noted that some Oluwole tenants still roam the streets of Lagos, searching for shelter.

Again, the state government did not hesitate to bring down the Tejuosho market, following the fire disaster that occurred in one of the buildings.

Governor Fashola closed the market indefinitely for reconstruction while the traders wallowed in pain. Fashola was bent on rebuilding the market to meet modern standard. The closure had led to series of protests by the traders and sympathisers. Some are yet to get shops till now.

The most recent was the demolition of stalls and mass evacuation of traders along Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway in Oshodi. At present, Oshodi is wearing a new look with less vehicular traffic congestion, but the traders had to suffer for it. Over 1500 people had erected illegal structures in Oshodi, which the government could not condone any longer.

Fashola had argued that he could not allow the interest of the few in Oshodi to becloud his good mission for the over 17 million people living in the state. He said that the demolition and subsequent displacement in Oshodi to a large extent would assist in the fight against crime and traffic congestion in the state.

Flood control in the state swept many buildings away, including mosques and churches that were built on canals. The administration believed that many structures had blocked the canal, making it difficult to control flood.

Since he came on board as the governor, flood had stopped ravaging the city.

Though, Christian and Muslim faithful were angry with the policy, it did not change the resoluteness of the man at the helm of affairs, Fashola. He had met with the leadership of the religious bodies to sensitise them on his policies.

The dedication of a lane for BRT along Ikorodu Road attracted disordant tunes from the public. Some had described it as a standing order, which could not have been realised by any government perhaps because of the habitual traffic jam on the road. During the period of the demarcation and construction of BRT lanes and stop points, many Lagosians groaned in the traffic. Ikorodu Road was almost impassable for motorists while the high cost of transportation became unbearable for most commuters.

But to Fashola, the pain was a price the residents had to pay to get the dividends of democracy, which include good transportation system. He would always appeal to the citizens to bear with the administration.

At present, the BRT is a solace for Lagos residents. It has conveyed about 40 million passengers in the last nine months. Though people still queue at BRT points, they pay less and enjoy more comfort.

Gone were the days of political jamboree at government’s organised events. During the last administration of Senator Bola Tinubu, there were professional praise-singers who would always parade themselves for a token. Now, members of the group grope in pain as there is no work anymore.

With the set target of N17 billion Internally Generated Revenue every month, the government has taken seriously, issues concerning taxation.

Beside, its incessant campaigns on payment of tax, it went further to implement the land use charge, which now forbids the local governments from collecting tenement rates.

The policy did not go down well with most residents who thought it was a move by the state government to exploit them. As a matter of fact, the policy had led to double taxation because some local governments still charge tenements despite the state government’s directive.

Landlords had continued to suffer for this while some local government chairmen persevered it in spite of their inability to meet up with their IGR target.

The government had achieved 70.3 per cent, which is over N10 billion monthly, of its target, with a promise to continue to prosecute tax evaders.

Fashola also vent his anger on the educational sector when he shut about 200 sub-standard private schools.

It was a long battle between the Association of Proprietors of Private Schools and the state government. The government announced its readiness to absorb pupils of the shut private schools, but the school owners felt imperiled since they did not have another source of income.

And to let the private school owners realise that it had not formulated a policy to frustrate them, the state government took a drastic step to sanitise the public schools when it read the riot act to the teachers to curb their corrupt practices.