“I am not happy. I believe that Lagos can achieve a bit
more. I have been in office for 125 days, I do not have absolute control over
the legislature for instance because the legislature is independent and has to
remain so.”
The above lamentation from Babajide Sanwo Olu, the executive
governor of Lagos State explains, in details, the developmental deficits that
define the pathway of his administration even as he momentarily tries to fast
track attention to the
deplorable and alarming neglects of critical areas in the
State.
Voters, who earnestly still venerate and value Akinwumi
Ambode’s administration had wished he continued until APC leaders decided
otherwise. On the heels of comparison, those who monitor the developmental
graph of the State submit that
Ambode’s first 100 days in office were blessings compared to
Sanwo-Olus which has been described as “unimpressive”.
According to Farah Aideed, a social media commentator,
“Sanwo Olu days in office so far have been lack lustre with nothing remarkable
to write home about apart from returning VIO back to the streets. For Ambode,
she stated that he matched words with action just three weeks in office by
announcing his decision to realign the Ministry of Rural Development,
Parastatals Monitoring Office as well as
Political and Legislative Powers Bureau. This, according to
her, set the tone for effective and mass-oriented governance that led to
unprecedented
achievements within four years. Continuing, Aideed stated
that not many will forget Ambode’s milk of kindness to Mrs. Ruth Uche, the
mother of three set of twins whose husband absconded from their home including
Oluwajomiloju Ogundimu’s heart surgery on his second working day in office.
She emphasized the setting up of Overseas Affairs and
Investment office which clearly spelt out where his administration headed.
In all of this, Aideed is particularly angry and regrets
voting Sanwolu saying what seems to be his pre occupation is persecuting his
predecessor, Akinwunmi Ambode.
If Aideed has all this to say, the Peoples Democratic Party
in Lagos State sees it differently, lambasting and accusing Sanwo-Olu for
sleeping on duty as
Lagos governor. The party said the only people who can boast
of benefiting from the government of Sanwo-Olu so far are members of the All
Progressives Congress
and its leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. The party has since
requested he resigns if he can live up to his campaign promises.
The party also advised the governor to spare time and
address the traffic congest- ion across Lagos even as the city currently ranks
the filthiest in West Africa.
PDPs statement seems a child’s play when compared with the
harsh verdict from reputable Economist Intelligence Unit that ranked Lagos as
the world’s most
dangerous city to live in.
Sadly, Lagosians are already having misgivings about the
direction and effectiveness of Sanwolu. Earlier, there were concerns about
Sanwo-Olu’s
experience and the turbulence he faced while trying to
emerge as the gubernatorial candidate of his party as Ambode reported that
Sanwo-Olu was neither fit nor
qualified to be the governor of Lagos state.
However, his Information Commissioner, Gbenga Omotosho,
disagrees with these assertions, saying “Sanwo-Olu’s milestones have been
remarkable.
Wherever the governor went he was met by Lagosians who
appreciated what he has done. The Mother & Child Hospital was commissioned
in Eti-Osa LGA, the
housing estate in Igando, Jakande Gardens was commissioned,
there is a new re-orientation about waste management in the state,” he
defended.
Gbenga stressed further that the traffic situation has been
managed to a bearable situation. “Look at the Apapa axis long lines of trailers
from Apapa as long as to
to Surulere, to the stadium, up to Fadeyi area, they are no
longer there now. Not that there are no challenges. The challenges are there
but they are being tackled
everyday and more creative ways are been used to deal with
the traffic.”
But governor Sanwo-Olu had unveiled the
acronym, ‘THEME’’ for his policy initiatives,which he
detailed as follows:
T- Traffic Management & Transportation.
H- Health & EnvironmentE- Education & Technology.
M- Making Lagos a 21st century economy
E- Entertainment & Tourism
Supporting the 5 main pillars, he also listed the following
as areas of focus; Infrastructure, Housing, Ease of doing business, Land reform
and Power.
The policy initiative notwithstanding, stakeholders have
been of the view that tangible results would make meaning than theoretical
jingoism.
They reckoned that it will be wise if Babajide Sanwo-Olu
runs a people-centred government in order to avoid the repetition of what
happened to his predecessor. In other words, for Sanwo-Olu to be a man of the
people, he must reactivate his
traffic control mechanism. They are worried that on a very
bad day, people can spend one or two hours on a journey that should not take
them more than
20 minutes.
At the moment, some places in the Oshodi-Iyana Ipaja axis
are usually dark when there is no light, making them choice locations for
hoodlums and petty thieves to lurk around in order to attack unsuspecting
people.
It will be fantastic if Sanwo-Olu orders that street light
is fixed in this axis as this will complement the effort to end insecurity.
Extortion is still one areas that worries voters who are daily extorted by the
area boys in Lagos State.
They harass the drivers in a bid to collect money and by
extension, irritate the passengers. A megacity like Lagos State should not be
hijacked by area boys.
On bad and potholes filled roads, there are flashes of
efforts even as it is not uncommon to find potholes in the Lagos State roads,
which are partly
responsible for traffic and accident.
Technically, Sanwo-Olu had embarked on a crash programme at
United States of America’s Kennedy Institute of Government where he got trained
in government
administration and civil responsibility. His returns from
the US programme was to herald freshness into the democratic governance of the
53 years old State. However, lots of party followers and other stakeholders in
the state are currently
bewildered about the parochial and selectively guided
execution of programmes in the state.
Specifically, road patching has unleashed hardship on
motorists as they’re done during the rush hour as opposed to the wee hours when
a lot of people have retired to their homes.
Sanwo-Olu who ran a rigorous campaign that’s full of
promises for Lagosians,however he has literally gone to sleep since he was
sworn-in as Governor of Lagos—Nigeria’s commercial nerve-centre —on May 29,
2019. Today, Lagos residents groan under the burden of Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s
cluelessness and our people are faced with myriads of problems all over the
state from deplorable road surfaces to dead street lamps. With acute and
recurring flash floods, worsening traffic, clogged drainage channels and a
spike in
crime, one would say these are enough reasons to believe
that Sanwo-
Olu, who ran a viral, ubiquitous, in-your-face election
campaign early in the year, has been a disaster in on the job.
Lagosians have also been complaining about pot-hole laden
road surfaces, with one commentator on social media posting that there are now
as many potholes as there are humans in Lagos.
But over the years in the corridors of power, he has
diligently worked his ways into the heart of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the
latter who reposed a lot of confidence in him and his ability to drive Lagos
forward is also now at the cross-roads what with a barrage of criticisms from
different groups of stakeholders in the state.
According to sources,the slow-coach called Sanwo-Olu is now
giving his principal sleepless nights as Asiwaju himself has seen that his
stooge is bereft of ideas that that take Lagos to the next level. And the
politcal architecture and master-plan of the state of aquatic splendour which
Tinubu drafted and implemented very well before passing the baton to Raji
Fashola and which the latter gave to Akinwumi Ambode has now droped off
Sanwo-Olu’s hand.
Watch out for part two of this article!
Sola Adeyemo is a media entrepreneur and publisher of City
News.He’s also the President of Coalition of Online Publishers in West
Africa(COPUWA).