The nation is in a frenzy. Lagos State isn’t an exception and as the presidential election holds today, residents of the state with the second largest voting population in the country, are not only expectant, many are already looking beyond who wins what positions. Irrespective of winners, the residents are united over one thing; the proverbial good governance, though priorities are as diverse as the different localities in the state. While opinions differ, there is also a near-unanimity that the outgoing incumbent Governor, Akinwumi Ambode has done, and is still doing a yeoman’s job, especially, in the areas of Infrastructure and security, and at the same time, much, according to the residents, need to be done in the areas of health, environment and general delivery of democracy dividends.
Samples.
Sampling the opinions of many residents, Saturday Tribune, discovered that consensus among majority of respondents is that since Ambode’s tenure terminates in a few months time, the incoming administration, from whichever party, must strive to surpass the current administration, both in project delivery on one hand, and good governance as a whole.
“The public and the media should set agenda for the candidates. This becomes imperative, going by the way Ambode’s second term ambition was truncated”, said Dr. Taiwo Olusola, proprietor, Gateway medical services, Bariga, Lagos mainland.
“Whichever way the voting goes, the best thing to do is to let them know that the roads are bad; health services and education in shambles; refuse taking over the highways and neighborhoods, while drainages are blocked. Most importantly, people are suffering”, he stated.
For Mr. Billy Haroun, who lives in Lekki area of the state, the condition of many roads are very bad, with its negative effects on commuters and businesses. Haroun, while praising Ambode, whom he described as ” an achiever”, said the only defect in his achievements, particularly, road construction, is that most of the projects failed to connect to various localities.
“For example, Epe township can boast of modern road Infrastructure, but the lapse is that the adjoining routes to Epe are so bad, particularly, from Sangotedo down to Epe; from Eleko to the Lekki FreeTrade Zone. The situation is same, between Oke-Osho junction to Ikorodu-ijebu-Ode road, specifically, Itoikin. The same situation is obtainable with the Mile 12-Ketu axis, a journey of five minutes that takes 40 minutes or more on daily basis takes hours just as a result of potholes that dotted it” Mr. Haroun explained.
Therefore, he was of the opinion that the incoming administration must buckle up to meet the enormous challenges at hand, by ensuring that most of the projects are completed, adding that “Sanwoolu or Agbaje, or whoever wins the election should avoid the pitfalls of trying to discredit his predecessor, as noticed in Ambode’s action, by trying to discredit his predecessor, Babatunde Fashola. It is not good for our development, either as a state or as a people.”
Security and pension
“The need to sustain the good work which Lagosians will continue to appreciate Ambode for is the issue of security. I think corporate organizations and good-spirited individuals have shown remarkable trust in Governor Ambode’s administration, by keeping on donating to the Lagos State Security Trust Fund. Therefore, any government that comes to power in 2019, must be able to sustain the initiative, even, if it cannot surpass it”, stated Alhaji Tiamiyu Adeniyi, a resident of Agege, a Lagos suburb, who said his area was able to witness a relative peace as a result of different security measures put in place by the administration.
Madam Titilola Ajanaku’s sight is set on a matter completely different from Alhaji Adeniyi’s. She is pleading in God’s name for the next man in Alausa, to make the retirees, a priority.
According to the retired nurse; “When people are insinuating that civil servants are corrupt, what are the factors responsible for graft in the system? It is the fear of the unknown”.
While complaining bitterly about the delay in the payment of retirees, Madam Ajanaku said many retirees are suffering. “Just imagine someone who worked for 36 years in the service of a state like Lagos and two years after, you haven’t received your gratuity. At the age of 60, what do they expect us to be doing, seek for another job? I see this as the height of wickedness, especially, against those of us who refused to get involved in shady deals while in service “, she complained with the expression of regret.
In the same vein, Pa Mathew Oluwasanmi, a retired teacher, also charged whoever is coming in 2019 to ensure prompt settlement of retirees’ pensions.
In his words: “Many of my colleagues are either dead or suffering one ailment or the other as a result of poverty. Many of us used our salaries to train our children, many that are yet to get good employment. But the little amount that should come to us when we are still alive is being deprived us, while some who had dipped their hands in the coffer of government are enjoying. Please, let whoever that is coming after Ambode treat us with the fear of God “, he pleaded.
The retirees are obviously united in their demand as they spoke with one voice at a recent burial ceremony of one of the retired drivers with the state government, identified as Mr. Bayo, a senior driver who retired in 2017, but was yet to collect his pension before he died. His close associates disclosed that he died of hypertension, allegedly caused by lack of finance to take care of his last two children.
A younger generation respondent, Kolawole Elizabeth saw it from a different perspective. A corps member with Lagos State, she felt the new helmsman, “should increase Lagos state workers salary and grant them more loans”.
On the issue of drainage and waste management, the incoming government was advised to sit with the outgoing administration on how to handle the Cleaner Lagos Initiate(CLI), which is considered to be one of Ambode’s “misdeeds” and which has gulped a lot of investment. It would be recalled that in his attempt to upscale waste management in the metropolis, Ambode employed the services of a foreign firm, Messrs Visionscape, a move that allegedly deprived thousands of private sector participants, under the aegis of Lagos States Waste Management of Nigeria, their jobs.
It got to a point that at a May 2018 parley organised by the Lagos State House of Assembly, the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, said the refuse management company, Visionscape, adopted by the state government to manage waste was not known to the Assembly, describing it as a ghost. Obasa, who was reacting to the concerns over waste management in the state, assured that some PSP operators, who were managing wastes in the state before the emergence of Visionscape, were gradually returning to waste management in the state.
According to him, “Visonscape is a ghost, it is not known to the Lagos State House of Assembly. Yes, we are one, but where we need to say no, we will say no; and where necessary we say an emphatic yes.The Assembly has waded into the crisis of waste management in Lagos and we have appealed to the PSP operators; they are gradually coming back.
But to Chief Timothy Aderemi, contractual arrangement entered into between the government and the consultant must be respected. “There is the need to ensure that the contractual agreement between the state government and all its contractors must be honoured. They can do review where necessary, while adjustments can equally be made. But the facts remain that we must protect the image of the state before the international community, on one hand, and avoid the evil of abandoned projects that has been the bane of our development for a long time. The chief also counseled that health and housing sectors should also receive attention from the incoming government.
For Abdul Yusuf Olajide, of Save the Planet group; “attention should be redirected to the issue of climate change which the current administration pays little or no attention to Climate change initiative embarked upon by the immediate past administration of Fashola, that put Lagos state on the international spotlight must be revisited. It is beyond one’s comprehension that a programme of such importance can be jettisoned by any government, in view of threats that climate change portends for the entire globe, especially, third world countries. The incoming government must revisit the issue “.
Generational dreams
For Anifowose Owolabi, a University of Lagos graduate, “Firstly, The incessant power outage in most parts of the State has not only adversely affected businesses, it has also brought about chaotic existence to many families while many have been thrown into abject poverty for lack of electricity to power their businesses just as series of evil acts and crimes are unleashed on homes during total black-outs.
“Secondly, In spite of huge yearly budgetary allocations for infrastructure development, accomplishing social amenities seem to be a daunting task for our public officers. Considering the bad shape of major and back street roads in the country — particularly roads within selected areas in Lagos State, one wonders, what good governance and democracy dividends are to our public officers by definition. To mention but few roads that have, in recent time, turned death traps and require urgent repairs. They are Daleko-Isolo road, Isolo-Egbe road, Iyana-Ejigbo-Ikotun road, Ishefun road, and Ikola roads in Agbado Oke-Odo LCDA.”
Mr. Dipo Awojobi may be a journalist, but he has got concerns and a bag-load of “must-dos” for the new political leadership in the state.
“The incoming administration should try and do more roads and reduce gridlock. They should build more hospitals and equip the existing ones. We also expect better security, CCTV all over the city. They should complete ongoing-projects, reduce multiple taxation, build more drainages, provide houses for the masses at affordable rates. We need a government that will carry people along on policies and probably provide a more conducive environment for businesses to thrive”.
A worker at the Airport, Miss Smith Adedoyin was a bit pessimistic. According to her “In my candid opinion, it’s been the same administration, with different individuals at the head for more than 8 years now, so I don’t think there will be any spectacular difference from the past years only if the individual at the head can do extraordinary things which he doesn’t look like he can”.
For Akeem Olaseeni, a radio repairer, on Olorunto Street in Iyana Ipaja area of the state, whoever is taking over from the incumbent governor Ambode, must be ready to check the excesses of officials of both the Local Government and the state.
For him, these people have become a nightmare for residents of the state.
For instance, in spite of their glaring non-performance, especially the local government administration, residents are still subjected to different levies by the local governments.
“We are harassed everyday over TV and Radio permits, shop charges and other operating permits, while it is so glaring that the local government administrations in the state have failed to provide the basic amenities to most of these communities in the state.
“For instance, you can hardly drive out from here whenever it rains. The road is not motorable. Sometimes you begin to wonder what all these fees and levies collected by the council officials are meant for.
“What some of us have resorted to now is to open late, when we are sure that these people will no longer be coming,” he stated.
Another Lagosian, Pa Debodun Balogun would want the new government to revert to the old order of making every last Saturday of the month an environmental sanitation day.
The 73 year-old landlord, at Abesan Area, also in Iyana Ipaja axis, believes the communities are dirtier now; since no specific day is dedicated for a clean-up of the city’s scapes.
Pa Debodun also believes the cancellation of the last Saturday of every month as an environmental day had affected community development activities in the state.
“Besides the fact that our communities are dirtier now due to the fact that we don’t have a particular day dedicated to its clean-up, community development activities are also being affected.
“For instance, getting people to come to landlords’ association meetings now has become a huge challenge. Before, it was easy; since movements were usually restricted on such environmental days, and one would have no choice, as a landlord to be part of the meeting, since you are indoor.
“But the cancellation of the environmental day has not helped us in this regard.
“One thing we must have in mind is the fact that when people no longer have time to discuss issues affecting their communities, there is no way this would not affect the larger society. Remember vital issues such as security, infrastructure development and others are discussed at such meetings,” Pa Debodun stated.
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