FG insensitive to the plight of Lagos —Hon David

The lawmaker representing Badagry Constituency 2 in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Honourable Setonji David, spoke to journalists on 19 years of democracy, physical development and challenges in his constituency, among other issues. SEGUN KASALI brings the excerpts

What are the major challenges of Badagry Constituency 2?

They are numerous. The basic one is unemployment and lack of infrastructure. We have several graduates that are not employed. Our roads are in a terrible state, Lagos-Badagry Express Road is an international route, and it belongs to the Federal Government, but the road is terrible. The irony of it is that the Federal Government generates a lot of money from there as the road leads to Togo, Ghana and other places, so they generate a lot of money from there through Customs and Excise Duties, yet the road is in a terrible state. Apart from that, there are two communities with terrible roads in my area, one of them is Ilogbo Eremi, from Oko Afo to Ilogbo Eremi, the road is terrible. It is still there. I must confess that the Lagos State Government is doing a lot, but the resources are limited.

Unfortunately, the Federal Government is insensitive to the plight of Lagos. In other climes, once you create a new federal capital, you would not neglect the old one because the communities you left behind are still there. The Federal Government ought to be doing something for Lagos. They have abandoned the state and we have been complaining about this for years. Look at the population of Lagos, over 20 million people converging in a very small place. Virtually all the tribes and ethnic groups in Nigeria are represented in Lagos. Also, we don’t have enough schools in Badagry, talk of primary and secondary schools. You must also commend the state government because the demands far outweigh the resources of the state.

You are the Chairman of the House Committee on Physical Planning and Urban Development, how has it been?

It has been very interesting and challenging. Any state that wants to move forward must be interested in its environment, so that makes it interesting. It is challenging because the ministry does not have enough manpower to adequately do its job. I am not particularly impressed with the rate at which permits and building approvals are given out. Those who apply for buildings want approval at all cost. When you build, you want to get approval. I know the ministry is trying its best, but manpower is a serious challenge. Manpower, equipment, material and others are the problems. For example, you see a situation, where only three officers go round for inspection in a local government.

Has the committee been able to make recommendations to the state government on this?

Our own is oversight, we don’t have the equipment or the wherewithal to move out. We only check what they do to see if they comply with our laws. But I am saying that they need to do more so that complaints about illegal structures would be reduced. We advise the state government on these when we go out for oversight functions and when they come for budget reviews. But they are also limited, they don’t have the amount of money they require because there are so many things the government spends money on and their resources are limited. That is why I am complaining that the Federal Government has not done enough for the Lagos State Government. The state government is doing a lot, I have seen a lot of projects springing up simultaneously all over the state. But if the Federal Government had been playing their roles it would have been better. Lagos State used to be the federal capital of Nigeria and that pressure is still there. They left Lagos State to its fate after they left for Abuja. New York was the capital of the United States of America before they moved it to Washington DC, but the American Government still takes care of New York.

Would you say we have made progress in the 19 years of democracy in Nigeria?

We have not made any progress, we are too slow, and we don’t want to face the reality. The truth of the matter is that this country needs restructuring. The military came and they messed up the country. The truth is that they are not trained to manage a country; they are trained to fight war. They came to manage the affairs of the country and they messed everything up and we are still suffering from the effect of that. We as politicians too, we have not sat down to re-engineer the system and look for the way forward. We are just paying lip service to patriotism and we all know that this system is not working. For instance, the state governor cannot control the commissioner of police as he receives order from Abuja whereas the governor is the Chief Security Officer of the state. Every month, he goes to Abuja to collect money. Can’t we allow the states to control their resources? So, the country as a whole is in shambles because we are not doing the right thing. Look at the way we were managing the country in the past. For instance, the western region of those days had television station before France. Today, look at where France is. I had free education under the Western Region Government.

The committees of the House carry out oversight functions, has there been anytime this is compromised?

We have never compromised this, we perform our oversight functions, we check the budgets, we look at the fact and we also treat petitions. We look at complaints and come up with the position of the House. We go to the ministries to do oversight and when we see anything that is suspicious we call them to come and explain. We pay unscheduled visits to all these agencies of government to see what they are doing.