The shame of Lagos at MMA

MEN of considerable style and panache have governed Lagos State and their personalities are expected to rub off on the state. Eko may be for show but nothing is “showing” and “showy” about the signpost welcoming international passengers to the state, planted close to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Ikeja.

In fact, it is the first real “welcome” anyone exiting the airport gets and, boy, it is a real eye-wound. This reporter had to drop off a United Kingdom-bound passenger on Wednesday and turning to return home, it was this had-once-been-green, nuisance-to-the-eye solitary iron-board with its scattered white painting saying, “Welcome to Lagos, the State of Aquatic Splendour”, that pierced one’s eyes. Splendour? Whoever let that “thing” remain on that crucial spot indeed has a wicked sense of humour, judging by what the signpost was expected to project about the land and say about the lords of the state.

If my memory serves me, Joe Igbokwe, the voluble spokesperson of the ruling APC, heads the signage agency of the state government. Before his agency and himself would be morally competent to “correct” and “guide” others on the planting and usage of signposts in the state, something, urgently, must be done about this “embarrassment” being daily dished out to the government he serves.

Igbokwe, to his credit, has practically talked his way out of all corners but this reporter doubts if any freewheeling would do in this case. The mess simply requires being cleared, not explained. If a more modern signpost can’t be immediately procured, certainly, the many welders and graphic artists engaged to beautify the state during the golden jubilee would surely be glad to fix this embarrassment for the state government. Maybe even FoC.