What’s happening to the Centre of Excellence?

Lagos is a city like no other; unique in its vibrancy, mix, drive and rush. Yes, the rush. You feel it as soon as you enter the environmental space of Lagos, no matter the direction you are coming in from, it hits you.
Lagos is God’s own city, it is no man’s land – forget the claims and counter claims from different interest groups.

It started as a trading post that attracted people from far and near, an agglomeration of cultures from far and near like Brazil, Portugal, Sierra Leone, Benin – Edo, the Yorubas who are closest neighbours and other Nigerians who migrated here because of its commercial interests and as federal capital city. Today’s Lagos is home to every ethnic group, even if it is not de-jure so, it is so by fact.

This is why Lagos state is arguably, the most difficult state to govern. It is the jugular of the nation. If Lagos shuts down for a day, the whole country is affected. That is why you cannot govern Lagos and take things for granted. It is the home of the Nigerian press and if you are not in the good books of the Press, you might as well kiss your political ambitions goodbye.

Lagos is the place for leaders to seize the opportunity of their position to rise or fall. General Buba Marwa achieved success by concentrating on security, transport –Keke marwa and environmental sanitation while, General Olagunsoye Oyinlola failed for his inability to fix Lagos roads.

That is Lagos, every little thing is amplified, issues other state leaders  ignore become matters for roundtable discussions and intolerable with the Lagos press, civil rights activists – who reside here are always on the alert. You imagine the situation, daily, hundreds of thousands of people troop into the city, people of all shades, each with peculiar challenges that threaten the infrastructures of security, housing, traffic, etc.

To contain all of these require real discipline and focused leadership. Fortunately, the last governor of the state, Babatunde Fashola, took the bull by the horn and displayed extra-ordinary courage in the discharge of his responsibilities. Lagos became the safest state to do business as crime rate dropped drastically.

There was order in the traffic on our roads as the no nonsense LASTMA (Lagos State Traffic Management Authority) wardens dealt decisively with erring drivers and the bugs of Okada riders were kept at bay. In Fashola’s Lagos, there was law and order. Imagine Oshodi; who would have believed that Oshodi and Mushin would be cleared of gridlock, criminals and filth, same for other parts of the state.

It was a modern day miracle. That is why, despite all the ill feelings of some residents about Fashola, his performance in Lagos still gave him a pass mark. Five months after his exit, the state is now in reverse gear. It is like all the structures that were put in place by Fashola are being steadily dismantled.
Danfo- commercial buses now run on the BRT lanes unchallenged, Okadas are back on the roads, even on highways/expressways and as usual, driving against traffic. Everywhere you go to, there is traffic jam making the business environment very cumbersome.
A regular radio listener to the early morning traffic reports or those who have access to the Gidi-traffic on the twitter handle, would be  overwhelmed by the series of robberies that take place on our highways- Mile 2, Oworonshoki, Ikorodu road, and many more – the criminals are back.
Let’s, not even mention kidnapping. What is happening to our Lagos, the Centre of Excellence? What is Governor Akinwunmi Ambode doing? Is this not supposed to be a government of continuity? Why is he trying so hard to erase all Fashola’s legacy?
It is a real pity as it will take great efforts and huge resources to fix the damages already done these past five months, resources that would have gone into other pressing projects, what a waste. A Lagos resident would remember how long and difficult it took Fashola’s government to get  Okadas out of the Lagos highways.
Now we begin all over, again. The various general hospitals were relieved of the huge flow of Okada accident victims, the police recorded reduced crime rates and the orderly flow of traffic was enjoyed by all law abiding citizens. We thought Lagos state has gone past these levels, now we are back to square one. Vital resources will now be channeled to these avoidable projects and in the process, enrich a few criminal elements. What a shame!
What LASTMA needed was fresh orientation and re-direction in the light of new challenges, not public humiliation that they have been forced to go through. The police cannot cope with the Lagos traffic situation alone. They do not have the numbers. The situation as it is presently is very bad and Governor Ambode must rise to the occasion before darkness falls on  our Lagos.