Hottestgistnaija.com
Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, SAN on Friday held the
Quarterly interactive session with media Correspondents, giving an
insight into the performance of his administration in the critical
sectors in the last eight years and restating that across all critical
sectors, it has been a record of performances and kept promises.
The Governor, who spoke at Lagos House, Marina added that the
administration has touched all sectors, including transportation,
education, health, job creation and infrastructural renewal.
Noting that his guiding principle is to add value in all his
endeavours, Fashola said as Chief of Staff to former Governor Bola
Tinubu, he added value to what he met on ground and that as the
Governor he has led a team that built more roads, schools, hospitals,
increased revenue and also employed more people.
Giving a rapid overview of the sectors, the Governor said that in the
area of transportation, the present administration has been
instrumental in introducing the Bus Rapid Transit system since 2007
and it keeps expanding reaching areas like Iyana-Ipaja, , Lekki, Epe
Expressway and also expanding to Badagry.
According to him, in 2007 there was only one form of taxi cab service
in Lagos which has changed today, as different taxis now exist that
makes commuting easier for people who can now call up taxis to pick
them at various locations.
He added that even in water transportation, his government has done
well as the total number of people who moved through waterways in
2007 which was only 150,000 has now grown to over1.6million people on
a monthly basis.
The Governor who spoke in reaction to a question from one of the State
House Correspondents on an assertion by the Peoples Democratic Party
Governorship candidate in Lagos that nothing has changed in the
critical sectors stated that each time he listens to the PDP candidate
speak on issues of how he intends to govern Lagos, he feels that
despite preparing for eight years, Mr Jimi Agbaje still has nothing to
offer and lacks content.
The Governor who said in all of such press interviews of Mr Jimi
Agbaje, his performance as Lagos State Governor has always been the
issue, said he is happy that it is the issue because the has
demonstrated ability to add value in all the places he has served
unlike the PDP candidate who has not grown his business.
“Everywhere you go, you would see the imprimatur of our government and
our party. Despite the fact that the job is not yet finished. The
question is what has Jimi Agbaje grown from? If you cannot grow
yourself, you cannot grow the community”.
The State, according to Governor Fashola has also created a Lagos
State Waterways Authority which has ensured the creation of a safety
regime on the waterways through appropriate navigation infrastructure
and ensuring that people wear live vests.
He said in 2007, the concept of an intra city rail was just a plan on
the drawing board but that today work has reached an advanced stage on
the Blue Line of the Light Rail project with four stations already
completed and the fifth one coming up rapidly.
“In 2007, in how many of the sectors of the City could you find
traffic lights operating? How many of them even had lane marking. Was
there a Traffic Radio here then? That is my record!”
Shifting attention to the health sector, Fashola said the present
administration has reduced the travel time and distance for pregnant
women who often travel several kilometres to Lagos Island ante-natal
care by constructing 10 Maternal and Child Care Centres with seven
already completed and handed over with the eighth undergoing
furnishing while the last two are being roofed.
He said this is in addition to the opening of a new School of Nursing,
Flagship 24 hours Primary Health Centres, construction of a Kidney and
Cardiac Centre which is the largest in West Africa, Cochlear
transplant to aid those with hearing impairment, being able to stay
Polio free in the last six years as well as managing and defeating
Ebola virus Disease outbreak.
Fashola said in the educational sector, his administration has been
making steady progress achieving rapid improvement in the results of
candidates who sat for public examination which has grown from seven
percent to 45 percent.
He added that the state is also building new schools and refurbishing
classrooms and that this has led to a situation where more people are
sending their children to public schools which has been reflected in
the positive World Bank report on the EKO Project in Lagos.
The Governor, who reiterated his assertion that Mr. Agbaje does not
have the requisite capacity to lead Lagos, said the PDP Candidate is
stuck with his contention that only three percent of the education
budget goes to primary education wondering how that is possible when
each of the 57 Councils and Council Development Areas have their own
separate budgets for primary education which is their constitutional
responsibility of that level of government.
He said it was regrettable that Mr. Agbaje does not bother to check
some of the figures dished out to him by his Consultants and only end
up embarrassing him through wrong assertions which he termed bold
ideas.
Fashola said one of the hallmarks of a true leader is to admit being
wrong if a mistake has been made but that the PDP candidate never
admits errors, adding that he has done the same thing with the issue
of tax default by Jaykay Pharmacy Limited which he has earlier claimed
was not owing Lagos State but has gone ahead to pay N500,000 out of
the outstanding N1.6 Million to the coffers of the State.
He said the Peoples Democratic Party which is Mr. Agbaje’s party on
the other hand has been dishing out lies to Nigerians on its
achievements one of which is its recent disclosure that it has
constructed 25,000 kilometres of roads in Nigeria.
The Governor who described the assertion as blatant falsehood says for
a Federal Government that sets aside not more than 15 percent of its
annual budget on capital expenditure, one wonders where it got the
funds to finance such projects in the absence of any clear budgetary
provisions for it.
He said what 25,000 kilometers of roads in Nigeria meant was that each
of the states would have benefitted from not less than 690 kilometres
of roads each of which would have allowed the residents enjoy riding
on super highways.
He reiterated that his message to the people of Lagos is that they
should vote for continuity by being mindful that what has been
achieved in Lagos has been made possible through common service that
should not be experimented with.
The interactive session which was attended by the Commissioner for
Information and Strategy, Mr Lateef Ibirogba, Special Adviser on
Information and Strategy, Mr Lateef Raji and Special Adviser on Media,
Mr Hakeem Bello also had all members of the Governor’s Office Press
Corps led by their Chairman, Mr Joshua Bassey of Business Day
newspaper in attendance.
SIGNED:
HAKEEM BELLO
SPECIAL ADVISER TO H.E ON MEDIA
FEBRUARY 23, 2015.
