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IN PURSUIT OF PUBLIC GOOD
A Review of The Great Leap and In Bold Prints edited by Hakeem Bello presented during the public presentation of the two books at the Shell Recital Hall, MUSON Centre, Lagos, on Tuesday, August 18, 2015.
All Protocols observed.
In Pursuit of Public Good, the words which I have adopted as the title of this review come from page 26 of The Great Leap: Speeches by Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), one of the two books being presented to the public today. It was the last page of a speech titled “How it Came to Be”, constituting the only one in the first part of the book, and which the governor had originally presented to the MBA students of the Lagos Business School, Pan Atlantic University, Ajah, on February 10, 2011. In the speech, Babatunde Fashola gives an account of how he found himself running as the gubernatorial candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) much against his own expectation, and how he went about preparing himself for the responsibility of the office after having agreed to take up the challenge. Fashola winds up that speech with words of admonition for his listeners: “My advice to those of you who take public office or seek to do so,” he says, “is that the best way to seize that opportunity is to prepare for it and plan to use it for only one purpose – the public good.”
In the introduction to The Great Leap, Hakeem Bello describes Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) as belonging, arguably, among the most successful individuals to have held the governorship position in Lagos State.
Interestingly, he got into the office by chance – and this has earlier been indicated. Following his call to the Bar in 1999, he had deliberately shunned public service, preferring instead to pursue a career in private legal practice. In 2002, he was summoned by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the then governor of Lagos State and asked to take up the position of Chief of Staff, following the resignation of Alhaji Lai Mohammed who hitherto had served in that capacity. He continued with the job when Tinubu was re-elected for a second term in 2003, and was preparing to return to his law practice four years later when again Tinubu decided to throw his weight behind him as the ACN governorship candidate for Lagos State.
Fashola made sure he prepared himself well for the responsibility attached to the position of the governor of Lagos State once he accepted his nomination. He took a copy each of the manifesto of the party, the document spelling out the ten-point agenda of the government of Lagos State, and the charter of Millenium Development Goals, and, having studied them closely, designed a roadmap titled “My Contract with Lagosians”; undertook a tour of all local governments in the state to obtain first hand information on the areas of need in each of them; read books on leadership and transformations of city-states, travelled to New York, Singapore, Dubai and such other places that he felt represented models of development to see for himself how things work; and constituted a team of advisers comprised of serving public officers, technocrats and experienced politicians together with whom he held meetings on a regular basis. Here, problems were defined, goals articulated and methods of implementation deliberated upon.
Fashola started running immediately after he was sworn in on May 29, 2007. Today, having completed two terms of four years each, he has arguably become of the best known political figures in Nigeria. Fashola took on the governorship position with a great sense of mission, and has recorded changes in many areas of life in Lagos State. The areas he has touched include infrastructural development, education, health, security, housing, transportation, employment creation and environmental design. The two books being presented today serve more or less as a record of some of his legacies.
In Bold Print: Thoughts of Babatunde Raji Fashola is a small pocket book representing a compendium of quotes extrapolated mostly from the over one thousand speeches delivered by Fashola during his eight year tenure as governor of Lagos State. The Great Leap on the other hand is a careful selection of forty of the speeches grouped into ten uneven parts. The smaller book presents Fashola as a man of vision and ideas, and an inspiring leader. The thoughts documented in it cover a vast gamut of fields including leadership, ethics, the plight of the people of the African continent, governance, education and globalization. Some of them clarify the basis of some of Fashola actions while in office. The concern may be why he had to give account to the people every one hundred days as he did throughout the eight years he spent in Alausa as can be seen in the very first quote in the compendium; why, much against what has become standard practice by public officers in Nigeria, he decided to totally jettison the use of siren; or, as a last example, why he kept on agitating for state police throughout his eight year period of tenure as governor. Hear Fashola’s stirring words to the children of Lagos State in the following quote:
We are here today because we realize the significance of our childhood in determining the kind of adults we become. This is why we take each one of you, our precious children, very seriously. Inside each of you lie the seeds of greatness waiting to be discovered and nurtured; an inexhaustible mine of infinite potentials waiting to be excavated and deployed for the benefit of humanity.
Listen also to his perspective on education in another one:
In the 21st century, education will remain the most valuable currency that every nation will desire but which no Central Bank can print. Every nation must decide for herself how much of this currency she requires and set about how to acquire it
And in this last example, I challenge you, dear guests, to answer the question Fashola has posed on the desirability or otherwise of family planning?
Can a family with one bedroom (apartment) rise out of poverty if they make six children live in that one room, only on the basis of hope that life will get better?
Clearly, every single quote in In Bold Print provokes thought, destabilizes what otherwise are considered as settled positions or seeks to make the reader jump up and break into a run. It presents Fashola as a thinker and the compiler and editor as a loyal, attentive and thoughtful aide.
The Great Leap being the bigger of the two volumes presents the governor in action. In it, the man, Fashola is seen at work. The two speeches in part two are the addresses he presented during his inauguration for the first and second terms respectively. Parts three and four together have close to half of the total number of speeches published in the book. Rightly so because it is where the talks he gave while actualizing his plans of governance are concentrated. Part three specifically is sub-titled “Setting Agenda” and has as number one the address which provides the title for the book. “Setting Agenda for Credible Governance”, the speech the governor presented at a Nigerian Union of Journalists lecture makes it clear that Fashola conceives governance as a social contract whereby citizens elevate a select group of people to a higher pedestal, investing in them certain powers and responsibility in expectation that those so elevated will devote themselves to the achievement of public good, which “good” will include security guarantee, education, infrastructural development, health care delivery, electricity and more. As Fashola says, “where the government consistently fails to perform its constitutional obligations, the people become dissatisfied and this creates credibility problems for the government.” An awareness of the need to retain people’s trusts seems to be what drove Fashola throughout his tenure, as evident in the rest of the speeches in the section: The speeches are either given while working with stakeholders on taxation, brainstorming on how to check incidences of collapsing buildings, agitating for state police, inaugurating Lagos State Education Summit, or while launching security trust fund or delivering public health lecture. The focus of the speeches in part four overlaps with that of the ones in part three as already implied, the slight difference being just that while the former deal more with addresses delivered while projects are just being initiated, section four on the other hand concentrate on those presented while they have been completed and are either being commissioned or delivered. They include ones given at the launching of the Lagos Housing Mortgage programme, the investment forum for the Lagos Rail Mass Transit, the commissioning of Awolowo Museum at Lekki and the handing over of the Lekki Ikoyi Bridge. The speech titled “Corporate Social Responsibility” and published on pages 138-140 of the book deserves special mention in my view. The address was presented during the commissioning of the 1.3 kilometer Ajose Adeogun dual carriageway, the rehabilitation of which was undertaken by Zenith Bank. As Fashola says during the concessioning, the project underscores the great benefit derivable from public-private partnership.
Through The Great Leap, Hakeem Bello has cleverly documented for posterity the vision that animated his boss’ actions and activities and the project he executed while serving as governor of Lagos State. Primarily, and as the speeches in part seven of the book make clear, Fashola wanted to turn Lagos into a mega city. It is this vision of Lagos as a huge urban agglomeration with functioning facilities that explains the infrastructural projects the former governor delivered while in power, the roads he constructed, the light rail project that he initiated, the beautification programme that he launched and the hugely ambitious Eko Atlantic City project he started. The ideology that powered Fashola vision is no doubt neo-liberal and this is evident in the kind of books he read while preparing to take office and, as well, the cities he visited. Since neo-liberalism itself projects profound contradictions, it may then become clear the reason while Fashola has sometimes found himself at the receiving end of public criticism. There, specifically, has been a clash of metaphors in the papers in recent times, as readers were treated to the propriety or otherwise of fighting or wrestling with pigs. What is important here is not the motive behind the attack or the details of the allegations. Fortunately, and going by the evidence in some of the quotes in In Bold Prints, Fashola is himself aware that decisions taken by those in government can affect people either positively or negatively, and that leaders themselves are far from being perfect, that they sometimes make mistakes. Since it is not unlikely that he finds himself holding public office yet again soon, Fashola may wish to give a thought to the fact that advanced neo liberal economies of the world have ways of cushioning the harsh effects certain policies exert on ordinary people. There are, for example, living allowances for unemployed people, material support for the old and infirm, grants or loans for students who cannot afford tuition fees or sustenance allowance, generous subsidies for health care and massive investments in public transportation.
But saying this is not to take anything away from Fashola’s achievements while in office as governor of Lagos State: the bold steps he took, the sense of mission and commitment he demonstrated and the courage with which he took on challenges. The Great Leap and In Bold Print represent veritable testimonies to all this. They are both well-edited and beautifully produced. Both indeed are books that those currently holding, or aspiring to hold, public positions need to procure and read. I salute Hakeem Bello for having the presence of mind to put them together and congratulate Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) whose vision and accomplishments the books preserve for posterity. Eko o ni baje o.
Dr Wumi Raji
Department of Dramatic Arts
Obafemi Awolowo University
Ile-Ife, Osun State
18-08-2015
PROTOCOLS
This is my first post-retirement assignment.
I cannot think of a more agreeable way of entering into this new phase of life which began yesterday than lending a helping hand to a dutiful aide’s public presentation of a chronicle on the time in office of his luminous principal.
The luminous principal is Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, Governor of Lagos State. The dutiful aide is his media adviser of eight years, Hakeem Bello. The chronicle comprises a judicious selection from more than 1000 speeches Governor Fashola has delivered at home and abroad on four continents during his eight years in office. Titled The Great Leap, the compilation comes with a companion, In Bold Print, a pocket book of quotations distilled from the speeches.
When Hakeem Bello invited me to deliver a “prefatory essay” at the presentation of the two publications, I accepted without hesitation, despite the tight deadline and the crush of prior commitments.
For one thing, the request came from a younger colleague whose quiet competence and efficiency I have admired since his days as a rising star in the Daily Times. For another, the day’s honours would devolve most worthily on exceptional achiever. To be asked to play a part in the ceremony, surely, was an honour in itself.
Soon enough, I began to wonder whether I had not been too rash in granting Hakeem’s request. What is a “prefatory essay?” Stripped of its elegance, is the term not at bottom a book review? Is it not a case of unnecessary dignification, of literary inflation? What exactly was I expected to do at the event?
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I turned to some friends for help, but none of them was the wiser. One of them said he suspected that Hakeem wanted a review but thought it would be presumptuous to ask me to do it; so he settled for a fancy term, hoping that I would not see through the subterfuge.
Bereft of proper guidance in this matter, I have chosen to draw on the two publications to sketch Fashola’s approach to governance and the lessons that flow from it, for the benefit of the political class of today and tomorrow.
Fashola’s accomplishments as Governor of Lagos State have been universally acknowledged. Most recently, the global conflict prevention organization, International Crisis Group (ICG), named him one of seven outstanding personalities worldwide to be honoured with its annual Stephen J. Solarz Award “for his commitment to resolving social, economic and security challenges in one of the world’s most challenging urban environments.”
Previous recipients of the award have included former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton; former Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and Liberian president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
For further perspective, hear this, from the International Crisis Group: “The award goes to a pioneer of peace, to a relentless fighter for the improvement of people’s lives, to someone who has built bridges, believed in change and mobilized others in the name of justice.”
This is the rarefied company to which Governor Fashola belongs.
There is yet another perspective worth remarking. In the United States, the job of Mayor of the City of New York is considered the second most demanding and difficult,after
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that of the President. For all practical purposes, Fashola combines the office of the maga-city that is Lagos, with that of state governor. Based on projections by the best authorities, the population of the Lagos megalopolis should reach 25 million this year. If Lagos were a sovereign state, it would have the fifth largest economy in Africa – and that is without any re-basing.
It is therefore no exaggeration to assert that if governing State is not as demanding and challenging as governing Nigeria, it comes a close second. And, since the Second Republic, the task has been rendered much more difficult by the fact that Lagos refused to dissolve itself into the mainstream of Nigerian politics. For that very reason, every government at the Centre has sought to teach Lagos a hard lesson.
I was reminded of this long-running animosity by Governor Fashola himself the other day when I called to congratulate him on the APC’s hard-won battle to retain Lagos, and on his having ramped up a string of sparkling achievements, despite the active hostility of the Federal Government.
Shehu Shagari’s NPN-controlled Federal Government in the Second Republic blockading Lateef Jakande’s UPN administration on every front. In the aborted Third Republic, Ernest Shonekan’s mercifully Interim Government and General Sani Abacha complicated matters for Governor Michael Otedola’s minority administration.
President Olusegun Obasanjo impounded statutory allocations to Lagos State because Governor Bola Tinubu dared to create local government development councils to minister unto the needs of the people. The Goodluck Administration would not repair broken federal infrastructure in Lagos State; neither would it refund expenses incurred by the State in fixing it.
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But in fixing it and executing other projects for the benefit of the people of Lagos often incurred the armed wrath of the federal authorities.
Like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu before him, Fashola took in his stride every attempt by Abuja to cripple his administration, never losing his focus, his temper, and his tempo
What is the secret of his spectacular success in an office he never sought – an office into which he was literally dragooned? Answers to this important question are strewn here and there in The Great Leap and In Bold Print.
First was his conviction that if you seek public office, you must prepare for it. And if even you are dragooned into it as he was, or stumble into it, you still have to prepare yourself to discharge that office creditably. You cannot take office hoping to muddle through. Settled polities where relative contentment reigns can afford the luxury of muddling through; polities in a hurry to meet the basic needs of the people, develop and modernize cannot afford it.
This conviction was backed by a fundamental article of faith: If you attain public office, you must use it to serve only the public good.
On taking office, he set out on a comprehensive tour of Lagos State to identify and define the problems he would have to tackle. First, what were the underlying cause of the difficulties and frustrations of living in Lagos? Why would motorists, at great risk to themselves and other road users, drive against the flow of traffic? Why would petty traders turn pedestrian sidewalks into markets? Why would people clog he drains with refuse?
Were the residents inherently lawless?
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Fashola commissioned a poll to find out how far his definition of the situation coincided with public expectations. “You do not own the facts” is one of his guiding principles. Thereafter, he set out on another tour of the state in an effort to validate the poll findings, to know what is “on ground” as our people say.
From all this it was clear that infrastructural deficiency was a major constraint on living in Lagos. Consequently, he devised a budget plan to set aside 60 percent of revenue for capital projects, and 40 percent for recurrent expenditure.
Thereafter, he drew a road map showing very clearly how to get from Point A to Point B. He marked off the map into blocks for implementation and sought an answer to the critical question: Who are the best people for the job?
Wide consultations followed on costing, strategies for implementation, and sustainability. Not for Fashola the glitzy showpiece guaranteed to be as evanescent as rainbow gold.
So, planning, diligent and meticulous planning, is one of the hallmarks of the Fashola Style.
Efficient time management and fidelity to the people are crucial elements in the Fashola approach to governance. Deadlines have to be met and promises made to the people have to be kept.
Following through is another key element in Fashola’s way of doing business. In many states but most notably in Abuja, contracts are awarded with fanfare and the mere announcement of a project is celebrated as actual accomplishments. For the most part, one rarely hears anything again about the projects.
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The Fashola approach is to start a project unobtrusively, monitor it diligently to completion, and commission it just as unobtrusively. It the project is stalled for one reason or another, the public gets to know. It is not about Fashola or even his administration; it is about service to the people, about keeping faith with them
From the moment he took office, Fashola has sought the best practices from all over the world. He traveled to Singapore, Dubai, and New York not as a tourist, and certainly not on a shopping expedition, but as a city manager out to study and learn.
He not only devoured Lee Kuan Yew’s memoir From Third World to First, he gave copies to all of his colleagues and aides for their edification. He also burrowed into the book Leadership, by Rudy Giuliani who, as Mayor of New York, steered that city through the horrors of September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Centre
The city manager’s approach has redefined Lagos as a place where transformation is not a slogan but a lived reality. We see transformation in the expanded and still expanding network of roads, the manicured green lawns, the well-tended parks, open spaces, the clean streets, the city rail service that will commence operations soon, commence operations soon, expanded ferry service, clearance of slums to make room for housing that affirms human dignity, clean streets, improved health care delivery system that saved Nigeria from the scourge of Ebola, better drainage, school buildings that provide a healthy environment for learning, reduced crime rate, and in expansion of business and economic opportunity. We see it in the vast promise of Lagos Atlantic City.
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Fashola’s tenure offers us an example of engaged leadership driven by purpose and design, a leader who does not wait for the future to happen but makes it happen. He has led by personal example, guided by Gandhi’s admonition for all ages: “Be the change you want to be.”
Fashola reminds us of something that many of his contemporaries never learned or have long forgotten: Public service is no tea party, no picnic. It demands the highest degree of discipline, sacrifice, commitment, and determination.
He is probably the only governor who does not use a siren to clear the path for his motorcade. Sirens, he says, aggravate rather than solve traffic problems, and their use is “uncivilized.” Were it left to him, only ambulances, fire engines and police on lives-saving missions would use them
What drives Fashola? What fires him?
The answer to this question is to be found in his 2008 Budget Presentation Speech delivered before the Lagos State House of Assembly on December 17, 2008: “. . . I remind myself always that one day, I will no more be in office. One day, I will no more be young. Surely, I want to live in a clean and secure environment in my old age. Whatever good I can do today, therefore, let me do it .If we do not do what we need to do today, ours will become a tragic tale of failed and unutilized opportunities, which will come to haunt us when it is too late. Let us seize our opportunities now.”
On that same occasion, he challenged the state legislators:
“Shall you and I leave this earth with the black man still the humiliated universally
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symbol of poverty, underdevelopment and incompetence? Or will we do all we can now to showcase, within our lifetime, our state and our country as undeniable evidence of the black man’s genius? Surely the choice is ours and the tine to act is now. . .”
The time is now. Not in the year 2020, not in some nebulous future.
An optimistic agenda, to be sure, but what is leadership if it is not rooted in optimism, in faith and confidence in the capacity of the people to rise to the challenge of the moment?
Five years ago, only the most optimistic in the ranks of the progressive believed, and fewer still could openly assert, that the ACN would in due course supplant the PDP as the governing party at the Centre. The PDP advertised itself as the largest political party in Africa, and it was no idle boast when its senior figures proclaimed at every opportunity that it would govern Nigeria for 60 unbroken years.
Fashola was one of few to declare openly that the PDP’s days were numbered. With proper planning and rigorous implementation of its people-oriented policies, he said in a speech marking Nigeria’s 50th independence anniversary, “it is only a matter of time before we take charge of the Centre and decisively pull Nigeria up to its rightful place in the comity of rapidly developing nations.”
Today, five years later, the progressives are set to take charge.
The Fashola Administration has set Lagos firmly and decisively on the path of achieving its destiny as one of 19 global mega-cities, a city that works for all its residents, now estimated to number 24.5 million. I do not envy his successor, Governor-elect Akinwumi Ambode.
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It is necessary to acknowledge that much of the infrastructural development for which the Fashola administration is justly celebrated has come at a price, especially to the more vulnerable sections of the population. You hear it said on the streets, especially by those used to a way of life Fashola rejects as an affront to human dignity and wants to change, that he cares only for people like himself.
His answer is that a leader must see the future and, with courage act proactively to save the people from future dangers. But he has done so with compassion, providing as resources allow, a more decent environment for communities whose shanty homes fell to the bulldozer, or communities displaced by natural disasters. We have not always seen such compassion in Nigeria.
It remains to add that one reason has Fashola succeeded so spectacularly is that he did not have to play politician. He was never mired in the horse-trading, the pandering to entrenched interests that often undermine the most clearly- formulated plans. He was splendidly insulated from that treacherous threshold by his predecessor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who did the political work, thus freeing Fashola to continue changing the face of Lagos without undue distractions.
They had their disagreements, but on the whole, this arrangement, which Fashola rarely misses an opportunity to acknowledge in public, has served the people of Lagos State and could well serve as a model for other states.
We all are in Hakeem Bello’s debt for making available in The Great Leap forty speeches that define a unique experience in the art and craft of governance in Nigeria, and the singular driver of that experience, Babatunde Raji Fashola.
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Public officials will read it with great profit, as will serving and in-coming governors and
I have resisted the temptation to end this presentation by welcoming Governor Fashola to the rank I joined just yesterday – the rank of retired persons. Something tells me he will be summoned again to work his magic on a national scale.
Your Excellencies, your Highnesses, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your time and attention. And I thank Hakeem Bello for giving me the opportunity to present what I hope has not been too flagrant a departure from the “prefatory essay” he had in mind.
Olatunji Dare*
Remarks prepared for the public presentation of The Great Leap and In Bold Print, edited by Hakeem Bello. Shell Recital Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos. May 15, 2015.
*Professor of Journalism, Emeritus, Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois.
SAFETY AND URBAN REGENERATION IN THE FASHOLA YEARS- THE LAGOS BLOW DOWN EXPERIENCE
By Moses Ogunleye, fnitp
A critical role of governments the world over is provision of security, as well as protection of lives and property. Indeed, Section 14 of the Nigerian Constitution amplifies this. A canon in this regard is ensuring safety and general well-being of the citizenry.
If a government is not able to guarantee this, it is tantamount to failure. The era of Governor Fashola appears to understand the value of the challenge of Section 14 of the Constitution vis –a – vis, the essence of governance. Thus, the commitment shown in matters of safety and urban regeneration. Because of the impacts which the activities of a government that is concerned about issues of safety will have on the social and economic well-being of the people, such activities tend to generate some reactions. If the action is carried out with good intention and utmost commitment, the people or public will certainly be appreciative through support for the government.
In reality, safety and urban regeneration matters tend to be cross –cutting, involving an array of actors. Thus, the safety and settlement regeneration activities, programmes and projects of the Fashola Administration cut across many sectors.
For example, the concern of his government for a very efficient system of physical planning and building control culminated in the setting up of a Technical Committee on Policy Reform on Planning Regulation and Building Control in 2008.
One of the Terms of Reference of the Committee was to recommend strategy to mitigate security threats posed by several abandoned buildings in the State. Another is to examine the need to reduce incidence of slums towards attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, as well as saving the unnecessary cost of relocating slum dwellers.
The Committee, which was comprised of seasoned professionals made far reaching recommendations. One of such is the institutional reforms that gave birth to the establishment of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, through the State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2010.
The function of ensuring quality building, as well as monitoring developers for compliance through stage certification was thus institutionalized. The State became the first in the Federation to separate the common single Development Control System into two but mutually operating agencies in charge of Planning Permit and Building Control. Some States of the Federation have been understudying the system since it took off in 2012.
Apart from this, the incidents of collapsed building in the State became embarrassing not only to Lagos as the country’s commercial capital but to the entire nation. The concern of the administration to reduce to near zero the incidents led to some other actions. One of such was the setting up of a six- man Tribunal of Inquiry into Collapsed Buildings in Lagos State. Among the task of the Tribunal was to recommend measures to prevent occurrence of building collapse. Although, the Tribunal has submitted its report, a government white paper was not issued on the matter. The white paper would have facilitated the implementation of actions acceptable to government from the Tribunal’s work. This appears retrogressive.
Funds required for tackling safety and emergence issues are enormous and could be debilitating to a government. As a way of dealing with emergency related matters with regards to collapse of building, flooding, including fire outbreak, the Fashola Administration introduced a payment known as Disaster Management Levy for all developers seeking Planning Permits (approvals) for building construction.
The payment, which is five percent of the assessment fee for Planning Permit was compulsory for all buildings above three floors. This was ingenious, as it provided opportunity to fund the Lagos State Emergence Management Agency (LASEMA), as a critical responder to emergency issues.
The preparedness of LASEMA for emergency management was displayed in many instances. The most recent being the rescue operation carried out at the site of the collapse of the Synagogue Church building in Ejigbo. Prior to the establishment of LASEMA, the State was always at the mercy of construction giant like Julius Berger Plc for support in rescue operation during emergencies.
The need to create statutory institutions to deal with matters of safety through legislations is also part of the legacy of the Fashola Administration. The key ones were Law No. 16 of 2008, which established LASEMA and Law No. 6 of 2011, which established the Lagos State Safety Commission.
Like safety matters, urban regeneration is also cross-cutting and financially demanding. However, the difference is that while most safety or emergency matters are intangibles, those of regeneration are tangibles and can be felt directly. The Fashola Government will be remembered for long years for the rebirth of Oshodi, which is probably the busiest terminus in Mainland Lagos. The area is reputed for its high level of disorderliness, poor sanitation, crime / insecurity and decayed infrastructure, among others, all within a commercial precinct. Apart from traders, Oshodi became unattractive to major real estate developers and other investors. Hence, there were no new major commercial buildings.
The improvement in road infrastructure in the area, the removal of shanties and illegal development by the government was the turn around that Oshodi needed to open it to opportunities for business development. The street lighting and tree planting done for Oshodi drove away miscreants who hitherto have made the place a “haven”. The news of the change in Oshodi was all over the country and the globe. Oshodi that was a place that people avoided, then became “a must see”.
The loss of business hours in traffic by commuters who pass through the area daily or those who ordinarily should have taken the Oshodi route for journeys but had to use other routes became a thing of the past. In monetary value, the time saved daily by commuters for passing through Oshodi after the facelift runs into millions of naira.
It is worthy to note that there were other regeneration projects / programmes across the State. The rebuilding of Oyingbo and Tejuosho Markets gave commerce in these two locations a boost. Although, it has been observed that the adoption of Public Private Partnership (PPP) method for these projects led to the exclusion of some categories of supposed shop owners, vis – a – vis affordability. The lesson in this regard is the need for the new government to consider the probability of making access to shops from similar projects more inclusive. This can be done by balancing social imperatives with economic realities. There were also substantial attempts in regeneration of slums / blighted neighbourhoods. The Ijora and Adeniji Adele areas received some attention. There were evidences that the government provided temporary alternative accommodation to those displaced by such projects. The stakeholders engagement strategy contributed to the success as recorded. Hitherto such regeneration efforts by governments are fraught with suspicions by the public.
The implosion of the Bank of Industry (BOI) building barely 15 months after assuming office as Governor, even with the Federal Government initial uncooperative attitude, was perhaps one of the early actions of Governor Fashola that endeared him to Lagosians.
The public was able to “dissect” his personality as someone with determination to succeed. As stated by the Governor on Page 118 of the book, The Lagos Blow Down “it helped us, in my view to build more confidence in the people. It also helped on this side, with our team, to instill a belief in our own ability to find solutions to the problems of Lagos.”
One could imagine if there were causalities as result of the planned demolition. What would have been the reaction of cynics, including politicians of the opposing people’s Democratic Party (PDP), who had earlier expressed doubts on the inability of the Governor to achieve that feat.
A major lesson learnt in the blow down is the leadership quality of the Governor, in directing the process. The conviction that it is safe and sensible to bring the building down through controlled demolition trigger subsequent actions. As documented in the book, the Governor realized early enough that such exercise require a high level of technical competence or expertise. Not being a scientist or an engineer, Governor Fashola allowed the expert to guide the process, while he led. That is the first principle in leadership.
The methodology or approach adopted in the process was most fascinating. That the procedure covered pre blow down, the blow down and post blow down stages is noteworthy. To the uninitiated or a non – professional, the planning stage of the demolition project was too long and unnecessary. But to a professional Project Manager, the time spent for planning the project was most desirable. For instance, it was of immense value that many stakeholders were brought into the project. They were properly engaged for their support, co-operation and understanding for the success of the implosion. Owners of property within the immediate setting of the BOI building, which included operators of business and religious organizations were themselves convinced of the need for the implosion. Their conviction and involvement therefore, became part of the success factors for the exercise.
The planning done with regards to health risk assessment, safety management and general risk including public liability insurance cover showed that the government was concerned about the well-being of the citizenry.
Besides, as indicated in the book, the knowledge and expertise involved in the process were shared with Nigerian professionals including engineering students. So, in a way, the blow down exercise became a subject in knowledge advancement and research.
One of the implications of the success recorded in the exercise on the Lagos Island Central Business District (CBD) is that operators of businesses within the immediate vicinity of the site of the demolition felt very safe. They saw the effect of a government that was concerned about their economic and social well-being. To other stakeholders like the Federal Government and the Bank of Industry, it could be assumed that the lesson in the implosion is that a government can prove to be responsible only when it acts strategically in resolving matters that affect public safety.
The exercise of the powers conferred on State Governor by Section 28 of Land Use Act by acquiring the site was strategic. It put paid to the bickering between the Federal and Lagos State Governments. Being a building of a Federal Government institution, the action leading to the demolition should have been facilitated by the Federal Government. This probably would have sore up the reputation or image of the Government at the centre, among Lagosians.
From all indications, the action of the Fashola administration to pull down the BOI building remain, by far the most historic, strategic and involving public safety activity it carried out. The memory will linger on not only in the minds of those who were directly involved in the process or those who live or operate businesses within the area, but in the minds of the generality of the citizenry.
It appears that the exercise really stimulated many people who have latent spirit of “you can do it”, while it strengthened the resolve of those who already have the same spirit to remain resolute.
. Ogunleye, a Consultant Town Planner, is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners and President of the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON).
