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Still On Fashola: Behold The Faces Of Corruption Sympathizers
Eni Olukotun
My scathing article titled, Ministerial: Less We Forget Fashola’s N139M Boreholes, Others” revealed the real state of corruption in Nigeria.
Obviously, i was expecting deluge of mixed reactions to trail the down to earth appraisal of the Fashola Government but i never knew corruption has large followers who could openly engage you in fisticuf over graft.
It was painful to learn that many are sympathetic to corruption under various guises. Some argued that Fashola was not the only who plundered the nation’s resources . Then while focusing on him alone.
Others claimed that the City of Lagos witnessed sudden turnaround under his watch, so his infractions no matter how grave should be overlooked. What arguments.
Unknown to many, Fashola is an Old Boy of my alma-mata(Birch Freeman High School, Surulere, Lagos). I am proud of what he did for the school. He was a posterboy for the institution. But that should not obscure my sense of judgment.
I had publicly sang his praises when he took the bull by horn by clearing shanties and roadside traders to give way to free vehicular movement in Lagos. Adversely, he got knocks for skyrocketing LASU fees from N25,000 to about N300,000.
In my article then titled, “The Gang-up Against The Poor In Lagos”, i flayed Fashola’s insensitivity to the plight of millions of poor people. I asked if Federal Government had took the same draconic, wicked decision would he had been able to attend University of Benin.
So, my call for thorough questioning of Fashola on how he managed the Lagos purse was borne out of genuine love for the nation. We need to start doing things right.
Therefore, I maintain that former Lagos State Governor, His Excellency, Mr Babatunde Fashola, SAN should be grilled by the Senate when he appears before it on Tuesday.
The scales had dropped from our eyes and we can see clearly now. Nobody can bambooze us again with esoteric, high sounding jagons. Tuesday, 13, October is a day of reckoning for the swaggerlicious ex-Governor.
Perhaps, i should remind many who might have forgotten that Fashola protested when he was asked to give account of how $42.3m World Bank loan for Eko Project was utilized.
Fashola told SERAP, the rights group that requested for the expenditure breakdown that he was not bound by law to give account.
When reminded of the Freedom of Information Act, Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and acclaimed Apostle of good governance and trasperency said that FOI Act was a Federal law.
Among many who tagged my previous article as a calculated campaign of calumny to smear Fashola’s towering profile, i have reproduced one the comments here.
A friend(names witheld) who was enraged by the truth said, “We are going to replace Fashola with your name. ..Olukotun. .How many Northern Governors are being questioned . Only the southerners are pulling themselves down claiming to be fighting corruption”.
Below was my candid reply to his missile:
“I am surprised by this late hour outrage. Oga, this is not an allegation, he admitted to the figures given by the Lagos State Govt. So, nobody is pulling him down. We are victims of corruption one way or the other. All we are saying is that we should not steal the nation to death. I was ashamed for Lagos, a megacity with a state owned water corporation that could not provide portable pipe-borne water for its seat of power but rather dug two boreholes for N139m. Even in the Sahel, i doubt if one should spend such outrageous amount to dig boreholes. So, please dont tactically support corruption. I will conclude by asking you that if Fashola were to be a job seeker and your are aware of the aforementioned would you hire him?”.
Eni Olukotun, a Journalist and Convener, Systemic Change Nigeria. He can be reached via: [email protected]
