Re: Sanwo-Olu’s celebration of ineptitude
It is not in our character to join issues with promoters of myopic assertions that are rooted in frustration, bitterness and subjectivity. Ordinarily, we would have allowed the above junk by a self-styled public affairs analyst and professed PDP stakeholder, Adetokunbo Pearse, pass as one of those infamous thoughtless vituperations of the Lagos PDP.
But, for the sake of unsuspecting public, we will like to expose Mr Pearse’s so-called analysis for what it is – a product of hate and vacuous sentiment, lacking in facts and figures and full of nothing but stark ignorance. Little wonder it has been ignored by Lagosians who are happy that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has been a faithful servant of the good people, who gave him the mandate to govern this great state.
To Mr Pearse, Governor Sanwo-Olu’s two years in office is a celebration of ineptitude. Well, being a hatchet man of the sinking Lagos PDP, we would have been surprised if he had claimed otherwise. The Lagos PDP has a reason to be depressed and dejected like a hopeless orphan; it has been consistently rejected at the polls since 1999 by Lagosians who have embraced progressive politics.
Sanwo-Olu was prepared for the job, with the six-pillar THEMES – Traffic Management and Transportation, Health and Environment, Education and Technology, Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy, Entertainment and Tourism and Security and Governance – Agenda as his compass of development.
It is obvious that Pearse did not listen to the verifiable records Mr Sanwo-Olu rolled out in his State-of-the State Address, which was widely hailed at home and abroad as a satisfactory account of stewardship by a faithful servant of his people. I would like to take excerpts of that historic speech to dismiss the malicious and parochial view expressed by Mr Pearse, obviously for his masters.
Here we go: “The smoothness of the newly constructed and rehabilitated 301 inner roads in our 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs, and other major roads across the State, will serve as veritable testaments to some of our achievements in Traffic Management and Transportation.
. From Milverton and Thompson in Ikoyi to Adeola Hopewell and Adeola Odeku on Victoria Island.
– From Demurin and Church in Kosofe to Navy Town in Ojo.
– From Soluyi St to St. Finbarr’s Road in Iwaya, Somolu Bariga.
– From Sobo Arobiodu and Oduduwa Way in Ikeja to Aradagun in Badagry.
– From Jimoh Odutola and Babs Amimashaun in Surulere to Egan and Camp David Roads in Alimosho
We have also concluded work on some strategic roads across the State. Some of the roads are:
– Phase 1 of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway (Agboju to Trade Fair)
– The 13.68km Oshodi-Abule Egba BRT corridor
– Phase 1 of the 6.05km Road from Itamaga-Ewu Elepe town
– The 6km Ijede Road.
Work is on-going on:
– the Lekki-Epe Expressway
– the 7.8km Owutu-Agric-Ishawo Road,
– the 19.39 km Ijegun-Jagemo-Ijedodo road,
– The Lagos-Ogun boundary roads in Alimosho and Agbado Oke-Odo LCDAs.
The first phase of the Lekki-Epe Expressway Project is 18.75km, stretching from Eleko Junction all the way to Epe T-junction. It is a 6-lane rigid-pavement road that will connect the second phase, which is 26.7km, beginning from Abraham Adesanya Roundabout and ending at Eleko Junction.
It is also my pleasure to inform you that the Lekki Regional Road, which passes through VGC, Chevron, Ajiran and Freedom Road, is being constructed at a high-speed.
Next year, when we commission these very important roads, relief will come to the people of Eti-Osa and Lekki-Epe, like residents of Oko-Oba, Iju and Okekoto in Agege LGA, when we delivered the 1.4km dual-carriage Agege-Pen Cinema Bridge, which our administration inherited at 20% completion.
Other efforts in this regard include the Junction Improvement and Reconfiguration at the 1st and 2nd Roundabouts in Lekki, Allen Avenue, Ajah and Igando. We also deployed 1,017 LASTMA officers in various locations. So far, we have improved 28 junctions ; 22 are awaiting completion in different locations.
The proactive and efficient management of the COVID-19 pandemic is typically recorded as our most significant achievement in Health and Environment in the last two years. This is understandable because of our frontline role, which saved the entire nation from a major calamity.
But it is important to note that the situation only presented us with an opportunity to showcase our best as a state. I must admit we got better infrastructurally and capacity-wise. Aside from the comprehensive renovation of our medical facilities at Ebute-Meta Health Centre, Harvey Road Health Centre, General Hospitals at Odan, Isolo and Ketu-Ejinrin, the pandemic pushed us to consider the development of new facilities, such as our New Massey Children Hospital, New General Hospital in Ojo, and a Rehabilitation and Mental Health facility in Ketu Ejinrin.
Fellow Lagosians, we do not know when another outbreak will occur, but I need to let you know that we will be ready to defend our territory against any pandemic. That is why we are building a 300-bed Isolation Centre and a Research Institute at IDH, Yaba. We have commissioned 3 Oxygen Plants and new Doctors Quarters are being built at Gbagada and Isolo. We continue to remember our citizens who paid the supreme price during the first and second waves of COVID-19.
Our Administration is also ensuring that we have improved maternal and child health outcomes in Lagos State, with the inauguration of the Mother and Child Centres (MCCs) in Eti-Osa, Igando and Badagry. The one in Epe is due for commissioning next week.
As we know, environmental cleanliness is a requirement for general wellbeing. Therefore, our administration has invested significantly in the waste collection capacity of LAWMA. Specifically, we are expecting delivery of 100 compact trucks and 100 Dano Bins for placement across the State.
Similarly, we have increased the capacity of PSP operators from 320 compactor-trips to 720 compactor-trips daily, and commissioned a mini-effluent treatment plant to determine waste toxicity before release into the atmosphere.
From the cleanliness of the drainage around us to beautification of our parks, and the awareness created by the Lagos Recycle Initiative to receptivity of the ‘Own-a-Bin Initiative’ by Lagosians, we can feel the increasing freshness of the Lagos air.
This is also purified by timely maintenance of our dumpsites and expansion of the 42-acre Olusosun site, for quicker waste-disposal trucks turnaround time and support for the ‘Lagos 4am’ Programme designed to stem indiscriminate waste disposal across the metropolis.
In Drainage management and maintenance, we have ongoing 56 projects. These are assigned to support flood control and management operations during the raining season.
Some of these projects are:
– Santos Layout Channel at Dopemu, which extends to the Airport.
– the Itedo Channel off Freedom Way, Lekki
– the Abraham Channel, off Lekki-Epe Expressway
– Osborne –Dolphin Channel, Ikoyi
– Kajola Channel, Ibeju Lekki
Over this period, we completed the channelization of several ferry routes, notably the 6km Ijede-Badore, the 7km Bayeiku-Ajah, the 16km Ebute Ojo-Marina and 16km Ijede-Marina routes.
1. Besides, we are working on 15 jetties; VIP Chalet Jetty (Badagry), Apaa (Badagry), Ilado (Amuwo Odofin), Ito-Omu (Epe), Ijegun Egba (Ojo), Ebute-Ero (Lagos Island), Liverpool (Apapa), Mile 2 (Mile 2), Isalu, Ajido Waterfront (Badagry), Ijede Waterfront, (Ikorodu), Ofin (Ikorodu), Takwa-Bay (Eti-Osa), Ilashe (Ojo), Oke-Ira Nla (Eti-Osa) and Marina Waterfront.
Six of these jetties will be commissioned before the end of this year and additional four will be awarded.
Our Administration has increased investment in passengers’ ferries from 14 to 22, with the large one having the capacity to carry up to 60 while the medium-size carries 40 passengers.
Similarly, LASWA is building a Control and Command Centre for the safety and security of passengers using water transportation. This effort is complemented by the installation of navigational equipment on our waterways.
Like in every development-centred government, education is the central point of our governance framework. We recognise that it is the difference between our past and future. With education, we will discover what was amiss yesterday, what should be done today, and what tomorrow will require.
…Year-on-year, we have increased budgetary allocation to education and integrated technology into our school curriculum.
“Our administration has completed more than 1097 school projects in just two years, built six Secondary Schools, provided over 100,000 tables & chairs, built 450 classrooms and provided 2000 hostel beds in our model schools.
We also introduced EKOEXCEL – an education reform programme targeted at developing highly skilled teachers through training, support and motivation. The EKOEXCEL initiative has reached about 1,009 schools, 13,000 teachers and 450,000 pupils.
In fact, learning outcomes have significantly improved and primary school enrolment gone up by more than 60% because of the visible impact of EKOEXCEL on the pupils.
I must say that EKOEXCEL is important to the success of our Project Zero (Zero Tolerance for Out-of-School Children), an effort to bring back pupils who are at the verge of discontinuing their education because of the socio-economic impact of COVID-19.
So far, we have brought back 2,844 pupils to learning, and equipped them with the modern-day educational gadgets in-use under EKO EXCEL.
…Last year, over 2000 teachers were recruited for our public secondary schools and we stretched the opportunity for continuous learning with the establishment of additional 21 Adult Literacy Centres, which took the number of such centres in Lagos State to 1,284.
The global ranking of Lagos State University, our state-owned tertiary institution, is a reflection of the level and quality of support provided to tertiary institutions in Lagos State by our administration.
LASU moved to prominence, and occupies a regal position in the hierarchy of universities in Nigeria. Like LASU, other Lagos State-owned institutions have received ample physical and fiscal support that have adequately strengthened their operations and boosted their competitiveness internationally.
Today, LASU has become the preferred choice of global universities seeking collaboration with a Nigerian university. Owing to its standing, LASU, ahead of all the first-generation universities in Nigeria, is in partnership with Cornell University, a statutory Ivy League research university in New York, running an Executive Collaborative Programme.
Our government is supporting the institution to expand the scope of the partnership and building a Business School for LASU on Victoria Island. In addition to this, we are building the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), a best-in-class Faculty of Education, and delivering the 8,728-bed hostel executed through a Public-Private-Partnership arrangement in the next 8 months to address the students’ accommodation challenge in LASU.
I am happy to inform you that our administration has concluded plans to upgrade Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) and Lagos State College of Education (LACOED) to Universities. We have also embarked on infrastructural development in the institutions.
In LASPOTECH, we are building a new Administrative Block and developing many student facilities at the Lagos State College of Education. Aside from institutional support, our administration has also paid N218m as bursary to 6,411 students and awarded scholarship to the tune of N217m to 918 outstanding students.
The world is looking in our direction because of the enormous human and material resources we possess, but the most viable means of value exchange at this time is technology. So, our government is standing up to the call to implant technology at the heart of everything in Lagos. We are becoming #DigitalLagos, a smart city of relevance.
This vision has started to crystallise. We commenced under our PPP model the laying of 3,000km fibre across the State. Out of this, we have covered 1,800km, which has provided connection to 100 schools and 12 of our hospitals.
Riding on the Fibre infrastructure is our Smart City Project, which will enhance traffic management and security, with the installation of about 2000 cameras at strategic locations. The test-run has begun, with the installation of about 150 of such smart cameras on our streets.
#DigitalLagos is not just an idea. It is a culture that is animated by our recently launched Lagos State Innovation Master Plan. Similarly, we established the Lagos State Science Research & Innovation Council (LASRIC) to drive investment in research and development of tech-focused solutions.
… Our administration has moved resolutely to address some of the challenges dimming the brightness of our State as a 21st Century Economy. This has begun with the increased efficiency of government services and operations to enable speedy processing of permits, approvals and related statutory documents. We have repealed the 2018 Land Use Charge Law, which was replaced by a 2020 Property Land Use Charge Law and Regulations.
While the new Land Use Charge Law was a response to public agitation for reduction in the Land Use Charge, our administration gained better insights from its engagement with the affected categories of citizens and deployed same in amicably resolving 1250 out of the 1,418 Land Use Charge complaints.
Adequate, sustainable and affordable housing remains a challenge fuelled by urbanisation. This trend has contributed enormously to the housing deficit in Lagos State. But our government is frontally confronting this challenge and exploring different options of addressing the situation through engagements with foreign and local investors.
We have however completed and commissioned:
– 360 home units in Igbogbo, Ikorodu.
– 252 home units in Idale, Badagry.
– 84 home units, LagosHoms, Lekki Phase 2
– 132 home units at the BRF Housing Estate, Iponri
– 120 Units Igbokushu, Lekki
– Keys handed to 492 beneficiaries of the Lateef Jakande Housing Estate, Igando
We also have at various stages of completion:
– 1800 units in Sangotedo
– 660 units in Agbowa
– 480 units in Badagry
– 120 units in Elegushi
Just as we have prioritised housing, our government is also committed to solving the energy problem in our State. We will be connecting 20,000 households to electric metres. The State has also facilitated the signing of an MoU between Eko Disco and NDPHC to dedicate 400 megawatts to Lagos State.
On food security, our administration is committed to stimulating the growth of the Agric sector. Accordingly, we launched a five-year Masterplan for Agriculture to boost food production and strengthen sector.
As a demonstration of our commitment to the sector, we introduced empowerment schemes and programmes for operators in the agro-allied ecosystem.
For instance, no fewer than 879 farmers and Small and Medium Sale Enterprises (SMEs) across poultry, aquaculture and rice production value-chain have benefited from the Lagos Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project.
Similarly, we empowered 600 residents with ingenious business ideas to the tune of N4bn through the Lagos State Empowerment Trust Fund (LESTF) W-initiative in collaboration with Access Bank and commissioned the FADAMA Food Market at Agbalata, Badagry to promote the structuring of agricultural produce marketing in the State.
Amidst the numerous transformational initiatives deployed to strengthen the socio-economic positioning of Lagos State globally, the energy of the city, fuelled by a thriving entertainment industry, is unmistakable. A State of predominantly young population and some of the finest beaches in Sub-Saharan Africa, Lagos is both a tourist delight and the entertainment capital of Africa.
Our administration is committed to facilitating the development of the sector through empowerment and partnership. We recognise its place as major employer of labour, especially our youths, and evolved strategy that enabled direct support and grant by our administration.
Aside from landmark facilities and initiatives like the J.K Randle Museum, Glover Theatre, Lagos Theatre in Badagry, Badagry Museum and major Tourist attractions in Badagry, our administration is on deliberate empowerment drive through partnerships with the Ebony Life Academy and Del York Creative Academy where no less than 2000 youths are receiving training in the different aspects of Cinematography, such as Scriptwriting, Directing and others.
We have also launched the Lagos Creative Initiative (LACI) for focused development of the creative industry in Lagos, which has birthed the 100-hecters Lagos Film City in Ejinrin. We gave subvention in excess of N1bn to operators to cushion the effect of COVID-19 on the industry. “
There you have it, Mr Pearse. Your view on He Amotekun is borne out of ignorance. The Amotekun law is a slight modification of the Lagos State Neighbourhood Watch law under which over 6000 men and women are engaged to provide intelligence for security agencies. We recently gave the Police Constabulary Unit 1,250 officers from this pool; we are replacing them soon. Lagos does not have forests like other Southwest states, who have seen the Neighbourhood Watch as a worthy model; our only neighbours are Ogun State and the Atlantic Ocean. Security remains our priority; that is why our people can sleep with their two eyes closed. We will continue to strengthen our security agencies through the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF).
Pearse also played to the gallery by dwelling on the welfare of NYSC members in Lagos. On staff welfare, Lagos is unrivalled. The government has continued to fully perform its obligation to the staff, including those still working from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as pensioners.
Then, like a rudderless sheep that he is, Pearse childishly strayed into the APC Local Government election’s primaries, alleging widespread rigging without substantiating such. What concerns a PDP stakeholder with events in the APC? Mischief, of course. Pearse and his fellow busybodies would rather pour tirades on a progressive party rather than fixing their torn umbrella.
On EndSARS, Pearse did not fare any better. He chose to commit libel by alleging mischievously that Sanwo-Olu ordered the army to shoot at protesters. When has the governor become the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces? Such display of unbridled ignorance!
Neither did he say anything new on Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; he kept parroting the usual line of Alpha Beta being used to siphon Lagos’ fund. Well, Alpha Beta has the capacity to defend itself on such wild allegations. It is, however, important to stress that if after ruling the country for 16 years (with its vindictive and vicious leaders at the helm), the PDP could not nail Tinubu on any corruption charge, then Pearse and his gang should cover their face in shame and shut up forever.
The Ministry of Information and Strategy has produced a detailed compendium of the Sanwo-Olu administration’s projects and policies, which have fetched the Governor many awards. Pearse and his co-travellers should grab a copy; it is free. We welcome genuine criticisms and credible contributions. What we won’t embrace is a dubious rottweiler mentality expressed as criticisms.
Meanwhile, the Greater Lagos train is resolutely on course; nothing can derail it!
