The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), on Wednesday advanced reasons why change of leadership is expedient at the national level.
Fashola said Nigeria is too important both globally and continentally to be left in the hands of those who play politics with the lives of her citizens.
Addressing the quality gathering of members of the Yoruba Tennis Club and their Island Club counterparts at their respective Club Houses in Onikan, Governor Fashola said the national government, formed by the Peoples Democratic Party, has failed to provide its most important responsibility, which, according to him, is the security of life and property of citizens and protection of the territorial integrity of the nation.
The governor, who noted that Nigerians handed over a whole country to the ruling party in 2011, expressed regrets that the same party is now returning to Nigerians to ask for another leadership mandate with only part of the country, having lost some parts to insurgents.
Noting that the party has reneged in its primary duty to secure the territorial integrity of Nigeria, Fashola warned: “They are returning now to ask for our votes with only a part of the country that we gave them because some parts of the country have been lost to people we didn’t elect.
“So, in that most important responsibility, they have dropped the ball.
“That is the alternative that is being offered you in Lagos.
“The choice is yours.”
Governor Fashola, who expressed dismay that the party has politicized everything, noted that nothing is too much for the party to sloganize about, recalling the way the national government played politics with the very sensitive issue of the more than 200 abducted secondary schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State.
The governor equally spoke about how the PDP-controlled Federal Government made so much noise about the country being “the biggest economy in Africa”, wondering why smaller economies could provide electricity for its people while the self acclaimed “biggest economy” could keep her people in darkness.
“Please ask them why smaller economies could get petrol easily for their people and why we have to queue for hours and days to get petrol in a biggest economy in Africa,” Fashola said, also wondering why the so-called biggest economy in Africa is trying to buy arms from a smaller economy to secure the country.
He pointed out that the nation’s currency, the Naira, is now trading for N180 to a Dollar, while the South African Rand is trading at R11 to one Dollar, adding that what matters is the quality of the life and prosperity of the citizens and not the size or number being bandied by the PDP-led government.
To buttress his point on the little importance the Federal Government places on the economy of the country, Fashola tasked the people to figure out the last time President Goodluck Jonathan presented the Annual Budget in the National Assembly, an obligation which, according to him, is a constitutional one.
The governor also noted that the Federal Government also played politics with the Ebola Virus Disease containment as it almost turned the very grave situation into a political trophy, “even though they knew little about how the battle was fought and won in Lagos, which was the epicentre”.
Conversely, Fashola said the All Progressives Congress controlled Lagos State Government has done well at many fronts, including the education, security, power and financial sectors in spite of the very precarious economic and security situation in the country.
On education, the governor expressed pride that the public confidence in public schools have risen tremendously, pointing out that a recent poll result on the issue returned 53 per cent of Lagosians preferring to have their children in state owned primary schools as against 47 per cent that opted for private schools, while 69 per cent as against 31 per cent now prefer to have their children in state owned secondary schools.
He said in spite of the average West African Examination Council results, if the Lagos State result is isolated to stand on its own, the state has moved from seven per cent pass for students who obtained five credits at a sitting in 2007, to 45 per cent in 2014.
Attributing the success recorded in this area to the support and taxes of the residents, Governor Fashola told the audience: “When you understand the ratio of private schools to state schools, which is about four private schools to one state owned school, you will appreciate the enormity of the task we undertake. But we are happy to undertake this challenge because Lagos is working with your support and with your taxes.”
In the area of security, the governor said the poll results also showed that 77 per cent of Lagosians now say they feel secure while 89 per cent say crime has been greatly reduced.
He said this was in spite of the increasing global crime index and Nigeria’s security challenges.
He expressed gratitude to the Board members of the State Security Trust Fund, particularly its Executive Secretary, Fola Arthur-Worrey, who, he said, have continued to provide the institutional capacity to keep the Rapid Response Squad going, adding: “We have been inventive, we have been determined and we have been unyielding as far as crime fighting in Lagos State in concerned.”
Governor Fashola said although the national government has continually given excuses and indulged in blame trading about failure to deliver power, his administration has lit up public spaces in the state.
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