Fashola Gives Account Of His 2300th-Day Stay In Office

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde
Fashola (SAN), Saturday rendered tan
account of the stewardship of his
administration in the last 100 days with an
appeal to the citizenry for support, mutual
co-existence, ethnic and religious tolerance
as well as obedience to law and order.
Saturday’s event, which is the the 23 rd in
the series, commemorates the 2,300 th day
in office of the present administration and
marks a fulfillment of the Governor’s
commitment since 2007 to render to the
citizenry, through town hall meetings with
various segments of the society, the
account of the administration’s
performance every hundred days.
Addressing members of the Community
Development Committees (CDCs) and
Community Development Associations
(CDAs), corporate and private citizens,
religious and traditional rulers as well as
artisans and market women and men at the
LTV Blue Roof Hall on Agidingbi Road,
Governor Fashola said the continued
development and transformation of the
State would only be possible with the full
cooperation of the citizenry in terms of
maintenance of peace, law and order.
The Governor, who enumerated the various
projects executed across the State in the
last 100 days, appealed to the citizenry;
“Your support, peaceful co-existence,
religious and ethnic tolerance, discharge of
your civic responsibilities such as payment
of taxes and voluntary obedience of laws
and regulations, keeping the peace are all
that we ask for, to make your aspirations
materialize”.
Beginning with the Budget performance in
the first and second quarters of the year,
Governor Fashola said the impacts were
already being felt in some projects in the
Health Sector, Education Sector and in the
area of infrastructural development as well
as other sectors of the economy.
According to the Governor, such projects
include the completion of the Trauma and
Burns Centre in Gbagada, two more
flagship Primary Health Care Centres in
Eredo Epe and in Itire, the Folarin Coker
Health Centre for public servants in Alausa,
the street light of Carter Bridge, the
progress in the Technical and Vocational
Education Colleges as reported during the
State’s Enterprise Day and the reports from
the education sector at the Annual
Governor’s Education Award.
On Health, he said while the State
Government’s Health policy remains a
matter of non-negotiable commitment, the
honest truth is that free healthcare does
not cover every illness that afflicts the
people, adding, “That answer is insurance.
This is the way that I think we can unlock
and optimize the idling capacity and
specialties that exist in over 3,000 privately
owned health facilities that ordinary people
cannot access”.
Governor Fashola explained that of the two
supplementary budgets presented by the
Government after the second quarter, the
first, with the size of N7 billion, was to
enable Government finance the building of
more houses under the Lagos Homes
Scheme, while the second, amounting to
N7.5 billion was for the early acquisition of
the Lekki Concession as provided under the
Concession Agreement “in a way that helps
us to keep investor confidence and control
any possible increase in the toll fees”.
In the Education Sector, Governor Fashola
expressed joy that more students are
getting into secondary schools from the JSS
1 placement examination results which,
according to him, showed an increase in
the number of candidates from 49,316 in
2012 to an almost doubling of 95,255
candidates in 2013 adding that the results
show a pass rate increase in the
examinations from 67.01 percent in 2012 to
96percent in 2013.
“If you recall that we have since 2011
reviewed conditions of pass from what was
about 30% to a minimum of 50% pass in
each of English and Mathematics in
addition to a total aggregate average of an
overall of 50% as the minimum pass, you
will appreciate the progress that our
children have made and the effort that
your Government has made”, the Governor
said.
Expressing optimism that his
administration is heading in the right
direction in terms of its new education
policies the Governor added, “I am also
able to report that we have received the
results for 2013 WAEC Examinations which
show that out of 51,604 students who sat
for the examination, 21,193 secured the
five credits in Mathematics and English in
one sitting representing, according to him,
a 41.06% pass rate over the 39% of last
year.
“If you recall that we started from a 7%
pass rate in 2007 you will appreciate how
far we have come, to now record an over
41% pass rate”, the Governor said adding,
“For now, all I can say is that, as far as our
children’s education is concerned, we are
heading in the right direction and I see a
brighter and rewarding future, even as our
work remains unfinished”.
Throwing more light on the Government
directive that all schools in the State,
whether public or private, should reopen
on the same day (September 23), Governor
Fashola said it was aimed at achieving a
unified school calendar for the State
adding, “There are many positive
consequences for these, ranging from
security planning, transportation planning,
career development to mention a few”.
On Security, the Governor, who said there
has been an aggregate reduction in crime
in the State, however, noted that as a daily
growing State, “in a world that is getting
increasingly complex and where no nation
is crime free”, the State was getting its own
fair share of problems associated with
population increase with some of its
citizens falling victims to crimilals.
“But we remain resolute to fight crime and
criminals with every resource that we have”,
the Governor said, expressing joy that the
determination to fight crime in the State
has yielded some noteworthy successes
against crime and criminals”.
He listed some of the successes to include
arrest of a notorious gang of five robbers
who have been terrorizing the Lagos Island
and the apprehension of the kidnap gang
that abducted a number of people
including a Local Government Chairman
adding “This was made possible by the
dedication of the officers in the Lagos
Command after almost a month of
surveillance that eventually led to the arrest
of the criminals”.
“Another notorious gang leader who had
been on the Police wanted list for 14 years,
and who had been launching attacks on
our citizens from outside Lagos is now in
custody after a well-planned operation that
led to his arrest in his hiding place outside
Lagos”, the Governor said adding that the
Command also rescued a foreign national
from kidnappers during the period.
Commending the gallantry and dedication
of the members of the Command, the
Governor declared, “Our officers must be
proud of themselves, and so must all of us
be, not only for the work that they have
done, but also the value they give for the
support that we give to them from your
taxes and your voluntary contribution to
the Lagos State Security Trust Fund,
“especially MTN Nigeria who just gave 25
new patrol values to the Fund while he
urged all citizens to continue to pay their
taxes promptly and to support the Trust
Fund with donations.
Another area where progress was recorded
during the last 100 days, Governor Fashola
said, is in the Transportation sector where,
according to him, “the commitment of
Government in improving efficiency in
public transportation is yielding results”.
Such results include the recent formal
handing over of the 7 kilometer Ibeshe
Road, the over 200 inner city roads
currently under construction across the
State, the on-going resuscitation of five
ferries retrieved from the Lagos Lagoon.
The Governor, who said repairs on three of
the ferries would be completed this year so
that they could join the 59 already
operational ferries on the States waters,
put the monthly passenger ridership on at
1,788,370 passengers per month from
495,010 passengers per month in 2010
expressing joy that work is moving towards
conclusion of the Osborne and Mile Two
Jetties preparatory to making them fully
functional in a short while.
On the implementation of the States Road
Traffic Law, the Governor said it has
resulted in the reduction from 646 reported
accidents in August 2012 to 118 reported
accidents in July 2013 and the reduction in
motorcycle related deaths from an average
of 12 in August 2012 to an average of 1
over the same period, adding, “This justifies
the commitment with which we intervened”.
Governor Fashola warned commercial
motorcyclists who still ride on the
restricted roads “either with the wrong
motorcycle or without helmets or without
registration plate or with more than one
passenger” to retrace their steps adding,
“Nobody will be allowed to act outside the
law made by our House of Assembly. Our
commitment to enforcement remains very
high”.
He also warned operators of tricycles that
they must comply to the same provisions of
the Traffic Law relating to safety and the
routes they can operate; mainly the inner
streets and not on highways adding that
except for the fact that the tricycles have
cabins, they are not different from the
commercial motorcycle.
“However, we understand that our public
transport policies are still developing and it
is not our intention to inflict any hardship
on our people who rely on them. This is
why I gave clear directives last year that we
will not seek to enforce the Traffic Law as it
relates to them if they keep off the major
highways”, he said.
The Governor promised that other safety
policies under the Traffic Law would soon
be unveiled “to make motoring in our State
a happy experience and raise standards to
global competitiveness”.
He recalled that during period the State
hosted the Lagos State International Table
Tennis Championship with 350 participants
from 13 countries. According to him, ‘Our
sporting centres, hotels and transporters
were kept busy”, adding, “It is the first of a
ten Sport Championships now known as
the Lagos Sports Classics”.
Pointing out that the hosting was a
fulfillment of his commitment to Lagosians
at the closing of the 2012 National Sports
Festival that the State’s athletes would be
kept busy while keeping all the upgraded
sports facilities in good and efficient use,
the Governor said soon the State would be
hosting the athletics events of the Sports
Classics and the remaining other eight
sporting events, adding, “So to our
sportsmen and women, get ready for a
busy sporting calendar. And to our Ministry
of Sports, coaches and all supporting
agencies, I say keep up the good work”.
Governor Fashola also reported with joy the
verdict of the National Census Tribunal on
the petitions by his administration, on
behalf of 14 local governments in the State
against the Census figure allocated to the
State by the National Population
Commission after the last 2006 Census
exercise in the country saying as a result of
the petitions, the Tribunal has ordered a
recount in 14 out of 20 communities in the
State.
The Governor advised, “No nation that
wants to prosper and solve human
challenges should ever be tardy or play
politics with data collection projects such
as population census. You cannot manage
what you cannot measure”.
He also announced the Supreme Court
verdict on the State Government’s case
against the Federal Government relating to
the latter’s incursion in the area of tourism
saying the the Supreme Court was emphatic
in affirming the position of the State
Government that it is only a State
Government and its House of Assembly that
have powers to regulate tourism, with the
exception of tourist traffic which deals with
issuance of visas, length of stay and
immigration into Nigeria.
He declared, “Apart from the revenue
erosion, the incursions made it difficult to
grow that sector and create jobs, because
the operators were caught between two
governments; and understandably were
often unsure of who their appropriate
regulator should be, between the State and
the Federal Government” , adding that the
victory “is victory for federalism and for
all the 35 other States including the Federal
Capital Territory, Abuja, who can now take
their tourism destiny in their own hands”.
Still on the courts, Governor Fashola said
the State Government was ready to go to
the Supreme Court to challenge the verdict
of the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal
which acquitted Major Al Mustapha on
charges of conspiracy and murder of late
Qudirat Abiola.
Governor Fashola declared, “Because our
Constitution permits a further appeal to the
Supreme Court, and because we place the
highest premium on every human life and
because the families of the victims deserve
every right to agitate the matter to the final
court, just as the accused would have been
entitled, your Government has appealed on
behalf of the people to the Supreme Court”.
Other areas which the Governor reported
include the registration of the All
Progressives Congress (APC),which he said
became a reality in spite of the criticisms of
the opposition, commencement of Saturday
service in Government departments such as
Lands, Physical Planning, Motor Vehicle
Administration and the Vehicle Inspection
service from 10am to 2pm and the payment
of compensations to those who lost
property as a result of the Dana air crash
and erection of a cenotaph at the site of
the crash among others.
Noting that the periodic briefings have
helped to deepen the democratic
experience in the State, Governor Fashola
said its uniqueness, in the sense that no
other no other government in the country
has committed to a regular 100 day, town
hall style meeting, the State Government
has never failed to hold it and has never
changed the date.
“It has been beneficial to you and to us
because it keeps us on our toes to deliver
and it reinforces how seriously we hold
your mandate and value your support”, he
said adding that apart from the fact that
the administration has remained true to it
as a commitment it freely made, the
unsustainable attempt by competitors “to
sloppily copy it, in a very poor imitation
about which they have now gone quiet,
speaks volumes about the commitment of
your Government”. The credit, he said,
“certainly belongs to all our public servants
and officers who work tirelessly to deliver
the progress that I am always delighted to
report”.