Who Will Tame Fashola's Insufferable Arrogance?

By Dipo Abimbola

In a rare show of political vendetta, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State was said to have spit venom on President Goodluck Jonathan recently. In a statement which was published in virtually all the existing newspapers in Nigeria on Tuesday November 4, 2014, Fashola was said to have derided a public advocacy organization,the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) on account of its robust defense of President Goodluck Jonathan's achievements and consequent endorsement of the President to contest for a second term in 2015. According to the report, Fashola who delivered an address as a Keynote speaker at the opening ceremony of Women in Business (Wimbiz) Conference held at the Eko Hotels on Victoria Island in Lagos, lampooned TAN for orchestrating the return of the Jonathan Administration through false claims, saying that Jonathan had nothing on ground to justify his more than three years in the saddle.

*Fashola 

(pix: dailytimes)

It is unfortunate that Fashola who claims to play politics of objectivity, has relapsed into politics of falsehood and propaganda just to score cheap political goals. It is indeed part of the obscenities Nigerians are forced to swallow in a society where desperate opposition politicians go to any length to bring down their opponents in spite of the reality on the ground. Without holding brief for TAN, it is only the blind who would not see that Jonathan has really transformed Nigeria since the past three and a half years. While it may not be necessary to go into the specifics of the President's landmark achievements across the six geo-political zones of the country due to space constraints, a few sectoral review of key projects would be appropriate. In the education sector, it is on record that Jonathan is the first leader who rather than issue a license to himself to operate a private school as some had done, established 12 new Federal universities in one fell swoop to attack the menace of ignorance in the country. The Jonathan Administration modernized Almajiri schools and enhanced the girl-child education in the country while at the same time instituting presidential scholarship to top 25 global universities. Also, the annual enrollment capacity at the National Open University has increased to 250,000 in the last three years.

*Jonathan and Fashola 

(pix:vanguard)

In the health sector, the zeal with which the Administration tackled the outbreak of the Ebola Virus, is a pointer to how things stand in the sector, despite the attempt by the opposition to politicize the outcome. More than 1,500 Primary Healthcare facilities were refurbished by the Federal Government, which resulted to about 50 per cent drop in infant/maternal mortality. Generally, life expectancy at birth has increased from 47 years to 52 years within the last three years. The Government introduced the Overseas Residency Training Programme with 60 doctors benefitting. As it stands, the government has not only strengthened capacity for kidney transplant in Nigeria, there is resumption of open heart surgery at UNTH, Enugu, and there is no record of Type-3 Wild Polio Virus and Guinea Worm in any part of the country for over one year.

In the Sport sector, Nigeria has not had it so good, despite obvious challenges. Under the Jonathan Administration, Golden Eaglets won Under 17 World Cup just as the Super Eagles won the African Cup of Nations after 19 years. Nigeria had the best Paralympic outing in recent history, just as the country created a new Commonwealth Games record in 100 meters (female category). The country had the most impressive Commonwealth Games outing with 16 Gold and overall 36 medals. Not more than two weeks ago, the Super Falcons beat Their Cameroonian counterparts to win the 2014 edition of Africa Women Championship in Windhoek, Namibia. In the Aviation sub-sector, the Jonathan Administration has modernized 22 Airports with total Radar coverage nationwide while constructing five new terminals. The government has installed navigational aids and revamped communications and surveillance tools across the airports.

Fashola attacked Jonathan over the Oil and Gas sector, saying that under the President, Nigeria is importing fuel. What can be more naive! Every Nigerian knows that the importation of petroleum products did not start with the Jonathan Administration. Whereas the government has succeeded in creating an enabling environment for the private sector to invest in the refining of petroleum products by setting up private refineries, it has succeeded in blocking leakages in the sector thus making the products available all over the country at affordable costs. The Jonathan Administration increased oil production from 700,000bpd to the current 2.3million bpd. There is 72 per cent increase in gas supply to support the Power sector, with the completion of 167 kilometers Gas Pipelines (Oben, Geregu and Itoki Olorunsogo) even as there is 6 per cent reduction in gas flaring in the Niger Delta. Jonathan has commissioned a Gas Industrial Park at Ogidigben in Delta State to produce raw materials which would be used for the manufacturing of some petrochemical products thus turning the Niger Delta to the industrial hub of West Africa.

Again, it would be sheer naivety on the part of a sitting governor such as Fashola not to acknowledge the marked improvement in the Power sector. Of course, nobody expects unprincipled opposition politicians who even deliberately sabotage the government in order for them to take over power, to openly admit that the incumbent administration is performing. But Nigerians know that Jonathan has demonstrated uncommon courage to confront the debilitating challenges in the Power sector. The unbundling of the PHCN into 11 DISCos and 6 GENCos and the establishment of the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trader is unprecedented in the country. The licensing of 34 IPPs and expansion of gas supply has improved power generation and distribution nationwide.  Like the development in the telecommunications sector, the net effect is gradual. Very soon, Nigerians will reap the full benefits of Jonathan's pragmatic steps in the Power sector.

The Jonathan Administration has doubled tax revenue to N4.8trillion in four years even as it has unveiled national industrial revolution plan. What the government has done in the agriculture sector is overwhelming. There is over 35 per cent reduction in food import in three years while Silo capacity has increased by 400 per cent. Jonathan introduced E-Wallet for input delivery and has enhanced dry season farming. Currently, they are 6million Nigerian farmers on database. The effort of the Jonathan Administration in the transport sector cannot be overemphasized. In 2013 alone, it constructed over 2,000 kilometers of roads, the longest  in a single year by any administration. What about the administration's exploits in bringing back to life the dead railway system? That Nigeria under Jonathan has emerged Africa's largest economy with GDP of $510billion is not a common achievement. The country has seeded Sovereign Wealth Fund with $1billion and recorded Double-digit Market Value growth in the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the last three years. This culminated in the country attracting over $7billion foreign direct investment in 2013. 

Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) Members

During One of their Rallies (pix:thescoopng.com)

The opposition would latch on the insurgency bedeviling the nation to attack Jonathan brushing aside the fact that it is a global phenomenon. If Nigerian opposition politicians such as Fashola should stop playing politics with national security, the Boko Haram threat will become a thing of the past in record time. In spite of the antics of the opposition elements who are determined to make the country ungovernable for Jonathan, he has indeed performed well enough to warrant the backing of TAN for his reelection come 2015. Besides sheer media hype and propaganda, Fashola is a non-starter in Lagos State. What has he done in Lagos State aside from reveling in the splendor of a former capital city and commercial nerve center of Nigeria which had already been developed by the Federal Government and the private sector?

Fashola should count out Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Lagos Island and Lekki, areas that had already been developed, and tell Nigerians what he has been doing with the huge amount of internally generated revenue from hundreds of thousands of companies operating there and a large allocation from the Federation Account at his disposal. It must be noted that Agege, a very close suburb to Ikeja, the seat of power, remains its old self as a squalid slum in all its abjectness and blight. Even Ikeja, the capital of Lagos state is a shame to behold whenever there is a down pour. Alimosho, arguably the largest local government in the state is an eyesore; and Badagry Division remains neglected by the so-called "progressive" and "action"governor, because, according to a report, the people of Badagry did not vote for Fashola.

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Is it not the same Fashola who ordered the demolition of Makoko, a fishing community and neighboring suburb of Iwaya-Yaba without notice thereby rendering thousands of people homeless? In the recent past, Fashola deported 14 Igbo from Lagos to Onitsha, an action which generated a lot of heat between the Igbo who are the main benefactors of the development of Lagos and the Yoruba. With about N17billion monthly allocation from the Federation Account and about N22billion monthly internally generated revenue, Fashola should tell Nigerians what he has been doing with Lagos State money. Nobody expected magic from a green horn like Fashola whose only experience in government was his period as Chief of Staff to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. But before venturing to attack Jonathan, which is now their party slogan, our opposition politicians should check themselves. It is always proper to go to equity with clean hands.

Abimbola, a public affairs analyst, contributed this article to SCRUPLES from Lagos.