*Stop provoking everyone, he says
*Explains development strategy
*Expresses worry over para-military group in
Lagos (FERMA trainees)
By Jide Ajani
In this session with Lagos State governor,
Babatunde Raji Fashola, he explains the style of
administration that has been put in place in the
state such that successive governments can
build and improve on what has been achieved so
far. He also takes a swipe at President Goodluck
Jonathan and his aides who say no
administration in the history of Nigeria has done
as much as theirs.
You will find him as interesting as ever, with
views that are unique both in thought and
presentation.
Excerpts:
Lagos has been experiencing some urban
renewal. Is this renewal an attempt at taking
Lagos back to some forgotten development plan,
or a haphazard work in progress?
If you follow our communication on policy
statement closely, you will notice that I said from
the beginning of my tenure that this was going to
be a government of method; that we are going to
be methodical in things that we will embark upon.
Everything that we have done so far had been
based on very rigorous examination of what the
problems are, what the choices of solutions are
and how to prioritise in order to make them
sustainable. One of the first things we did after
assumption of office was to conduct a trip round
the state; I commissioned a team based on this
to go and ask the citizens and residents around
the state to specifically tell the governor, ‘what
do you want him to do for you?’
That was the beginning of our local government
tour. The results that came showed us that there
were six main items: roads, drainages, schools,
health, jobs and power. But we wanted to validate
that and we went for town hall meetings in every
local government. And while those things
resonated across, they resonated differently. In
some local governments, they wanted roads first.
In others, they preferred schools. In some places,
their drainages were their main concern. This
formed the basis of our first full year budget in
office (2008 budget). And we have kept faith with
this approach.
Indeed, from each tour after we came back, it
was to give instructions to each ministry or
department. When we came back from those
tours, we went straight into an executive meeting
everyday giving out assignments as required;
and we have kept track.
Regional plan
The second point was that of regional plan. I think
the last regional plan for the state was done
around 1991 or so. So, we decided to plan the
state into eight towns. We developed a new
regional plan. These towns are Badagry, Ikorodu,
Epe, Lagos Mainland (which covers part of
Oshodi, all through to Orile, to National Theater
and Iddo), Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Lekki and Ikeja;
and to link them up by transport infrastructures.
Again, we did an audit of the available water
supply. And we saw that we had about roughly 45
or 48 percent water supply and we developed a
plan; a short, medium and long term plan to
provide water for the growing population that we
were anticipating. The short-term plan was to do
two million gallons per day, with facilities in 15
locations. I have commissioned about nine of
them. And along with that short term plan was to
get the Iju water works to run at full capacity
because it was running at about 35 percent
capacity because of power outages. This led to
the first IGP for Iju water works; the Akute IGP
now runs at about 90 percent. But it doesn’t solve
the problem. Some of these facilities have aged;
Iju was built around 1900. That’s why you will
see we are laying new pipes through Eko Bridge.
Essentially, we have almost completed the short-
term plan. The medium term plan is to build
bigger water works. Oto-Ikosi is completed now
and being tested. That is four million gallons to
feed part of Epe and support Ikorodu. We have
Odo-mola, which is 25 million gallons.
There is also the Adiyan phase II, which is 70
million gallons a day. We have already started
constructing this from the budget. We will finish
that in 2016.
That will help us supply Alimosho and Agege, who
are actually close to the water source (Iju) but
who don’t benefit from it because the Europeans,
who built it, didn’t include them among
beneficiaries.
In Badagry, we want it to stand alone. Ishashi is
four million gallons. And we are also upgrading
Ishashi to 12 million gallons a day.
The same thing with water treatment and
sewage! The capacity was barely 10 percent. We
drew up a 10-year plan. And that is why we now
have a Lagos State Water Regulatory
Commission, which will regulate the use of clean
water and recycling of used water.
We went into Yaba for massive rehabilitation of
what was once a prime middle class community.
Three roads were commissioned for construction
and we finished substantially 80 percent of the
works there. We are regenerating Apapa as well.
Some of old roads in Victoria Island are being
constructed. The same type of construction is
going on in Alimosho. We have finished LASU-Iba
Road. It is about 20 kilometers and four-lane, as
well as Governor’s Road and a couple of other
roads. This time last year, we handed over 11
new roads in Alimosho.
In all this, we have consciously kept one
contractor; almost like a resident contractor.
Once you finished, we move you to the next
phase. In Ikorodu, for example, the resident
contractors are two; the Chinese and Arab
Contractors. The Chinese are doing the main road
and the Arab Contractors are doing the inner
ones.
In Mile 12 and Agiliti, there is a new bridge and
about seven new roads that will finish in about
June. In Ijegun-Isheri, you have Hi-Tec there,
constructing the bridge to link the two
communities.
So, there is a conscious effort to be methodical
so that, instead of demobilizing one contractor
and bringing another one, we have a network of
roads and we tackle them one after the other.
*Explains development strategy
*Expresses worry over para-military group in
Lagos (FERMA trainees)
By Jide Ajani
In this session with Lagos State governor,
Babatunde Raji Fashola, he explains the style of
administration that has been put in place in the
state such that successive governments can
build and improve on what has been achieved so
far. He also takes a swipe at President Goodluck
Jonathan and his aides who say no
administration in the history of Nigeria has done
as much as theirs.
You will find him as interesting as ever, with
views that are unique both in thought and
presentation.
Excerpts:
Lagos has been experiencing some urban
renewal. Is this renewal an attempt at taking
Lagos back to some forgotten development plan,
or a haphazard work in progress?
If you follow our communication on policy
statement closely, you will notice that I said from
the beginning of my tenure that this was going to
be a government of method; that we are going to
be methodical in things that we will embark upon.
Everything that we have done so far had been
based on very rigorous examination of what the
problems are, what the choices of solutions are
and how to prioritise in order to make them
sustainable. One of the first things we did after
assumption of office was to conduct a trip round
the state; I commissioned a team based on this
to go and ask the citizens and residents around
the state to specifically tell the governor, ‘what
do you want him to do for you?’
That was the beginning of our local government
tour. The results that came showed us that there
were six main items: roads, drainages, schools,
health, jobs and power. But we wanted to validate
that and we went for town hall meetings in every
local government. And while those things
resonated across, they resonated differently. In
some local governments, they wanted roads first.
In others, they preferred schools. In some places,
their drainages were their main concern. This
formed the basis of our first full year budget in
office (2008 budget). And we have kept faith with
this approach.
Indeed, from each tour after we came back, it
was to give instructions to each ministry or
department. When we came back from those
tours, we went straight into an executive meeting
everyday giving out assignments as required;
and we have kept track.
Regional plan
The second point was that of regional plan. I think
the last regional plan for the state was done
around 1991 or so. So, we decided to plan the
state into eight towns. We developed a new
regional plan. These towns are Badagry, Ikorodu,
Epe, Lagos Mainland (which covers part of
Oshodi, all through to Orile, to National Theater
and Iddo), Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Lekki and Ikeja;
and to link them up by transport infrastructures.
Again, we did an audit of the available water
supply. And we saw that we had about roughly 45
or 48 percent water supply and we developed a
plan; a short, medium and long term plan to
provide water for the growing population that we
were anticipating. The short-term plan was to do
two million gallons per day, with facilities in 15
locations. I have commissioned about nine of
them. And along with that short term plan was to
get the Iju water works to run at full capacity
because it was running at about 35 percent
capacity because of power outages. This led to
the first IGP for Iju water works; the Akute IGP
now runs at about 90 percent. But it doesn’t solve
the problem. Some of these facilities have aged;
Iju was built around 1900. That’s why you will
see we are laying new pipes through Eko Bridge.
Essentially, we have almost completed the short-
term plan. The medium term plan is to build
bigger water works. Oto-Ikosi is completed now
and being tested. That is four million gallons to
feed part of Epe and support Ikorodu. We have
Odo-mola, which is 25 million gallons.
There is also the Adiyan phase II, which is 70
million gallons a day. We have already started
constructing this from the budget. We will finish
that in 2016.
That will help us supply Alimosho and Agege, who
are actually close to the water source (Iju) but
who don’t benefit from it because the Europeans,
who built it, didn’t include them among
beneficiaries.
In Badagry, we want it to stand alone. Ishashi is
four million gallons. And we are also upgrading
Ishashi to 12 million gallons a day.
The same thing with water treatment and
sewage! The capacity was barely 10 percent. We
drew up a 10-year plan. And that is why we now
have a Lagos State Water Regulatory
Commission, which will regulate the use of clean
water and recycling of used water.
We went into Yaba for massive rehabilitation of
what was once a prime middle class community.
Three roads were commissioned for construction
and we finished substantially 80 percent of the
works there. We are regenerating Apapa as well.
Some of old roads in Victoria Island are being
constructed. The same type of construction is
going on in Alimosho. We have finished LASU-Iba
Road. It is about 20 kilometers and four-lane, as
well as Governor’s Road and a couple of other
roads. This time last year, we handed over 11
new roads in Alimosho.
In all this, we have consciously kept one
contractor; almost like a resident contractor.
Once you finished, we move you to the next
phase. In Ikorodu, for example, the resident
contractors are two; the Chinese and Arab
Contractors. The Chinese are doing the main road
and the Arab Contractors are doing the inner
ones.
In Mile 12 and Agiliti, there is a new bridge and
about seven new roads that will finish in about
June. In Ijegun-Isheri, you have Hi-Tec there,
constructing the bridge to link the two
communities.
So, there is a conscious effort to be methodical
so that, instead of demobilizing one contractor
and bringing another one, we have a network of
roads and we tackle them one after the other.
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