On June 29, Lagos State governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu clocked one month in office following his swearing-in as the governor of the ‘State of Excellence’ on May 29. writes Ayodele Olalere
On June 29, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, clocked one month in office following his swearing-in as the governor of the ‘State of Excellence’ on May 29.
As soon as he got into office, Sanwo-Olu began to take some steps, actions and made some statements to show the direction his administration is headed. While some of the actions and statements have been applauded by Lagosians, portraying him as a no-nonsense governor, some others have thrown up controversy, which earned the governor some backlash.
Though the governor has defended some of the statements credited to him during the campaign, Lagosians are of the opinion that the governor is making a U-turn too quick from his campaign promises barely one month into his administration.
During his campaign, the governor had promised to ensure the Apapa gridlock is cleared within 60 days of his administration. The statement elicited joy and gave hope to Lagosians who have been groaning under heavy traffic occasioned by the large volume of trucks from all over the country, going in and out of Apapa Ports as well as the loading bays of the many Tank Farms domiciled within the same vicinity.
Successful governments in the state have made efforts to find lasting solutions to the menace of truck owners on the axis and have been able to effectively solve the problem. The Babatunde Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode’s administrations, though came up with different innovations such as the call log, impounding of trucks packed indiscriminately on the road, yet none worked. Instead the truck owners became more daring and eventually totally took over the road to one of Nigeria’s economic gateway.
The gridlock is said to be costing Nigeria over N200 billion in investments.
Thus it was with great expectation that Lagosians looked forward to a traffic free Apapa road following the governor’s pronouncement.
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“The Apapa trailer issue; it’s a campaign issue; it’s very serious; I’m going to take it very seriously. I believe that it is something that we are going to solve in the first 60 days of our government. Whatever is going to be required of us, we will take them out. I can tell you from day one, it is one of the places I have been to. Whatever it will require of us, we will take them out. We cannot continue to give excuses,” Sanwo-Olu had said during campaign.
However two weeks after his assumption of office, the governor made a detour. He claimed he never promised to fix the gridlock within 60 days. According to him, what he promised is the review of works done on the road within 60days, and not to fix it.
He said: “What I said was that in 60 days, we would review what was done but that does not take the fact that even if people give you dateline, it’s because they want you to do well and they want you to be able to be accountable for those datelines. The real construction of the road has started, but it’s not at the stage in which we can feel the full impact of it.”
The impact of the ‘denial’ began to surface as Lagosians began to criticise the governor for making a U-turn.
Another of the governor’s action which, though applauded, also generated controversy among Lagosians is his charge to officials of the Lagos State Transport Management Agency, LASTMA, to deal with traffic offenders in order to solve the traffic problems in the state.
During his visit to the LASTMA head office, the governor had warned the public that his administration will not condone any act of indiscipline.
Sanwo-Olu charged the agency to deal with traffic violators, saying even if it is his brother, who is on the wrong side of the law, he should not be spared.
“If anyone breaks the law and he says he is a brother to the governor, tell him to call the governor to pay for the offence,” he said.
He also told the traffic officials not to listen to anyone from his cabinet who might want to use his position to get someone arrested off the hook.
As soon the pronouncement was made, LASTMA officials saw it as a way of giving them unending power to carry out their duties without questioning.
Some officials of the agency even retorted saying, ‘agbara ti de’ meaning ‘now we have the absolute power’.
Few days later, Lagosians began to feel the effect of the ‘agbara’ as the number of motorists arrested suddenly sparked up, while there were allegations of extortion by the LASTMA officials in spite of the governor’s warning that they should shun corruption and also show respect while on duty.
It took the arrest of two of the officials for the governor to drive home his point that his pronouncement was not a meal ticket for officials to intimidate, extort and harass innocent citizens.
The two officials were arrested on the order of the governor following information that they extorted from a woman who confessed to have driven against traffic.
The incident reportedly took place close to Ikoyi Club. The victim was accused of violating traffic laws which prohibited driving one-way.
The officials were alleged to have demanded a sum of N75,000 from the victim to let her escape. But the victim told them she didn’t have such amount but could only offer N40,000 which everyone agreed to. After handing over the money to the officials, the woman reported the incident which got the attention of the governor and ordered their arrest and prosecution.
“Our government is not to harass anybody. There should not be harassment of anybody. The essence of this administration is not to harass anybody. As long as we will support the officials to do their job, we will not allow them to terrorise the people of the state. The two officers will meet disciplinary board and if found guilty, the law will take its full course,” said the governor in the aftermath of the arrest.
While on a visit to Abuja, Sanwo-Olu told reporters he has lost weight in just one week of assuming office, saying governing the state is not an easy task.
He spoke with State House correspondents after a private meeting with Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, shortly after the expanded Security Council meeting at the Presidential Villa.
According to him, governing Lagos is not a tea party, as the experience and challenges are real.
“It is not a tea party; you don’t sleep and wake up and the traffic has gone down; you don’t sleep and wake up and there is no rain or say that you have resolved Apapa gridlock; it’s real.
“So, it is something that one has psychologically prepared for; the best thing you can do is to make sure that you are not about looking for what the other person did.
“In one week, I will say I have lost weight; I will probably still lose a bit more, but I think it is worth the job,” he had said.
The statement also threw up debates among Lagosians on whether the governor prepared for the task of governing the state or is yet to come to terms with the enormous work ahead of him.
Though a cross section of Lagosians are of the opinion that while the governor is eager to set the ball rolling in the governance of the state, he should however be more careful in his pronouncements as his intention could be easily misunderstood by many.
Others are of the opinion that it could also throw up legal issue for the governor.
But, one of the most controversial topics that have sent tongues wagging in the state has been the list of traffic offences and the accompanied penalties that suddenly hit the social media some two weeks ago.
As the list was being circulated, Nigerians experienced their anger particularly at the provision where a vehicle is impounded and not to be released to the owner for taking one way.
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Former 1st Vice President, Nigeria Bar Association, Osas Justy Erhabor, in his reaction said some of the pronouncements credited to the governor are typical of political office holders who are out to impress the public at the beginning of their administration, and should not be taking from the legal stand point.
He, however, warned that any pronouncement from the governor which might lead to civil disturbance or affect the livelihood of the citizens could results into legal action against the government. It could also portray his government as one not ready for challenges ahead.
“I have read all the pronouncements of the governor and I see them as typical of political office holders who are out to convince the people that their administration means business. You know every new government comes with such bravado to let the people know they are in charge.
“However, my advice is he should weigh his decisions before pronouncing it. Nigerians are quick to look out for errors or mistakes in whatever any political office holder says and use it against him when things later go bad. They will say it was the governor that said so whereas the governor meant something else.
“Take the case of his order on LASTMA. The officials thought they now have absolute power to behave rudely to motorists and they went to town doing as they like. These are the same LASTMA officials Lagosians are already tired of their rude behaviours. But I am happy the governor later warned them against harassing people and pointed out that his order was not for them to harass the public.
“Also, while he might be eager to impress Lagosians, whatever he says that later unknowingly results into chaos could be used to institute legal action against him. He should weigh his words and actions,” he said.
In the same vein, Barrister Komolafe Richard is also of the opinion that while the governor has started well in pointing out the direction his administration is heading with his ‘Greater Lagos’ slogan.
