Campaign Promises as New Frontier in Lagos Battles
The escalating tension severally generated from the face-off between the Lagos State government and the federal ministry of Works over control of roads in the state unarguably represented a worrisome manifestation of political bad blood between the AD and PDP. But now that the battle for control seems to have shifted to the realm of campaign promises and an alleged failure to fulfill them, Lagosians have a chance to read between the lines. Oke Epia reports
As the last of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) controlled states in the Southwest still standing, Lagos has for some time now, come under fire from forces in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) intent on wrenching control from Governor Bola Tinubu in the next elections.
Indeed, not a few Nigerians have expressed grave concerns over the seemingly unending scruples between officials of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), an interventionist organ of the Works ministry, and those of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) over control of vehicular order on federal roads in Lagos. The contention has become so tense that there have been reports at various times, of bodily assault and other unpleasant exchanges between agents of both bodies. Another point of disagreement arose when the state government initiated moves to plant flowers as a form of aesthetic effect along the median of federal highways. The Works ministry promptly threw spanner in the works claiming that the jobs being executed fell short of standards on which basis it barred the state ministry of environment from further work.
Amidst the flurry of hue and cry which has trailed the conflict between both tiers of government is the undisputed presumption that it is all a show of bare-faced attempts by the PDP to wrest power from the AD which is in its own way, putting up a stiff resistance. However, as the 2007 elections increasingly become an issue, it is perhaps fit and proper that the quest to conquer the electoral landmine of Lagos has shifted to the arena of campaign promises.
Since the beginning of the month, some form of controversy has been built up over whether or not campaign promises made by the incumbent governor, Asiwaju Tinubu, is being fulfilled. Engineer Funso Williams, defeated candidate of the PDP in the 2003 gubernatorial polls, fired the first salvo in a media interview when he alleged that the AD-led administration has failed to deliver on its promises to the Lagos electorate. "This is a government that in 1999, to the delight of all and sundry, inaugurated so many high power committees to study the problems of Lagos and proffer solutions," Williams had begun, adding: "I am not sure much of the recommendations made to government have been implemented." Perhaps gauging the level of interest that attended that media outing, Williams currently appears disposed to be drawing attention to Tinubu's campaign statements as he has taken advertorials in newspapers to publish some of those promises ostensibly as a reminder to Lagosians that the present administration needs to be held accountable.
The PDP chieftain who claimed to have turned down an ambassadorial appointment in the said interview, went to the extent of identifying areas of governance where the Tinubu administration is allegedly defaulting, and concluded that "Lagos State deserves a better deal than this."
But given what it considers as a case of "delusion of grandeur," the state government is not taking William's brick-bats lying low as a rejoinder from the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Dele Alake, set out to explain the administration's position on virtually all the issues raised.
On the promise of free education which Williams alleged the government is shy of, Alake took a swipe at the criticism saying that "the undeniable truth is that the Tinubu administration has for the last five years been faithfully implementing its free education programme in the over 600 primary and 300 public secondary schools in the state." He added that "over 1.5 million primary and secondary school population enjoy the free education policy irrespective of their state of origin." Still on the educational sector, Williams had noted that "rather than invest so many millions in the structure of four or five millennium schools, the money could have been utilized in rehabilitating the schools that are collapsing." But in his reaction, Alake said: "Through the millennium schools, Asiwaju Tinubu has set the highest structural, aesthetic and functional standards for the model public schools of the 21st century. In building public schools in future, no government will dare go below the standard set by the Tinubu Administration with the millennium schools."
As one time Permanent Secretary in the Works ministry in Lagos, Williams had also taken to the cleaners, the efforts of the state government in the areas of road construction and rehabilitation, electricity and water provision, amongst others. Lamenting an alleged shortage of portable water, he had noted thus: "If a project as small as the water project at Dolphin takes over three years to get to the stage it is presently, can one blame Lagosians for being nostalgic about LKJ (Lateef Kayode Jakande, 2nd Republic Governor of Lagos) who built numerous water works in a jiffy?" On roads, he had said that none of the roads constructed by the government "have a bridge content or any serious engineering structure or challenge," just as he also berated efforts on the Independent Power Project (IPP), the state's attempt at private electricity generation.
Alake in his reaction, countered these points bit by bit. "The Lagos state IPP, the only source of uninterrupted power supply in the country today, is supplying 270MW of electricity to the National Grid for the benefit of Lagos State," the commissioner replied on the criticism on electricity. On the allegation of water shortage in the state, he stated that the government has given so much attention to that sector in a transparent manner enough for "the World Bank to participate actively in the privatization process of the Lagos State water Corporation to ensure improved water supply in the state," adding quickly that "under Asiwaju Tinubu's leadership, water production by the Lagos State water corporation has increased from less than 60 million gallons in 1999 to 120 million gallons per day today."
The Information and Strategy Commissioner also stoutly defended the government's achievements on road construction while flaying Williams for being unable to make any impact when he served as commissioner for Works under the military administration of Col. Olagunsoye Oyinlola (rtd).
"Did Funsho Williams construct even one bridge as a commissioner of works in Lagos State? When he was in a position to do so, why didn't he attempt to construct just the Kudirat Abiola road that was right under his nose at Alausa?," he queried while concluding that "the undeniable reality is that all of the roads constructed by the Tinubu Administration are of the highest international standards complete with drainage channels, telephone conduits streetlights and side walks."
In the same manner in which Williams has been taking on the government, sector by sector, Alake responded in solid defense of the incumbent, noting that the former was merely seeking public relevance since he lost out in the power game to control Lagos. And for comparing the Tinubu administration to past governments in Lagos, Alake grabbed the bait as it were, to insist that no past regime in the state has performed better than the extant Tinubu's. "In truth and without attempting to disparage any of them, how many previous administrations in the state can boast of Tinubu's level of achievement, not just in one or two sectors but in road construction, electricity supply, healthcare delivery, education, revenue generation, computerization of the public service, housing, Waste Management, job creation, traffic control and the judiciary all at once," he concluded boastfully and charged Williams to a public debate on any national medium.
Incidentally, the debate may have commenced already especially on the plank of what transpired in the 2003 elections when Williams alleged that the AD employed the state's "huge war chest to induce all manner of men before, during and after the election," as he put it. To this Alake replied that "it sounds truly amusing to hear the candidate of a party, which exploited its control of the Federal Government and by implication the highest chunk of the country's resources, to deploy everything in its arsenal to 'capture' Lagos talking this way," adding: "Indeed the money voted by the PDP for the 'win Lagos at all cost' project is a key factor in the crisis that has rocked and is still rocking the Lagos State PDP to its foundation." And on the PDP's governorship candidate that his party secured 38% of total votes cast in the election, Alake disagreed saying the figure was "illusory" and "a product of the creative imagination of the PDP election riggers," explaining "why a false figure claiming the the PDP had won was initially entered on the INEC electronic scoreboard and even beamed on the internet." Not yet done, he continued: "If the PDP truly had 38% of the votes, how many Senate, House of Representative and House of Assembly seats did this translate into? Why did the PDP take the face-saving option of boycotting the last local government election if truly they have any support in Lagos? What would have been the incentive for Lagosians to vote PDP in 2003? Non-functioning refineries? Incessant fuel price hikes? Erratic power supply? The drastic fall in living standard due to inept macro-economic management?"
The debate also roamed into the realm of inter-governmental relations as Williams blamed the frequent disagreement between Tinubu and the presidency which he noted signalled a confrontational trait in the governor, as the reason why Lagos was receiving less attention than it deserves from the government at the centre. He compared the situation that existed between Alhaji Lateef Jakande and President Shehu Shagari in the Second Republic with the present scenario, noting that the former proved more beneficial to the state than the latter. But Alake would not accept this, arguing that there was nothing wrong in disagreeing with the president on matters of principle and ideology. "Those PDP elements like Funso Williams who portray any disagreement with the president on policy matters as disrespect certainly don't wish him well," Alake stated, while raising some salient points like the personality of the president at each period under review. "Shagari was a tolerant and accommodating leader who bent over backward to carry everybody along irrespective of party affiliation," he said, adding that the fact that the Federal Capital Territory was still sited in Lagos and the President resident herein then, made it an imperative for the federal government to ensure that things worked well in the state.
However, while the debate continues, the current controversy over campaign promises has inadvertently set Lagosians and those concerned about the state of affairs in the political entity touted as "centre of excellence" on the path of political rumination. With the recently reported resolve of the PDP speaking through the President to "capture Lagos" in 2007, observers are worried that the one and AD State is being subjected to too much political intimidation and harrassment which might turn out detrimental to the polity. And in the final analysis, might not help the people of the State.
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