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 Daily
Independent Online.
* Thursday, June 17, 2004.
Pains, anguish of Ogunlewe/George Army on Lagos roads
By Tolu Olarewaju
Senior
Correspondent, Lagos
Mayhem
was unleashed on Lagos roads on Tuesday, June 8, 2004 as Federal and
Lagos State government officials clashed in a most vicious manner,
leaving innocent Lagosians at the receiving end of the attack. The
clashes, which were akin to drunken street brawls, allegedly took place
over who controls highways said to be federal roads. On that fateful day,
persons claiming to be agents of the Federal Ministry of Works attempted
to dislodge officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority
(LASTMA) and the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) Brigade as well as the
Lagos State Emergency Medical Services, operators of the state ambulance
services LASEMBUS.
Throughout
that Tuesday, the eve of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) strike action against
increases in the pump price of petroleum products, all personnel of the
state agencies left their points, leaving the road with a heavy traffic
jam. But perhaps the most disturbing was the sacking of LASAMBUS
ambulance services located at strategic points across Lagos metropolis to
save motor accident victims. When journalists visited the LASAMBUS
points, the tents had been vandalised. It was however not clear whether
any of the ambulances was destroyed or damaged. Those affected included
the one on the Old Lagos - Ibadan Express Road Toll gate, and others at
Oshodi, Anthony, Mile 2 and Marina, Lagos.
Over
150 persons operated at
Marina, Lagos and the Tollgate at the Lagos end of the Lagos/Ibadan
Expressway. They arrived as early as 7.30am ostensibly to dislodge LASTMA
and KAI officials while taking over the roads. In the tollgate operation
close to the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) Office, bottles and
cudgels were freely used. A LASTMA official, Mr. Dennis Olusegbe, said
the operatives in FERMA reflective jackets, forcibly took over traffic
duties after attacking the Lagos State officials on duty there, arrested
vehicles, issuing fine tickets to them.
Speaking
with journalists, a commandant of the KAI Brigade, Mr. Dayo Williams,
said one Saheed Salawe, PDP local government chairmanship aspirant, led
the Marina attack and that it resulted in the brutalising of no fewer
than two LASTMA officials and two KAI marshal personnel.
Speaking
with journalists at the FERMA Annex Office at the Tollgate, Chief Tunji
Ilelaboye and Omotayo Banwo of FERMA’s Directorate of Transport and
Parking, alleged that their action was based on a court
injunction/judgment. Ilelaboye said their action was directed
specifically at the LASTMA and LASAMBUS, adding that FERMA will
"continue to dislodge them from federal roads. " Banwo said
their grouse with LASAMBUS, KAI and LASTMA is based on the fact that they
are state agencies operating on federal roads.
As at
the time of going to press, it could not be confirmed whether there was
any court injunction barring Lagos State officials from operating on
federal roads or not as alleged by Ilelaboye and Banwo as they were
unable to support their claims with any document. It would however be
recalled that the Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, had
earlier issued a stay-off federal roads order on Lagos State outfits
which he now seems to be implementing.
There
are several highly pertinent questions to ask at this juncture. Is this
distinction over control of traffic on federal roads by state officials
the same all over the federation or peculiar to Lagos State? If so, why?
There
has not been any reported case of similar tussle between the Federal
Government and other state governments not because there are no federal roads
in those states but because the traffic situations in those states do not
warrant the states’ governments setting up special agencies to control
traffic there. It is an established fact that over 50 per cent of
vehicles in the country are in Lagos. That Lagos metropolis has a
reputation for perennial traffic congestion leading to the establishment
of these various agencies by the state government is obviously because of
this fact.
Now
that the Lagos State government has taken the initiative of setting up
these agencies, why would the federal government be averse to the control
of traffic on federal roads? Why would the federal government be
disinclined to the provision of ambulance services on the ever-busy Lagos
roads? Why would officials of the federal government not encourage and in
fact complement Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s innovations, particularly
the free ambulance service?
Looked
at from various angles, it is apparent that the muscle flexing by federal
and Lagos government officials over who controls what roads in Lagos is
an extension of the political feud between top political public office
holders of the federal and Lagos state governments controlled by the
Peoples democratic Party (PDP) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD)
respectively. And that is the crux of the matter.
In
other climes, it is not unusual for political opponents to trade words as
a result of conflict of ideas. This usually happens during electioneering
campaigns. However, it would never degenerate into physical combat. But
the 2003 general elections are past and gone. Party political bickering
should therefore be left until 2007. Election or no election, why would
federal and Lagos state government officials be involved in fisticuffs,
against every sense of decorum?
Perhaps
a peep into the political history of the gladiators would give an insight
into why top government functionaries would be involved in this
embarrassing show.
Lagosians
believe that the recent actions of FERMA officials is a fall-out of the
political bickering between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-controlled
federal government and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) government in
Lagos State. Since the 2003 general elections, the PDP is fighting a
two-prong attack on the Lagos State government: one from the PDP National
Vice Chairman (Southwest), Chief Olabode George, and the other from the
Minister of Works, Chief Adeseye Ogunlewe. The two assaults are not only
borne out of the intrigues of party politics but also a vicious, bitter
power play.
It is a
matter for deep regret that the fight between the two elephants is having
a crippling effect on the socio-economic life of the people of Lagos.
Although many have argued against the establishment of these agencies by
the Lagos State government because of the excesses of these officials,
many would agree on their positive impact on the traffic situation on
Lagos metropolis. For instance, as the battle started raging, the traffic
situation, particularly on Lagos and Victoria Islands, has degenerated,
leaving people stuck in traffic jams on Lagos highways for hours.
The
person of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is central to the on-going feud
between officials of the two governments. Tinubu had been a senator of
the Federal Republic in the early 1990s. He was a major financier of the
Primrose Group led by former Information Minister, Chief Dapo Sarumi. The
Primrose Group is another name for the Lagos arm of the Peoples
Democratic Movement (PDM) led by Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Tinubu
was also actively involved in the struggle to de-annul the June 12 1993
presidential election. He was one of the financiers of the National
Democratic Coalition (NADECO). During the General Abdulsalam Abubakar
(rtd) transition programme, Tinubu contested the Alliance for Democracy
(AD) primaries against Engineer Funsho Williams. Tinubu eventually
emerged as governorship candidate of the party after the deadlocked
primaries. Supporters of Williams, including Ogunlewe, believed Tinubu
was merely compensated for his activities during the National Democratic
Coalition (NADECO) struggles. Tinubu's offence is that he dared to resist
the PDP onslaught on the South West in last year's elections. For this, a
war has been declared on him for punching a big hole in their
calculations. Specifically, President Olusegun Obasanjo resents Tinubu’s
closeness to Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The
causes of political enmity between Tinubu and George has been well
documented. Put in a nutshell, George believes Tinubu is not a
son-of-the-soil.
During
the campaigns leading to the 2003 general elections, George had always
boasted that PDP would capture Lagos State. For instance, in an interview
with a national newspaper, George, a retired naval officer, threatened to
even use military strategy to overrun the state. It would be recalled
that Tinubu responded by saying AD would use the people’s strategy to
forestall PDP’s military strategy.
The PDP
went into that elections with everything at its disposal: money, federal
might and character assassination against the incumbent governor. But at
the end of the day, PDP failed to clinch the state, leaving the party and
its chieftains emotionally frustrated. Tinubu was the only one who could
resist PDP’s onslaught. For George, AD’s victory in Lagos State was an
unpardonable political misfortune.
But
George is not the only PDP chieftain that is embittered. Scholars of
Lagos State political history say Ogunlewe has been resentful of anything
that has the remotest link with Tinubu even before the present democratic
dispensation. He backed Funsho Williams during AD’s governorship
primaries in 1999. Ogunlewe believed that Tinubu was given the AD ticket
on a platter of gold. Like most people in that school of thought, Tinubu
was merely compensated for his activities during the National Democratic
Coalition (NADECO) struggles.
But
while the likes of Kemi Nelson, a former commissioner in the state; Aro
Lambo and Leke Pitan, Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and health
commissioner respectively, made it up with the governor, Ogunlewe did not
forgive Tinubu. He was elected a senator on the platform of AD only for
him, along with Alhaji Wahab Dosunmu, to trade away the mandate by
decamping to the PDP. But when the duo re-contested the 2003 general
elections, they lost their senatorial seats. In the Lagos East senatorial
District, Olorunnimbe Mamora defeated Ogunlewe, losing in his ward to the
medical practitioner turned politician.
All
these must have deepened Ogunlewe’s bitterness against the Tinubu
administration in Lagos. But while Dosunmu clinched an ambassadorial
post, Ogunlewe was made works minister. And Lagos State government
officials have been saying that rather than use the portfolio to help the
people of Lagos, Ogunlewe believes that it can be used to take out his
bitterness against the people and government of the state.
How is
Ogunlewe doing this? Lagos Government officials alleged that apart from
the arrest and torture of Lagos State Government agents by officials of
the federal Ministry of Works, the Minister of Works has refused to
release funds due to the Lagos State Government for expenditure incurred
on the maintenance of federal roads.
During
the first tenure of Tinubu, the Lagos State Government was said to have
spent N6billion on the reconstruction and rehabilitation of federal
roads. They included Akin Adesola Road, Victoria Island; Awolowo Road,
Ikoyi; Kudirat Abiola Way, Oregun; Obalende Round About;
Yaba/Ojuelegba/Itire/Lawanson Road and Agege Motor Road. These are
federal roads in strategic parts of Lagos metropolis abandoned over the
years after the seat of government had moved from Lagos to Abuja.
President Olusegun Obasanjo was said to have encouraged doing the roads
with the promise that the federal government would later reinburse the
Lagos government. Officials of both governments- specifically, Federal
Ministry of Works and Lagos State Ministry of Works- monitored and
verified the construction works. And under Chief Tony Anenih, the Federal
Ministry of Works was
already reimbursing the Lagos government only for Ogunlewe to stop
it.
Other
acts of sabotage the AD has accused the PDP of perpetrating include the
boycott of the local government elections in the state; the seizure of
local government revenue allocation in states where new councils have
been created; and the refusal of the Federal Government to give guarantee
for foreign loans needed by the state government for important
developmental projects. There is also the alleged deployment of agents of
the PDP's shadow cabinet to collect tolls and levies in certain parts of
the state and the appointment of PDP local government chairmanship
candidates in the state as representatives of the Federal Ministry of
Works.
Although
Abuja will not accept it, the AD government in Lagos believes that the
activities of the federal agencies in the state are borne out of a sense
of frustration. In fact, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, AD national director of
publicity, research and statistics, in a statement on related issues, alleged
that since the 2003 general elections, the PDP had never missed any
opportunity to sabotage the programmes and policies of the Lagos State
Government.
“There is only one government in
Lagos State and that is the one led by Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the
Alliance for Democracy who was elected by an overwhelming majority of
Lagosians. That is the only authority that can legally impose and collect
levies in the state. The PDP by the illegal action is trying to impose
itself as an alternative government in Lagos State. This is tantamount to
treason,” Adeyeye declared.
Whichever
way one looks at it, recent events have left no one in doubt that the PDP
leaders are not happy that the PDP is not in control of the Lagos State
government after the 2003 general elections. Political observers say that
perhaps explains why PDP chieftains have been devising one means after
another, not only to make things difficult for the Alliance for Democracy
(AD) government in Lagos, but if possible to bring it down. This, they
also say, is not good enough. They insist that once elections are
concluded, governments therefrom should be encouraged to settle down to
face the onerous task of day-to-day governance. They also argue that
there are more positive things the Federal Ministry of Works officials
should be doing than trying to control traffic on federal roads in all
the 36 states of the federation. Perhaps, rather than allow political
bickering over who controls traffic on which roads unleash pains and
anguish on Lagosians, federal officials should seek cooperation with
their Lagos counterparts.
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