'Nigeria O Ni Baje O'

Lagos is a difficult place to govern. It has always been and unfortunately, will always be. For the foreseeable future at least. The kaleidoscopic nature of her inhabitants hasn't made it any easier. The heterogeneity of stakeholders and interest groups places extra burden on those at the seat of power in Alausa to bring their A-game, all day, every day. Some days when I drive around Lagos, I totally don't envy the man saddled with the responsibility of governing Lagos. It's akin to a shepherd guiding a flock of mutant sheep - even sheep cross-bred with orangutans and wolves. Such is the complexity of this arduous task.

My close acquaintances will probably be very surprised I'm doing this post. Some will even swear I have become a partisan politician and that my price has finally been matched. They will think so because I have in the past vehemently and overtly expressed my disaffection for the subject in question. Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola. 

Some Nigerians in diaspora that I have recently interacted with share the sentiments that BRF is the best thing since sliced bread with many locally-residing Lagosians. They believe he has done well enough to stake a claim to the highest office in the land. They have compared him with the incumbent President, whose term as Governor of his home state was essentially dusky with little to write about. They have also compared him with Atiku Abubakar, an entrepreneur turned customs officer. Or is it the other way round. The chronology has actually become quite confusing. From building his first house at fifteen to serving in Customs and then as the Vice President to building his own university in Yola. At some point in this sterling career, he managed the Petroleum Trust Fund 'judiciously'. They have also compared him with the ever-ambitious septuagenarian, Muhammadu Buhari, who though many believe has a lot to offer Nigeria does not have age on his side any longer. 

One thing is however quite clear. Nigeria cannot be ruled with

kid gloves. The Nigeria Professor Chinua Achebe aptly described as a 'gifted, enormously talented, prodigiously endowed but incredibly wayward child' can only be led by a very firm and assertive person. It is also important that Nigeria's President sells and instills hope in the generality of her citizenry. Barack Obama won in America because he was selling the singular product Americans yearned-for after a dastardly double term in the hands of the Republicans and George Bush. Hope. Mr. Obama is by no means perfect. There is, however, something about his mien and delivery that instantly invokes confidence. The man may not even know what he's doing but he's intelligent enough to make you buy into it. If Nigeria's current President has ever made you feel that way, then I owe you a drink because I'm dying to hear where, when and how.

Many times on this forum, I have berated Mr. Fashola. Like many doctors in his employ, I do not like him. Lagos State doctors like okada men and PDP members manage to see only the negatives in his tenure. All for personal reasons. Before you say I'm campaigning for him because he's a Yoruba man, be reminded that he sacked my colleagues and I in 2012 and STILL owes me a month's wage before the sack. He non-selectively sacked doctors across ethnic and religious boards. I also believe a lot of the healthcare strides he lays claims to are mere propaganda. I'll explain this in future posts. Mr. Fashola's seeming calculated decimation of the medical professionals in Lagos is however not entirely his fault. Even though the buck stops at his desk, I like to believe the medical professionals in his immediate nucleus as advisers are responsible for how BRF has interacted with Lagos doctors. The Jide Idris', Yewande Adesinas, Femi Olugbiles, Wunmi Salakos and Rafiat Olatunjis of this world are responsible in my opinion. The governor will only act based on recommendations and will at best, have the worst case scenarios broken down to him by these people. These are the learned ones who will urge him on. They inanely reassure him he can do it and get away with it. When doctors don't respect their ilk we should not expect charity from other fronts. Charity, as a commodity, they say begins at home.

Mr. Fashola has also come across as being elitist in some spheres of Lagos. For this I do not entirely blame him also. You see, there are still 'powers that be' in Lagos. The Jagaban of Borgu and Bourdillon remains a gluttonous deity Mr. Fashola must constantly appease. I imagine the level of infrastructural development that Lagos may have attained in the absence of this drain pipe of a political stalwart. BRF seemed helpless most times even in the face of draconian policies like the Lekki-Ikoyi bridge and Lekki-Epe expressway tolling debacle. He just couldn't take on these forces. Or maybe he just didn't want to? I believe strongly that he didn't want to risk his second term so he kept on dancing to the piper's tune. Oh, how I wish he tried to defy Asiwaju and ran solely on the basis of his performance during his first stint in Alausa. Risky I agree but he was not going to remain in office forever anyway. And if he indeed didn't get a second term because he stood up to political godfatherism and bullying, history would not have forgotten him. Asiwaju would have been relegated to some remote town playing ludo with Tony Anenih now. Still rich but politically impotent at state level. But who benefits? The masses! So, most of the voracious income-driven policies may not have completely been in BRF's control. While Asiwaju boasts that he bequeathed Fashola on Lagosians, this is perceived as a Greek gift in some circles as he wantonly exsanguinates Lagos' coffers.

Another grouse with Mr. Fashola is his seeming neglect for the suburbs of Lagos. A few people think he has concentrated developmental projects on his primary constituency in Surulere. Surulere roads are relatively 'sexy', even though Aguda residents feel left out. Ayobo, Akute, Ijegun, Igbogbo and all such remote satellite areas are extremely displeased with Mr. Fashola. They feel they should have benefited more from this government as good access roads would have heralded economic development to such areas. It however didn't happen in BRF's eight years in office. Another palpable problem in Lagos is the havoc the heavy rains inflict on the state's drainage system. While the primary problem seems to be blockage from improper waste disposal, a school of thought believes this itself is a reaction to the inefficient waste collection system. In my opinion however, I think there has been marginal improvement even though the government still has a lot to do in terms of waste collection and disposal. The population boom in Lagos won't abate anytime soon so the onus is on government to invest or encourage private investment in sustainable methods of waste management. There are biofuel opportunities staring at us in the face. We'll safely manage waste, create employment, produce clean energy and conserve our environment. One stone, four or five birds.

My personal grievances aside, I believe Mr. Fashola has sincerely good intentions to bring development to his people. He seems 'connected' to the everyday Lagosian and genuinely attempts to make their lives better. Does he step on a number of toes, certainly. That is expected. I've listened to him speak and he has a thorough understanding of his statistics. You can tell he's not just reading baseless data from charlatans. If he tells you there is an MCC in Ketu-Ejirin, he deftly describes what the facility will do or has and not just some watery rambling about some fictitious equipment. The man knows his onions. I must admit that, even if he has gored my ox in the past. With all due respect, the incumbent President is a far cry from this and this assertion, in which I have no iota of doubt, is a scientific one which is easily measurable if our President will accept a debate anywhere and anytime with our Governor. Even if we succeed in convincing Eja Nla a.k.a White Lion a.k.a Mensah a.k.a Skibanj a.k.a...(whatever else he calls himself nowadays) to moderate such a debate. Even though he has been accused of being a cosmetic governor from his seeming obsession with planting flowers in Lagos, the truth is many more people are paying their taxes on their own volition. Hitherto, it was hard to pinpoint what such revenue was being used for by government. One of the biggest problems of the Nigerian citizenry is their attitude to tax. Who can blame them really, when it seemed their taxes were used to build luxury flats in Ikoyi?

Interestingly, Mr. Fashola has remained coy about his name being in the mix as a contestant for the office of President. I haven't read anywhere that he has overtly turned down such an idea but he continues to systematically make a very strong case for his candidacy as his current term winds down. Lately, he has been delivering awe-inspiring speeches that make you wonder if Nigeria could really afford to let such a technocrat go to waste. I may have my personal differences with some of his policies but overall, would I appoint him to manage my company if I had to pick someone, certainly! It cannot be personal. Has to always be business and there isn't any bigger business than governance. It cannot be personal when there are a hundred and seventy million lives involved. At that point, my personal agitations become minute in the face of greater good. He is also not a Christian; a card some bigots would inadvertently play. Truth be told, he could be Buddhist for all I care. He is a good first step to recovery. It is time we tried something different at the top. President Obama hasn't solved all of America's problems but America has slowly recovered from an economic meltdown and every month, the unemployment index drops. Has racism stopped because he became President, No. BRF may not tick all the boxes but like my brother says, you don't pass an examination by getting every answer correct. You do so by having more right answers than wrong ones.

So, if Mr. Fashola ever decided to run for office in Aso Rock, I'll vote for him in spite of myself. I hope we all do as the 2015 elections roll in. Hope, however small, remains hope. And there should be hope for Nigeria regardless of how bleak it looks. Governance is too serious a business to openly court militants and even fly them on private jets to purchase ammunition for our country. 

I no call anybody name o! 





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