The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) couldn't lay the foundation for a resurgent economy in 16 years, according to Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), Minister of Works and Housing, who claimed this yesterday.
He added that the current administration has made significant contributions to infrastructural development, economic growth, and security. According to him, corruption has also decreased.
At a gathering of the organised private sector in Lagos, Fashola gave a speech. He advised Lagosians to consider their options before casting their votes because the other leading presidential contenders were members of the opposition PDP.
Titan Bank Chairman Tunde Lemo presided over the meeting. The president's senior special assistant for the Sustainable Millennium Development Goals, Joke Orelope-Adefulire, the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and Ben Akabueze, the director-general of the Budget Office of the Federation, were also present.
There were corporate executives, manufacturers, and service providers present at the event. The governor requested strategic input for his economic plan and displayed his scorecard.
Fashola said, “That is the choice before you, do you want to go back to those who didn’t attend to those critical issues? Or do you want to trust those who have started the job?”
“Let us remember the choices that are available to us as we go into the election in the next few days; all of the three other presidential candidates used to be under the umbrella in 2019, even though they have broken up into fragments, which is understandable, but they have one family home.
“It was under their stewardship that the Chief Law officer of Nigeria, the Attorney General, was murdered without consequences. So, if the chief law officer died without consequences, how safe are we? So, those are the choices you have to make.
“Of course in Lagos, the governor has talked about his emergency response and all of the fire service, but this was the first state where you had a 767 emergency helpline in Nigeria. And those are because of security, which is about lives and livelihood. Now, the other points to talk about in respect of security is that, the major problem we met at the federal level was insurgency and terrorism. Over 250 children were kidnapped from a school in Chibok. The government of the day’s attitude was first to deny that it did not happen. I hope you remember. So those are the choices before you.”
Fashola says that when the current government took office, it dealt with the Chibok girls issue. Out of the 276 girls kidnapped, 178 have returned, and about 57 have escaped.
Even though there is still work to be done, the minister said that the choice is between someone who denies the problem and someone who faces it and tries to solve it.
He said, “There are so many other issues but as far as the economy is concerned, we inherited aging, dilapidated and broken infrastructure.”
Fashola said that one of the things the current government has done well is to pay attention to the major roads that connect Lagos to Ibadan, Badagry, and Shagamu. These roads go from Lagos to Ibadan, Badagry, and Ikorodu.
“Those roads have had no attention for 16 years, but they have been attended to in half the time that it took the opposition to ignore them. We hear about production and all of that, but I don’t know any economy that produces without roads, bridges and ports. So, you talked about the LEKKI free zone and the Lekki port; all of those were initiatives started by the APC government in Lagos state for national prosperity.
“The foundations now for a resurgent economy have been laid in eight years. Half of the time, it took the opposition to ignore them. That is the choice before you, do you want to go back to those who didn’t attend to them, or you want to trust those who have started the job?”
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has pledged to maintain the state’s focus on the entertainment and technology industries while increasing investment.
He said that Lagos is a place for entertainment and a centre for technology. He also said that the event would tell the story of Lagos because the APC’s new hope for Nigeria is important when the state is on the rise.
The governor said that his government was serious about its promise to build an integrated public transportation system for cities and that it was also reorganising its health, education, agriculture, and housing sectors.
Sanwo-Olu said Nigeria should stop using a “trial and error” or “experimental” approach. He also said that the state government would keep putting in place policies and programmes that will help businesses do well.
He said that Nigerians can choose a good leader and that the APC candidate is the best choice.
Sanwo-Olu said that Tinubu has an advantage over other candidates because: “You cannot come to the highest leadership position of our country with people that don’t have experience or with people that cannot show who they have trained, or the people that have worked with them or the leaders that they have groomed.
“The four of us are part of the movement where we are groomed and developed, and we still have the energy to double whatever we have done.
“So, we are pleading and appealing to each one of you as stakeholders and people that believe in our leadership that Nigeria cannot be a trial and error. Not now and not at this moment. The renewed hope for Nigerians is tied with ‘Rising Lagos.’ We believe we can make it and bring prosperity to you, the organised private sector, and all the vulnerable people in our society and take our country to an enviable height.
“I need not say much, we believe you will all do the right thing.”
Sanwo-Olu promised his administration would continue to boost the creative industry and invest more in technology and data as part of the THEMES agenda.
He also said that the state would do more to improve the state’s transportation, education, and healthcare systems.
“We intend to give citizens options on the transportation system via rail, water and road. We have built over 1,000 classrooms under my tenure, and there is a remarkable improvement in the West African Examination Council (WAEC) results.
“In healthcare, we handled COVID-19 pandemic well, and we are rebuilding Macy Hospital to become a 10-floor structure and have plans to build an infectious disease research hospital to handle any pandemic situation in the future.”
The governor said again that he was determined to help everyone benefit from development.
“We have several interventions that are deliberately aimed at pushing investments and development in form of education, infrastructure, from Badagry, Epe to other areas of the state.”
At the interactive session, stakeholders said that Lagos is an excellent place to live and that they were looking forward to a state with a road map to help people reach their goals and aspirations.