LANRE AJIBOYE'S MEDLEY CORNER

Olanrewaju AjiboyeTuesday, January 13, 2015
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HARD TALK FOR AMBODE

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alk is cheap. Blackmail is cheaper in Nigeria than a sachet of pure water.

Whether Ambode is a candidate of Tinubu, or Oba of Lagos or even from somewhere in the remotest part of Ilaje-Ondo is not my cup of tea, the question is that is he qualified to lead a state whose governance has been elevated to excellence? And I dare say yes.

Between Ambode and the candidate of the main opposition in the state, Jimi Agbaje, I chose him. And the reasons are not far fetched. The good saying is that you don't change a winning horse as Lagos is one of the best governed states in Nigeria today with some shortcomings which is the fulcrum of this piece and which shall be dealt with in subsequent paragraphs.

Another reason is that Jimi Agbaje in my estimation, has had two bad outings which has deflated his touted personage;

  1. his main reason why Jonathan should be returned is the fear that the President's kinsmen might blow off the oil wells we all depend on to survive. The three insults from the inference of this slip are;

    1. Insult to the president who is the president of all and not to Ijaw nation alone.

    2. Insult to the Niger Delta people as if they are savage, uncultured, violent, intolerant, unreasonable and unpatriotic. Why should there be violence if a government is approved or disapproved by the majority?

    3. It is a total denigration of all Nigerians as if we are people of no brain, lazy, lacking in dynamism and laid back people who will dry once oil wells dry up.

  2. Jimi Agbaje was the candidate chosen to respond on behalf of other candidates at the presidential rally of his party in Lagos. Instead of him to cash-in on the opportunity to sell the kernel of his program to sophisticated people of Lagos, he went on rabble rousing spree with no substance. Lagosians do not need any 'Baba Go Slow' in a state that has raised governance benchmark to a new height.

Now the hard talks for Ambode.

No doubt Lagos has fared better in the past sixteen years but the state must identify further with the poor and the downtrodden more than they are doing and those are the areas Ambode must work very hard on.

The government of Fashola has provided for both the rich and the poor, good roads, good security but has not done enough in giving the children of the poor qualitative education, has not faired better by the gangster attitude of agencies like KAI, LASTMA and other Task Force Agencies in their daily dealings with Lagosians, and has not done much in giving them affordable health care.

Education:

It took the loss of Ekiti election by Kayode Fayemi for Fashola and APC to realize how an unpopular government policy can hurt a party, or the power of the poor when votes matter. Students and parents cried to high heavens on their disapproval to fee hike in LASU but Fashola acted like a dictator until Ekiti upset gave him clarity.

Though education funding is not cheap but it not an investment a government or a country should demand immediate profit. Again, some people are abusing the functionality in Lagos to the detriments of Lagosians by exploiting the opportunity in LASU.What Lagos ought to have done then is to tie every student's parents or guardian to evidence of tax paying but should not have done outrageous increments in tuition and other fees. Thank goodness, that is history.

Most parents through living below poverty line are not too encouraged to send their children to public schools because of bad environments and non availability of teachers. Things are gradually getting better in this direction too; thanks to Sarah Sosan's efforts as Deputy governor during Fashola's first term. Ambode as governor would therefore need to fashion out ingenious ways of further revamping public schools, though the time is different, to those 'old is gold' days that gave him opportunity from Epe to be who he is today. Tall order you would say? That is why Lagos needs a genius at every turning point.

Heath Care Program:

All general Hospitals have been upgraded but the truth is that they are not commensurate with the population of patients. The wait time is long, and it is somehow expensive. Ambode must find an ingenious way to improve on this. What about floating an insurance company solely for health and encourage Lagosians to subscribe? Thereafter some doctors are called upon to partner with the state in public/private partnership arrangement. Every neighborhood should have a sort of 'Home Doctors'; that is, a clinic proximate to their neighborhood where doctors can attend to ailments of family members for free provided the tax reference of their principal is used to register a family of six including both parents. Any extra member should be added at a fee to be paid to government. Ambode should therefore engage in a social responsibility/ business discussions with drug manufacturers with a view to seeing essential drugs manufactured in bulk at a reasonable rate to be dispensed to patients coupled with the insurance companies arrangements.

Sundry problems:

Under Ambode, agencies like LASTMA, KAI, and to a large extent VIO should cease to be a rampaging organs whose personnel arm twist the already sapped residents and which the government appear to be in tandem with, to generate additional revenues. In place of LASTMA's impoundment of vehicles and charging unrealistic demurrage that usually results in auction of such durance vile.

What Ambode can also intensify efforts on is rural development and integration.

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