13 Dec 2014

Right of reply

Kunle Bamgbose

It’s curious how the roads in places you haven’t visited for long often seem smaller than they once had been. This was the pervading feeling as I drove through Boundary Road, the eternally gridlocked terminus that signals your entry into Ajegunle, that densely populated suburb in Lagos which is as much a symbol of resilience in despair as it is of government negligence.

Of course, the roads haven’t shrunk suddenly; they have only been narrowed down by traders who display their wares on both flanks and pedestrians whose large numbers almost totally obscure whatever view of the road a driver might have had.

So on this sweltering Saturday afternoon, as I meandered through the narrow roads avoiding traders, pedestrians and potholes that seemed more like craters, I couldn’t help but recall a piece I read in THISDAY written by Shaka Momodu published on November 8, 2014. The piece entitled Fashola’s Eight Years; My Take Away was a brilliant highlight of the ironic picture of Lagos that emerges when viewed against the backdrop of the immense resources which have been available to the state’s helmsman. I had eagerly looked forward to the promised sequel to the essay in reference, but not seeing one and sensing that the writer might be too preoccupied dealing with the deluge of hate mails his frank assessment must have drawn from those pretending not to glimpse the rot beneath the sepulcher’s luster, I decided to write in to keep the debate about the true state of affairs in Lagos alive.

Indeed, Ajegunle starkly typifies the paradoxical situation in Lagos. It is contiguous to Apapa, the Lagos settlement that is home to two of Nigeria’s major sea ports, but seems more or less like the poor distant cousin when the state of infrastructure and living conditions in both neighbourhoods are compared. There is, in fact, a similar contrasting scenario in numerous other locations across Lagos, especially with regard to inner city roads which mostly sit incongruously - albeit away from public view - beside the splash and glitter of highbrow streets on which huge but often unspecified sums have been spent to upgrade.

Of course, the philosophy behind this development model is not difficult to deduce: the Lagos State government is obsessed with humongous projects that earn more accolades because they are mostly seen by the public but which, in actual terms, hardly add any significant value to the lives of a majority. It’s not a surprise then it was such projects that Governor Fashola’s spokesman, Hakeem Bello, cited in his response to Mr. Momodu’s essay as evidence of his boss’s “pragmatic leadership.” “... There is also the Eko Atlantic City,” he wrote, “a promising business and tourism district rising out of the Atlantic Ocean which will certainly make the skylines of Lagos comparable to, if not surpass, the most modern cities of the world...”

But the more enduring indicators of growth or governance are neither determined by the skyscrapers that dot a city’s skyline nor the number of “foreign trade delegations and investors flooding the state daily to seek partnerships and investment opportunities” (in the words of Mr. Bello); it’s as much a function of how well a government has been able to cater to the needs of its most vulnerable; how committed it has been towards the upgrade of slum settlements. On these scores, the performance would be anything but commendable. I understand how unflattering verdicts such as this and Mr. Momodu’s would make a politician’s publicist seethe with rage. But I don’t imagine that anyone who lives in Ajegunle with its complex of dirt roads, overcrowded tenements, open drains and sewage that seeps onto the streets as I had witnessed would describe Fashola in the sort of glowing terms that Mr. Bello had deployed.
The picture of neglect is evident not just in Ajegunle, such depressing tales exist as well in Makoko and Ijora Badia where the state’s idea of slum renewal begins and ends with demolition of residents’ homes. Even in the so-called highbrow areas of the state, the government’s performance with regard to the provision of basic necessities like water is pathetic. Each day on Lagos streets we see the evidence of this failure in the several water vendors struggling for space with vehicles as they haul their carts strewn with jerry cans. This is in a city that recently celebrated the completion of a suspension bridge! What else but grandstanding would make a government commit a staggering amount of money to the construction of a suspension bridge whose intended goal of decongesting the Lekki axis traffic can only be spoken of in marginal terms with regard to result?

No matter the embellishing spin, the opportunity costs can only be grim: the many public schools whose dilapidation was captured in such graphic detail in Mr. Momodu’s essay; the hundreds of thousands who work in Lagos and pay their taxes diligently but yet can ill afford the crazily-priced homes the state promotes as mass housing projects; and the poorly-equipped general hospitals and health centres whose unmotivated personnel and largely unkempt environment are further highlights of the decadence tucked away beneath the glitzy exterior of Fashola’s Lagos.

Isn’t it ironic that the most impressive feats in low cost housing and mass literacy campaign ever attained in Lagos occurred at an era when resources available to states were not the robust figures that they are today. I’m sure that anyone familiar with the socio-political history of Lagos would know I’m referring to the late ‘70s and early ‘80s when the revered former governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande sensibly deployed the modest allocation from the federal purse to record the many accomplishments that pale Fashola’s development scorecard. I can imagine the retort from the Fashola camp: the Naira was almost at par with the Dollar then. That’s incontestable. Yet, the roughly four trillion Naira that has accrued to the state (both via statutory allocation and revenue generated by the state) in the period that Fashola has been governor remains a substantial sum despite inflation.
The governor’s spokesman in his response tried to put a spin on the inexcusable neglect of hundreds of communities whose squalid conditions constitute an embarrassing blight on the mega city. “Road construction and rehabilitation began with the highways and major roads leading to Central Lagos and other Business Districts of the state where majority of Lagos residents work and earn their living... He promised to concentrate on inner city roads during his second term. Now there are over 9,000 roads in this city with inner city roads constituting over 80 percent.”

Surely, he must have been referring to another city because the only semblance of road constructions I see are frenzied attempts by masons apparently hurriedly assembled to create the impression that roads are being fixed. Like all half-hearted measures, the motive is quite easy to discern - elections are just a few months away and there has to be some token gesture to remind the electorate that the government responds to exigencies. Sadly, such ploy may work again. But, even more tragic is the fact that the brunt won’t be borne only by those guilty of such indiscretion; it would be borne by all Lagosians and everyone who has made this city their home.

Why not? Didn’t we all sit and watch helplessly as the state’s future is gobbled up by the negative consequences of the governor’s obsession for loans?

Agreed, debts are not inherently bad, but it’s not responsible economics when the ratio to the borrowing entity’s GDP is quite disproportionate as is the case with Lagos. I hope Mr. Bello who glibly announced in his right of reply that “every progressive government borrows” should understand this basic economic lesson and, of course, pass it on to his boss.

- Bamgbose writes from Lagos.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/still-on-fashola-s-lagos-a-reappraisal/196543/

Alphaoscar:
Your state is on the verge of collapsing and you are giving yourself headache over Lagos .

ba7man:
The op is dead on this forum but someone forgot to close the casket.

That's what's stinking on this thread.