Tuesday, 16 June 2009 06:41 By FELIX OBOAGWINA


Democratic Peoples’ Alliance (DPA) has accused the Action Congress (AC) government in Lagos State of planning to deceive the public through a recent directive banning some categories of public office holders from talking to the Press.

Declaring the instruction as evidence of unparalleled hypocrisy and condemnable in a statement by its Director of Publicity, Felix Oboagwina, the party said that the order ran at variance with democracy as well as compromising the right of the public to know.


DPA wondered that such a move should emanate from an AC that had always thrown its weight behind the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill currently in the National Assembly, and had loudly condemned the Oath of Secrecy the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lately administered on its staff over the Ekiti rerun elections.

In the words of DPA: “What does the Lagos State Government of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola have to hide? This uncommon step to silence associates can only mean that there are skeletons in the AC government’s lockers it is afraid its operatives will carelessly leak to the public.”

DPA regarded the directive coming at this time as highly suspicious, especially when viewed against the backdrop of the state’s refusal to tell Lagosians:

* How much exactly it pays Alpha-Beta from the IGR,
* How much it was awarding contracts and projects,
* The Governor’s refusal to disclose his pre-office and post-tenure worth,
* The secret selling off of Lagos assets to the Governor’s associates and business partners, and
* The growing disenchantment within the civil service, amongst other things.

Citing AC’s condemnation of Vice President Jonathan Goodluck’s failure to publish his assets when both Fashola hid his under wraps, DPA also said it would not be the first time AC was serving others the pill it refused to administer on itself. Lagos DPA also recalled the ruling party’s endorsement of open-secret voting for national elections when it fought against employing the method in Lagos council polls.

“AC trades in unparalleled hypocrisy,” DPA said. “And this latest directive to its political appointees should be seen in that light. It must be condemned by all and sundry. It remains curious why they know the right thing to do, demand it of others and yet proceed to do just the opposite themselves.”

DPA asked the government to rescind the directive as it stood against public interest, adding that it also attempted to cast a pall on government business which was public business and ought to be done transparently and openly.

In the words of the party: “How will the Press live up to its democratic responsibilities as enshrined in Section 22 of the Constitution, which states: ‘The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this Chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people’?”

Saying that the government must retrace its steps, DPA said gagging public office holders flowed against the grain of the trend worldwide of openness in government business, and warned, “Where information fails to flow, rumour and misinformation fill the gap.”





FELIX OBOAGWINA
Director of Publicity, Lagos DPA
08033327355

You wanna know what he is hiding?:

Digital revolution …Fashola digitalizes Lagos
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
It is no longer a secret that Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has marked out a clear cut agenda to make Lagos one of the mega cities of the world. It became pronounced last week during the second stakeholders forum held at Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, where he highlighted the benefits of his almost concluded digital mapping of the state.




http://odili.net/news/source/2009/jun/16/500.html

Just as the governor had stamped his footprints on every achievable project in the State, he has also deemed it necessary to use Geographic Information System (GIS) to revolutionize the process of data acquisition, processing, storage dissemination as well as use it for digital format in planning and decision-making.

The Lagos State government commenced a comprehensive and accurate digital surveying and mapping of the state that is expected to result in the establishment of enterprise GIS to provide various developmental activities in both the rural areas and other major towns in the state. Though the project is 75 per cent near completion and could be completed in the next couple of months, thus giving the governor a sense of fulfillment.

Purpose and intent

The primary purpose of the project was to produce orthophotos, digital maps and GIS database for the whole state for the implementation of various developmental programmes in rural areas, other major towns and the state capital. It was intended to serve as a veritable tool for orderly development control mechanism for the state.

The project on digital mapping and Geographic Information System (GIS) is meant to support development programmes, such as tourism promotion, industrial development, boundary resolution (inter and intra state), property valuation and revaluation for effective revenue collection, population and housing census operation, planning of urban and rural settlements and transportation, flood and erosion control, mineral development, including bitumen, petroleum, agricultural, and communication planning.

According to Fashola, the vision actually started many years ago and the actualization was a continuation from the past administration.

“What we are doing today, is to mark the beginning of the final step of this project and the successful application of GIS in Lagos can only ensure that government becomes more responsive to the needs of the people for whom it principally exists.

“The optimum usage would determine how efficiently government can evacuate and properly dispose refuse without negatively impacting on the members of the society as well as provide water and power supply in the state. It also means that many architects, surveyors, and other professionals will probably not have to go inside the bush again to go and plot contour marks around instead technology has made things easier. Do you know that the United Nations (UN) will begin and continue to deal with sovereign and sub-sovereigns, the new international legal and environmental order is emerging? Therefore, our responsibility here is to continue to think ahead, to seek knowledge, to position these things, to position our people and to empower our children to be able to courageously deal with the future”, he said.

Digital revolution

The Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dr Kadri Obafemi, in his demonstration revealed that the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) would revolutionize the process of data acquisition, processing, storage dissemination and use of GIS in digital format for planning and decision-making.

He explained that Geospatial information is required and stored mostly in analogue form by various agencies of government thus limiting the use and applications, duplication, lack of accessibility in varying standards and format.

According to him, there is a coordinated storage system for geospatial data commonly used by many agencies. Neither is there any policy for data access, data sharing and exchanges, and data quality, as the project continues, Lagos State is determined to change all these in no term.

He also said that Lagos State government had commenced the Comprehensive Digital Surveying and Mapping of the whole state, which would enable the establishment of Enterprise Geographic Information System (GIS) to provide various development activities in both the rural areas and major towns in Lagos State.

He revealed that science and technology has a significant role to play in the efficient operations of government and in enhancing quality of services to citizens.

Geospatial data is critical to orderly planning and development of Lagos State as well as efficiency of government’s business processes.

“The Ministry of Science and Technology would support the digital mapping and GIS project by providing the data communication capabilities required. Geospatial information is very essential to national development issues such as poverty alleviation, food security, economic planning and natural resources management. Geospatial Information plays a significant role in regional integration and international cooperation”.

Some completed projects

Some of the state of the art hardware and software for digital mapping and GIS, which have been purchased under this project, include double frequency GPS receivers, total stations, digital level and workstations.

Besides, ICT infrastructure like the VSAT has been installed with the following: LNB/BUS, feed from all local points, inter facility link, dish (2.4m), dish support and base, bandwidth (256kps by 512kps bandwidth - expandable).

Others included: Local Area Network (LAN), which has been installed and completed with the data communication cable, power distribution cable and wall outlet (data)

Impact

Some of the stakeholders at the forum hinted that Geospatial Information is very critical to the development of various sectors of the economy. They stressed that in many countries, more than 80 per cent of planning and decision-making are based on Geospatial Information. This lack of interest in mapping has brought the entire country to its present state of not complying with government directives when it comes to the issue of building houses. Invariably, this has led to slums and shanties being erected in most areas of the state.

Hamzat also said that since the current effort at democracy, there has been a few interests to map out for development. However, none of them has been as compressive as that of Lagos State.

Said he: “This is due to efforts of our dynamic Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, as he embarked on digital revolution in the state.”

Beneficiaries

Almost all the stakeholders and IT critics have concluded that there is no gainsaying the fact that Lagosians living in the state or in Diaspora would be beneficiaries of this digital revolution.

In the words of the Governor, mapping had been exhumed. “Professionals and so many others are also interested in mapping for women, and this has been demonstrated here. We will know where your shops are situated, we will know what you need there, we will know what we have not provided enough, and we would be practically able to look after you in the proper science of the world, ”

The email the head of Lagos civil service sent to the workers did not ban them from speaking to the media, i[b]t ban them from speaking on issues that were still under consideration or suggestion by the executive council.[/b] The chief civil servant was saying stories that were still under consideration were released to the public as facts or something the state was going to do. like government will tax churches and mosque instead of pastors and Imams came from the workers who did not have full details of the issue.

Another example was the IPP project that was posted by punch, it was also posted on this website and people were talking about how this was a great project by Lagos blah blah blah, only to find out it was just a suggestion by the executive council.


And why is it not a requirement for people running for office, to release their net worth before they take office or even qualify for election?