[size=14pt]Lagos 2010 Budget Records 80% Perfomance In Second Quarter[/size]
…As Fashola appeals for understanding on fall-outs from rainy season

Jul 9, 2010 - Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Friday took a retrospective look at the performance of the 2010 State Budget in the second quarter of the year, reporting that it has recorded a performance of 80 percent.

According to Governor Fashola who spoke to journalists during a coffee break at a Joint Retreat of the Lagos State Executive Council and Body of Permanent Secretaries which is holding at the Golden Tulip Hotel, Amuwo-Odofin, the performance is an improvement from the first quarter performance of 49 percent which was largely due to the fact that the appropriation was delayed.

He added: "We will continue to task ourselves to even do better by dedicating ourselves. We expect that if the revenue continues to perform, we will continue to use it to deliver services that will meet the hope and expectations of our people".

[size=14pt]Governor Fashola who also addressed the state of the roads in Lagos said the present administration in the last three years has built more roads than even a whole country like Ghana has done.

While promising that more would be built, the Governor stressed the need for the existing roads to be maintained adding that they have a lifespan which must be adhered to.[/size]

He explained that some are billed to last between 15, 20 and 25 years, while some are feeder roads which are built on lower specifications and would need regular rehabilitation and maintenance.

He recalled that from the last quarter of last year till April this year, the State Government carried out a lot of road repairs, patching and maintenance which the people did not complain about.

Said he: "In this period of increased rainfall, we want to say it once again that we are a coastal state which is very close to water and there is not much the State Government can do until the rains are over".

"We have to stabilize and be prepared that immediately after the rains we will intervene. That is why LASTMA men are there to help making the roads motorable. Even the process of producing bitumen is not sustainable in this wet weather".

"There was a bad winter in Europe . Immediately after it almost all the roads are bad. They are now just fixing them".

The Governor appealed to the media to help in sharing information with the people on the need to understand that this is a period of the rains which is not peculiar or unique to Lagos .

He said it could only be left to the imagination what would have happened if Lagos goes without rains for eight months, adding that the people will not only complain but would also face the prospect a dwindling source of water supply.

The Lagos State helmsman explained that in dry season, there is prevalence of fire and heat, just as during the wet season, the water level will rise and sometimes resulting in flooding.

While sympathizing with the people for the discomfort they are currently facing as a result of the heavy rains, Governor Fashola said flooding occur when there is tidal lock which should be located as being part of the problems of the area the people chose to live in.

"You chose to live close to water. Those who chose to live in cold regions also live with the discomfort that snow and winter brings when they cannot go out or travel. It is only three months. The rains will subside and we will have our lives back", the Governor emphasized.

On the issue of flooding which has been reported in some areas in the State despite measures put in place, Governor Fashola reiterated that one of the recent laws he has just assented to is the law on physical planning which would have huge impact on whether an area is flood prone or not and how it can be quickly drained.

He said in places where the people have violated the State master plan, the incidence of flooding would be more severe than in places where there is orderly planning and drainage channels.

Even in places without plans, we are intervening in collaboration with the World Bank through the Lagos Municipal Government Development Project (LMDGP) which is building drains and clearing refuse in blighted areas.

The Governor described the rainy season as a good season for farmers and fishermen who would not complain about this period, adding that the rainy season represents a discomfort in the metropolis but a blessing in the rural areas.

According to Governor Fashola: "We also have a Port in Lagos which we make profits from, but this comes with a cost. Lagos is two metres above the sea level and despite all the drainages that we have done, once the water level is higher than the drains, we will have the problem of floods. We have to be patient with nature to do its work".

In his words: "We should be thankful to God that no casualty or devastation has happened as we are seeing across the world. 19 people died in France last week from floods. Government continues to rise to those challenges, those bad areas in Gbagada, Idi-Araba, ilasamaja we have conquered the flood problems in those areas and implemented solutions and we will continue to do our level best."

Also speaking with reporters, the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Ben Akabueze said the State has done very well generally in terms of performance but is not fully on its target yet just as it has also done well with other sources of funding.

He explained that during the second quarter, the State took great advantage of the dry season to step on its project execution, adding that this explains why its capital expenditure on performance grew and covered whatever shortfall it had in the first quarter.

He appealed to Lagosians to continue to keep faith with their own side of the social contract because the budget is designed to work for them. He emphasized that the present administration not only challenges itself to put in place proper framework for accounting for how much is spent on a particular road but also goes out to measure benefits in terms of health condition and economic impact of such projects to the citizenry.

He informed that Government would soon put out a very simplified version of the budget which would be known as the Citizens Budget towards using very simple language to let the average citizen know what to expect from the budget.

In terms of how helpful the State Government has been towards the Local Governments in delivering infrastructure, Mr Akabueze said the State has been collaborating fully with the Local Governments in delivering infrastructure.

He emphasized that the State is never bothered about what should be the primary responsibility of Local Governments as it has for example taken on the responsibility of managing waste which should ordinarily be the responsibility of the councils.

Mr Akabueze said the combined capacity of the State and Local Governments may not be enough to cater for the provision of infrastructure for the populace necessitating the call for the Federal Government to devolve more of the nation's revenue to the States and Local Government.

http://www.tundefashola.com/archives/news/2010/07/09/20100709N01.html

@@@@@@@@@@

and how many of those roads is solidly done?/

it only shows how much bad roads you got in Lagos 

Whao! 80% is a good mark. Lagos is definitely doing great.

And yes of course Lagos should build more roads than Ghana. It's economy is larger than Ghana's.

HAHahaHAHahaHAHAH!!

paddy, you're killin me with this one.
the people on this site are slow and need to see this as well when they come with this their ghana talk

paddy_lo:



Easy for u to say. . but just note that your average clueless Nairalander doesn't know that

lol. . .so true. . .and a big shame. . .Nairalanders love to Ignore any good news from nigeria

thats why i like SSC, but im ban for life from there i guess lol!

What is SSC and OASIS?

Ghana's population is around 20 million divided in different while Lagos is also that populated but centralised in one place.
Lagos in effect needs more infastructure to cope with the teeming population.

Budget performance of 80% - What does this mean in practice, that 80% of the money has been spent / chopped or that 80% of the projects are complete.

What is the point of reeling out this utterly useless piece of information?

Lagos has a huge budget of N440 billion for this year, the largest of any state in the country. We need to see qualitative information not all this talk of percentages and sorry attempts to insult other nations.

Let see the numbers.Lagos stats vs Ghana stats!! "Men lie, Women lie, numbers dont".
How did the governor reach this conclusion? Could someone show me Ghana's national budget?

Why must Nigeria try to compete with Ghana?

In Ghana, all parts of the country are improving. Even their NORTH! But in Nigeria, are we only worried about Lagos? I could care less about Lagos.

Improve Enugu, Kano, Port Harcourt and Benin City and I shall be happy!

EzeUche:

Why must Nigeria try to compete with Ghana?

In Ghana, all parts of the country are improving. Even their NORTH! But in Nigeria, are we only worried about Lagos? I could care less about Lagos.

Improve Enugu, Kano, Port Harcourt and Benin City and I shall be happy!

Is their north a demographic mirror of Nigeria's north?

When those state governors in the east (or north) achieve an 80% budget performance, we'll post it here and make you happy.

Paddy shouldn't even bother opening threads here.

Ikengawo:

thats why i like SSC, but im ban for life from there i guess lol!

Oh yeah I noticed you were missing. Why did u get banned?

Sammy107_d:

Is their north a demographic mirror of Nigeria's north?

When those state governors in the east (or north) achieve an 80% budget performance, we'll post it here and make you happy.

Their North is predominately Muslim, including some Hausa, but the majority of the North is other Muslim groups.

In addition, when the west, especially Lagos becomes self-sufficient without using the oil revenue from the East, then you should boast about this. Until then, Lagos is not the most important nerve in this country, it is the entire Niger Delta. Lagos would not be what it is today, without Niger Deltan oil.

EzeUche:


Their North is predominately Muslim, including some Hausa, but the majority of the North is other Muslim groups.

In addition, when the west, especially Lagos becomes self-sufficient without using the oil revenue from the East, then you should boast about this. Until then, Lagos is not the most important nerve in this country, it is the entire Niger Delta. Lagos would not be what it is today, without Niger Deltan oil.

Opinion and stipulation. No state in Nigeria would be what it is without Niger Delta's oil, Kano's groundnuts, or whatever resources Nigeria has. Lagos does not have any special treatment from the FG. It's position today is the result of its historical status as an industrial and financial hub, and brilliant state governors as well. Rivers has all it takes to be a Lagos (with special FG treatment).

Sammy107_d:

Opinion and stipulation. No state in Nigeria would be what it is without Niger Delta's oil, Kano's groundnuts, or whatever resources Nigeria has. Lagos does not have any special treatment from the FG. It's position today is the result of its historical status as an industrial and financial hub, and brilliant state governors as well. Rivers has all it takes to be a Lagos (with special FG treatment).

When people spew this rubbish, I have to laugh. Niger Delta oil is the lifeline of Nigeria. When a nation is dependent on ONE resource, then it is bound to fail. Lagos would be no where without oil. If the Niger Delta did not have share its oil revenue, the East in general would be likened to Kuwait. However, we have to share our natural resources to parasites that contribute nothing to the national pot. Lagos has been run by brilliant state governors. ONLY one governor is worth mentioning. The rest was crap and they allowed the city to grow uncontrollably. Frankly, I don't see what is so special about Lagos besides the amount of people in that city. Sooner or later Lagos is going to have to prepare for the rising sea levels.

EzeUche:

When people spew this rubbish, I have to laugh. Niger Delta oil is the lifeline of Nigeria. When a nation is dependent on ONE resource, then it is bound to fail. Lagos would be no where without oil. If the Niger Delta did not have share its oil revenue, the East in general would be likened to Kuwait. However, we have to share our natural resources to parasites that contribute nothing to the national pot. Lagos has been run by brilliant state governors. ONLY one governor is worth mentioning. The rest was crap and they allowed the city to grow uncontrollably. Frankly, I don't see what is so special about Lagos besides the amount of people in that city. Sooner or later Lagos is going to have to prepare for the rising sea levels.

You must be naive to think that Lagos' infrastructure for the last two decades has been financed by the federal government's revenue from oil, which is allocated to all states. Of course its historical development is rooted in the fact that it is a former capital--the seat of the federal government--and the same can be observed of Abuja today (or any capital of the world). In the contemporary sense however, Lagos' development has been driven by its population, industries, location etc. Recently, its budget have been mostly financed by IGR through more efficient tax collection systems, PPP, and access to long term financing in bonds.

Your idea that the eastern states have been "sharing" its resources, and in the process depriving itself of the kuwait style development it would have achieved is juvenile. The east would be exactly what it is today if its revenue was tripled retrospectively because of the terrible state governments and the more cancerous federal government.

" For the umpteenth time, Akwa Ibom and Rivers have continued to top the list of states receiving highest revenue allocation from the federation account.

Out of the sum of N313 billion shared among the three tiers of government in July, Akwa Ibom was again the highest recipient of N10.80 billion, followed by Rivers State with N10.34 billion.

Lagos State got the third largest allocation of N9.118 billion, followed by Delta State with N9 billion.

Kano State received N6.2 billion.

The former oil-producing Cross River State received N2.8 billion.

The lowest recipients in July included Gombe, N2.8 billion; Ekiti, N2.8 billion; Nasarawa, N2.7 billion; and Ebonyi, N2.7 billion.

When people spew this rubbish, I have to laugh. Niger Delta oil is the lifeline of Nigeria. When a nation is dependent on ONE resource, then it is bound to fail. Lagos would be no where without oil. If the Niger Delta did not have share its oil revenue, the East in general would be likened to Kuwait. However, we have to share our natural resources to parasites that contribute nothing to the national pot. Lagos has been run by brilliant state governors. ONLY one governor is worth mentioning. The rest was crap and they allowed the city to grow uncontrollably. Frankly, I don't see what is so special about Lagos besides the amount of people in that city. Sooner or later Lagos is going to have to prepare for the rising sea levels.

Lagos has been the largest and most wealthy city in all of west africa prior to oil, and was a metropolis at the time of independence, when there was no oil.


oil has little to nothing to do with the lagos economy dude.

Ikengawo:


Lagos has been the largest and most wealthy city in all of west africa prior to oil, and was a metropolis at the time of independence, when there was no oil.


oil has little to nothing to do with the lagos economy dude.

Lagos was initially set up as a federal capital teritory, similar to Abuja today, It was initially meant to be a place for all but this was hijacked and it was turned to a state, there is no denying that lagos is in its present position because of the long presence of the federal govt there, not because of better leadership from Lagos governors, major infrastuctural work and expansions in lagos took place during Gowons oil boom era and truely the foundations of lagos have it roots in huge population draw from over concentration of fgn and oil economy.

Fashola is trying, but so r other state govts likt rotimi and donald duke, but the take off point for fashola is far higher than other governors,

Please don't bring up the issue of allocation because the pdp governors in the ND are not accountable to the nigerdelta people, they r accountabe to the FGN, You saw how OBj spent money from Odili and Ibori whiles pretending to care for ND,

Right now the contribution of lagos to the national economy is actually no where to be seen, despite all the oil money spent there over the years, instead they are grabbibg what should be meant for other states,

This is not the way things are done,
In uk for instance, London is capital and financial hub, aberdeen is oild hub, new castle is industrial hub and so on, deveelopment is spread,

In nigeria lagos is made to be hub of everything, aba and onitsha traders now have to come tru lagos, lagos is oil hub, telecoms hub, industrial hub, banking hub so y won't the population grow out of propotion, there is nothing else to do elsewhere,

DaLover:

Lagos was initially set up as a federal capital teritory, similar to Abuja today, It was initially meant to be a place for all but this was hijacked and it was turned to a state, there is no denying that lagos is in its present position because of the long presence of the federal govt there, not because of better leadership from Lagos governors, major infrastuctural work and expansions in lagos took place during Gowons oil boom era and truely the foundations of lagos have it roots in huge population draw from over concentration of fgn and oil economy.

Fashola is trying, but so r other state govts likt rotimi and donald duke, but the take off point for fashola is far higher than other governors,

Please don't bring up the issue of allocation because the pdp governors in the ND are not accountable to the nigerdelta people, they r accountabe to the FGN, You saw how OBj spent money from Odili and Ibori whiles pretending to care for ND,

Right now the contribution of lagos to the national economy is actually no where to be seen, despite all the oil money spent there over the years, instead they are grabbibg what should be meant for other states,

This is not the way things are done,
In uk for instance, London is capital and financial hub, aberdeen is oild hub, new castle is industrial hub and so on, development is spread,

In nigeria lagos is made to be hub of everything, aba and onitsha traders now have to come tru lagos, lagos is oil hub, telecoms hub, industrial hub, banking hub so y won't the population grow out of propotion, there is nothing else to do elsewhere,

Of course, Lagos contributes nothing to the FG except the bulk of non-oil revenues. If only you read the monthly publications of revenue allocation, then you would notice Lagos gets the bulk of its statutory allocation from its higher share of non-oil revenues.

Let our other governors take the bull by the horn and reduce the need for everyone to relocate to Lagos, then maybe you'd feel the impact of the money more. After all, we all go back to register in our home states and Lagos gets budgeted in our lopsided federation based on less than 50% of its residents(not citizens).

EKO FOR SHOW. . .(Pardon me i just like this pic)


courtesy studio flow

Lagos was initially set up as a federal capital teritory, similar to Abuja today, It was initially meant to be a place for all but this was hijacked and it was turned to a state, there is no denying that lagos is in its present position because of the long presence of the federal govt there, not because of better leadership from Lagos governors, major infrastuctural work and expansions in lagos took place during Gowons oil boom era and truely the foundations of lagos have it roots in huge population draw from over concentration of fgn and oil economy.

Fashola is trying, but so r other state govts likt rotimi and donald duke, but the take off point for fashola is far higher than other governors,

Please don't bring up the issue of allocation because the pdp governors in the ND are not accountable to the nigerdelta people, they r accountabe to the FGN, You saw how OBj spent money from Odili and Ibori whiles pretending to care for ND,

Right now the contribution of lagos to the national economy is actually no where to be seen, despite all the oil money spent there over the years, instead they are grabbibg what should be meant for other states,

This is not the way things are done,
In uk for instance, London is capital and financial hub, aberdeen is oild hub, new castle is industrial hub and so on, deveelopment is spread,

In nigeria lagos is made to be hub of everything, aba and onitsha traders now have to come tru lagos, lagos is oil hub, telecoms hub, industrial hub, banking hub so y won't the population grow out of propotion, there is nothing else to do elsewhere,

lagos would have shined with or with out oil which hasn't done much for lagos.

oil is mainly exported from port, 'everything else' is lagos.
lagos was big in the 1800s even, before the federal government existed. Why is it hard to believe a city can be big without oil? what oil made New York?

I just don't understand the reasoning,
A place that host the countries main international airport
-main sea ports
-once hosted all the ministries-
-All headquaters of all parastatals
-All headquaters of all private companies
-had the higesst concentraction of federal govt roads etc etc to mention just a few,

If you trun Abuja into a state ask Rotimi to rule it, I'm sure he will be rated far higher than say governor of Bayelsa State!!
Y reason like this?
.

dat means Ghana is still "undeveloped" if lagos has built more roads than them cos there are still many parts of lagos,that are still 2 be touched. . .