*LAGOS STATE 8TH ASSEMBLY: TRUE OR ROGUE LEGISLATURE?*

*BY LAYENI HAKEEM*

The 8th Lagos state house of assembly has become a political playground rather than an institution focusing on its constitutional responsibilities. The 'resume work order' given to the PSP by the speaker of the house is political rather than constitutional. No matter the political grudge between the legislative arm and the executive arm, it shouldn't result into witch hunting the executive. Looking at the Saraki case, Obasa seems to be threading the same path, the witch hunting of the executive might affect the ongoing development in the state. Lagos state which happens to be the country's largest economy hub has been messed up by recent political dilemma in the state. The Lagos state environmental and protection law was passed in 2017 by the same speaker who says he knows nothing concerning visionscape (a private institution saddled with responsibility for waste management in the state), he also passed the 2018 budget which includes the visionscape activities in the state. After studying the environmental law rigorously, it's crystal clear that the speaker's notion on visionscape is far from the truth.
However, if there should be any inefficiencies on the hand of visionscape to execute the task before them diligently and excellently, the house can summon the commissioner of environment in order to resolve this issue and proffer solutions to the environmental brouhaha in the state. Both the PSP and visionscape have been working together recently yet there seem to be no solution to the incessant dump of refuse around the streets of Lagos. I commend the submission of two distinguished honourables in the house, in person of hon. Gbolahan Yishawu and hon. S.O.B Agunbiade but the speaker of the house took the issue personal rather than throwing it to the floor of the house for deliberations. Although the formal performances are seen to be below expectations but scrapping the institution is neither the solution to our dirty environment.
However, the call by some honourable members of the house to reopen the Olusosun dumping site is a slap on our democracy and the people of Lagos. Their thought is against the vision of the state in becoming a smart city, the Olusosun dumping site was shut down by Lagos state government due to the fire outbreak that occurred in the site this year. The fire outbreak was as a result of the explosion tendencies chemical substances generated from waste compounds. The fire outbreak affected the neighborhood of Ojota for about a week, thank God for the quick response of the state fire services.

*PSP AS THE NEW BRIDE:*
The Private sector participation (PSP) has become the new bride in the present day Lagos. This calls for some questions which I need to justify.
1. Can PSP change the face of Lagos?
2. Can it swallow all the mounds of refuse threatening the commercial hub?
3. Can it satisfy the Lagos wants?
These are the questions we need to ask ourselves as concerned lagosians. We should recall that before the advent of visionscape, when PSP started carrying out their activities, they worked cohesively with 'LAWMA', if the Lagos state house of Assembly were to be functional, why can't they clamour to bring back LAWMA rather than fighting for PSP? We all understand that PSP is a private company owned by their benefactors but nevertheless transparency is still needed. Are the honourables there to serve themselves, their benefactor or the people of Lagos who massively voted them to represent their interest in the hallow chamber? These are the questions we need to ask them.

*MY OPINION ON VISION SCAPE, PSP AND LAWMA:*
What the people of Lagos wanted is a cleaner Lagos, the three departments should work together in order to achieve the cleaner Lagos initiative. The Lagos house of assembly committee on environment should invite them all and proffer solutions rather than scrapping one for the other. The house needs to separate politics from governance in order to achieve the Lagos of our dream.

*SECURITY CHALLENGES IN LAGOS STATE:*
Security challenges in Lagos remains precarious. People are still quite cautious about moving freely within the state, even in broad daylight. Rather than a reduction in the scale of killings, murder and other devious crimes, it appears to continue at an alarming/increasing rate. However, security is the primary assignment of any state or local government; the protection of lives and properties. The public security consciousness of any government is ultimately an indicator of its public acceptance. This is because security is one of the major factor that determines good governance and guarantees economic growth and development. Lagos being a cosmopolitan city that rarely goes to sleep, and no doubt has peculiar security challenges. With a population of over 24million out of the country's estimated 180million, security challenges in the state is peculiar and needs to be focused on as a matter of urgency. However, my position on this issue that Lagos state legislators are rogue democrats is due to the fact that they never summoned or invited the Lagos state commissioner of police for questioning or to give reasons as to why Lagos is facing security challenges despite the investments made by the state government in the area of security. The Lagos state 8th house of Assembly need to do the needful in order for the security agencies to curb the insecurity in the state. They need to come up or develop a comprehensive strategy and a home grown solution to the security challenges in the state. What ever they do today will surely be an history tomorrow and posterity shall judge us all.


*ITESIWAJU IPINLE EKO LOJEWA LOGUN........*