2100 Days in Office: Fashola announces commencement of Saturday service in Transportation, Physical Planning, Land Bureau

Cross section of invited guests, traditional rulers, Community leaders, Clerics, party leaders and other stakeholders during the rendering of account of stewardship to commemorate the 2,100 Days in Office of the Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) administration held at the Blue Roof, LTV 8 Complex, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos on Tuesday, February 26, 2013. INSET: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) 2nd right), Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Oluranti Adebule (right), first Civilian Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande (left), his wife, Alhaja Abimbola Jakande (2nd left) and the representative of the Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly and Chairman, House Committee on Information and Strategy, Hon. Segun Olulade (middle). Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Tuesday kept faith with the tradition of his administration by rendering an account of his stewardship to Lagosians on his 2,100 Days in Office during which he announced the commencement of Saturday services in the Ministries of Transportation, Physical Planning and Urban Development and Land Bureau. Governor Fashola, who described the last 2,100 days as a rewarding partnership between the people of Lagos State and his Party, the Action Congress of Nigeria, said while the Ministry of Transportation would deal with issues of drivers’ training, drivers’ license and traffic enforcement, the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development would deal with complaints and queries about building permits and related matters while the Land Bureau would deal with issues relating to land. Explaining that the decision to commence the pilot service was informed by the desire of some Lagosians to access such services if they are made available on Saturdays, Governor Fashola, who said the services would commence from March 3, 2013 also disclosed that the Head of Service has been mandated to publish the full details of how it would work and the scope of work which, according to him, would last from 10 a.m.  to 2 p.m. excluding the last Saturday of every month which  is reserved for Sanitation Day. The 2, 100 days stewardship which was rendered at the LTV Multi-purpose Blue Roof Hall, on Lateef Jakande Road, Agidingbi, marked the 21st hundred days during which the Governor has  consistently kept the campaign promise he made to Lagosians in 2007 to brief them every hundred days on the activities of his administration. In his keynote address before a capacity audience consisting of top government functionaries, captains of industry, clerics and traditional rulers as well as party chieftains, Governor Fashola said from all indications, especially as shown by the budget performances over the years, the economy of Lagos was on the upbeat while the State was also gaining both in financial stability, integrity and investor confidence. Recalling his promise on the occasion of the 2,000 Days in office to improve on the performance of the 2012 Budget, Governor Fashola expressed joy that the performance of the Budget improved tremendously in the fourth quarter resulting in overall performance of 89 percent for the year, a feat which he attributed to the success of the State’s Bond Issuance programme for N80 billion which, according to him, was fully subscribed. “This is eloquent testimony not only of the growing economy of Lagos but of its financial stability, its integrity and investor confidence in the ability of the Action Congress controlled government”, the Governor said adding, “The consequence of that was the increase in performance of the 4th Quarter budget which resulted in an overall budget performance of 89 percent for the whole year”. On the output and impact of the 2012 Budget, Governor Fashola cited the completion of Ibeshe Road in Ikorodu, the Mother and Child Care Centres in Amuwo-Odofin and Alimosho, the completed School of Nursing as well as the progressing road projects from Mile-12 to Ikorodu, Yaya Abatan/College Road, Okota-Ago Palace Way, Ejigbo Ajao Link Bridge and road networks. Others, according to him, include Education infrastructure in the Lagos State Polytechnics in Ikorodu comprising of a new access road, a sports complex and a School of Technology  “the complete makeover” going on in the State’s University (LASU). “Some of the good news coming out of that school in the last one hundred days in addition to the satisfactory progression of infrastructure work, are that it is now listed as one of the top 10 institutions in Law studies in Nigeria by the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and it is the only University so listed and it recently graduated 11,362 students and the certificates of all graduands were ready and signed on graduation day”, the Governor said. Also noting that the impact of the 2012 Budget was multi-sectoral, Governor Fashola also cited the last National Sports Festival, tagged Eko 2012, and thanked Lagosians for the successful hosting of the tournament in the State adding, “By many standards and the assessment of our guests, we put up a spectacle that will be remembered for a while to come because as is now customary in this State, we simply raised the bar”. He said remarkable progress was also being made in housing construction sites in Agbowa, Igbogbo, Sangotedo, Mushin, Ogba, Surulere, Magodo and Igando adding that government has also given approval in year 2012 for preliminary work to start at the housing schemes for 540 units of housing in Ajara in Badagry and 1,000 units of housing in Badia in Ijora where the main work will start this year. Throwing more light on the Ijora Scheme particularly, Governor Fashola declared, “Our intervention is a strategic one to upgrade the quality of life there. It is about a kilometre to the Orile and Costain train stations and we intend to accommodate the present occupiers in the new units in addition to other people who will desire to live there”. In the Justice Sector, the Governor said progress was being made towards the completion of the High Court and Magistrates Court projects in Badagry, Epe, Ikorodu and Ikeja adding that most of them would be completed and put to use this year. He said the tracks for the first seven kilometres section of the Blue Line Light Rail project from the National Theatre to Mile 2 were already being laid and would hopefully be completed in the middle of this year as promised by him, although, according to him, “There remains a lot of work to be done in getting the project beyond Mile 2 to Okokomaiko and beyond National Theatre to Marina”.  He, however, added, “The signs of continuing work are visible and we are satisfied with the progress being made”. Governor Fashola also reported that apart from the road construction that is progressing across the State, jetties for water transportation are being completed in various places in the State pointing out that work on the Mile 2 Jetty is virtually completed while full services should be restored soon. Other jetties where work is nearing completion, the Governor said, include the Osborne Jetty where, according to him, work is progressing satisfactorily, and the Badore Terminal which should be handed over by April this year. On Traffic Law, the Governor said it has recorded increased acceptability and compliance adding that recent reports have shown that it has also delivered on its objective of safety of lives. “In the area of Drivers’ vision which my last report showed that 10 percent of drivers reporting to the institute had bad vision, we have been able to reduce the number through corrective measures like provision of eye glasses”, the Governor said, expressing delight that there has been a significant reduction in road traffic fines. Also expressing joy that streets are becoming safer as a result of the traffic law with children now riding bicycles again and running with Skate boards as in the olden days, Governor Fashola however declared, “These are welcome signs. I urge them to be safety conscious and wear reflective vests that make them visible to other road users and keep the roller skates off the highways and to ride the bicycles along the proper routes”. According to the Governor, “In August before the Traffic law was implemented, 646 motorcycle accidents were reported from all the hospitals. By September 2012 when the enforcement started, the number of accidents reduced to 525 cases for that month, there was further reduction to 362 in October and 222 for November. We recorded an increase to 243 in December and a significant reduction to 140 in January 2013”. He said while reported death cases in August 2012 was 12, September recorded 8, October 5, November 8, December 2 and January 2013  zero. “I am happy to and proud to be the head of a Government that reduced road traffic accidents on motorcycles from 646 a month to 140 a month and a Government that reduced deaths from 12 incidents in August 2012 fo zero in January 2013”, he said. Governor Fashola also took a swipe at his political opponents ho have accused his administration of reporting fraudulent performance saying they were obviously embarrassed by the performance as because of the way it exposed the inefficiecncy of the Central Government which they manage. “No State Government in the country and certainly not their government at the centre which their party manages have paid such diligent attention to the presentation of budgets and also submission of its yearly report of implementation”, the Governor said adding that Nigerians would like to know how over N2 Trillion of the Nation’s budget of about N4 Trillion in 2011 ended being enmeshed in fraud. Pointing out that his administration does not need a good governance tour to showcase its achievements, Governor Fashola declared, “Completed projects such as the Ibeshe Road in Ikorodu, the Mother and Child Care Centres in Amuwo-Odofin and Alimosho, the completed School of Nursing are examples of Good Governance”. Noting that despite repeated enlightenment and warnings at the onset of the dry weather Season, many during the period under review did not take the advice to heart to play their role , thus leading to high rates of fire incidents, Governor Fashola renewed appeal to avoid preventable fire incidents. The Governor also appealed to traders and businessmen as well as market men and women to embrace the culture of insuring their goods, shops and warehouses against unforeseen mishaps promising that Government would continue to publish safety tips to improve public safety and general security in the State. On flooding and the need to prepare for the coming Rainy Season, Governor Fashola declared, “We will see flash flooding which is usual when the rainfall is heavy; but in most cases, the water will drain within a few hours and certainly in less than one full day”. In the question and answer session the Governor explained that contrary to the insinuations by the opposition that former United States president, Bill Clinton, was invited by the State Government for the dedication of the five million square metres of reclaimed land for the Eko Atlantic City project, the former President who is also founder of the Clinton Global Climate Initiative, came to see the project which his Initiative gave an award in 2009. Earlier in his welcome address, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, described the 100 days rendering of stewardship as “not only a vivid reflection of the commitment of our administration to give regular account of stewardship as promised, it is also a confirmation that this government recognizes the expectations of the good people of Lagos in the governance of their State and is always ready to address them”. Also present at the occasion were Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Oluranti Adebule, Head of Service, Prince Adesegun Ogunlewe, Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, among other members of the State Executive Council, Speaker of the House of Assembly, Right Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji who was represented by the Chairman House Committee on Information and Strategy, Hon. Segun Ololade,  first Military Governor of the State, Brigadier General Mobolaji Johnson and his Civilian counterpart, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, Party chieftains   Religious and Traditional rulers as well as market men and women.