Seriously. Things just got worse in Lagos.
What is Ambode doing?

Recently, the government at the federal level and many states of the federation marked100 days in office. A tradition that is largely supposed to give a clear blueprint they intend to fully
implement in the course of the next (almost) four
years in office. While the average Nigerian can be
said to be upbeat about definite strides at the
federal level especially in areas such as power
generation, in the oil sector, and the fight against
corruption, the same cannot be said of
developments in Lagos State under the leadership
of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode. Under him,
instead of Eko oni baje, it is obvious Lagos is
speedily retrogressing.

Even though many may argue it is still early days
yet, and it may appear to be too early judge, by
now Lagosians ought to have begun to feel the
impact of a new administration. A Wolof proverb
says, “A dish which is going to be tasty will smell
good when it boils.” Usually, one can forecast the
shape of things to come judging by the present.
To submit that the Ambode-led government’s
performance has been lacklustre after his first
few weeks of assuming office would be no
gainsaying. In the past couple of months, the
governor seems to have been overwhelmed by the
huge task of running a complex state like Lagos.
Nowadays, Lagos feels like it is running on
autopilot. For one who was peddled as a
seasoned civil servant with cognate experience in
administration and a consummate mastery of the
inner workings of the state, having been a part of
the work force for almost three decades before
taking a bow, one would expect that Ambode
would hit the ground running and not appear to
be testing the waters like a neophyte.
The governor was elected mainly because he rode
on the performance of the immediate past
governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, who
was the poster boy of the All Progressives
Congress up until recently when he was
enmeshed in controversies involving alleged
financial impropriety while he was governor. So
far, there has been no clear direction or landmark
achievement one can attribute to the Ambode
government.

Yes, the governor has projected himself as an
empathetic man with a large heart judging by his
response to some individual’s plight — the case
of Ruth Uche, the mother of three sets of twins
who was abandoned by her husband, readily
comes to mind, as well as the New Year baby
with a heart disease whom the governor assisted
with the required surgery in India as soon as he
assumed office. It must be said unequivocally
that these gestures are laudable, but Ambode
needs to do more by formulating and
implementing policies that will positively impact
the lives of almost 20 million Lagosians and not
just one or two people.
By this time in the last administration, Fashola
had constructed a pedestrian bridge, purchased a
100 BRT buses to ease transport in the
metropolis, completed the second phase of the
Adetokunbo Ademola Road in Victoria Island, and
commenced the dredging and rechannelling of
drainage to ease water transport among other
achievements, a sharp contrast to the donation of
security vehicles and signing of Certificates of
Occupancy that is the present administration’s
legacy after 100 days.

Also, in a recent study tagged CIAPS Governors
Performance Index conducted by the Lagos-based
Centre for International Advanced and
Professional Studies to assess the performance
of governors in Nigeria after 100 days based on
variables such as readiness for office, innovation
in office, ability to be in tune with the mood of
the nation and security and leadership by
example, Ambode came ninth with a 50 per cent
pass mark compared to his colleagues in Kaduna,
Kano, Sokoto and Rivers states who were ranked
first, second and third respectively, thus lending
credence to the observation that he has
performed barely averagely since taking over the
mantle of leadership. Coming ninth out of 36 can
be argued as not being poor until one remembers
that Ambode runs a state that is the commercial
nerve centre of Nigeria and would have been the
fifth largest economy in Africa if it were a
country.

Anyone resident in Lagos and is a regular
commuter on the roads would have observed the
apparent return of lawlessness across the state.
The ubiquitous motorcycle riders are fully back on
many highways where they had been banned, and
operatives of the Lagos State Traffic
Management Agency seem to be suddenly
clueless about how to effectively control traffic on
the roads. Thugs are back and more brazen than
ever before in Oshodi and some other suburbs of
the metropolis where they engage in acts of
criminality, terrorise the people, damage vehicles
and rob hapless motorists on a daily basis. Many
roads are in a deplorable state, with potholes that
have metamorphosed into craters on many roads.
It seems hardly a day goes by without reports of
one fallen container or the other, yet, the
restriction on the movement of trailers and other
articulated vehicles is only being partially obeyed
as if to dare the government of the day! In a
nutshell, Lagos seems to be going back to the
pre-Fashola days of lawlessness and impunity.
Those who doubted Ambode’s capability to
govern a state like Lagos are beginning to have
their fears confirmed. Indeed, many believed he
didn’t just cut the picture of the kind of leader
that Lagos needed. The fact that he was
practically foisted on the members of the APC by
a godfather didn’t help matters also, as he was
shielded from going through the proper scrutiny
and competition that any intending candidate is
expected to pass through. But for the general
perception that he was the lesser of “two evils”
when compared with his closest rival, Jimi
Agbaje, at the polls, and a section of Lagos
residents felt safer to pitch their tent with the
“tried and trusted” Tinubu camp than the “little
known and possibly out-for-revenge” Bode George
camp, there might have been a different
government at the helm of affairs in Lagos today.
Nevertheless, this is a wake-up call for the
Ambode administration. The people of Lagos need
to feel the presence of the government around
them. As the days go by, more needs to be done
in virtually all sectors of the economy. The
governor must begin to fulfil his numerous
campaign promises by providing adequate
security, employment and basic infrastructure for
the teeming population in Lagos.

Besides, Ambode always knew that Fashola’s
shoes would be very difficult to fill. However, he
must begin to make his own mark as soon as
possible and not just replicate what is being done
at the federal level without considering its
suitability for Lagos State. The goodwill that the
APC has enjoyed in Lagos for the past 16 years
should not be frittered away especially now that
the people are fully aware that the power to vote
out a non-performing government lies solely in
their hands. 2019 is not too far away! The Lagos
State governor needs to prove the naysayers
wrong and the time to start is now!

Ms. Ajekigbe wrote in via l_ajeks@yahoo.com

I am a staunch supporter of the APC but I dare say Ambode's performance since assumption into office has been anything but dismal. I am afraid, if this trend should continue this way unabated, and the opposition party presents a more credible and promising candidate(not a regular Nigerian politician) then I will cast my vote in support of the opposition.
We were told during electioneering campaign that we should vote APC in Lagos state so as to align the state with the Federal government and then achieving a special status for Lagos which will in turn see the state witnessing more developmental projects but to my sheer disappointment that idea seems to have been jettisoned into the trash can of history and seems more of a voodoo statement only meant to garner more votes for the APC gubernatorial candidate.
Thank goodness for posterity in which lies the hope to make a better sense of judgement come 2019 and Governor Ambode should be mindful of that fact.

Lagos always been spoiled


Fashola did nothing but pay the media

It doesn't help that the whole Igbo nation wants to live in the tiniest state of the Federation no where near their fatherland. The level of immigration from Igboland has reached crisis point and the true Lagosians are not speaking out!

@ ibedun Do you burn calories by being hypocritical?? I'm not even Igbo, but attributing the failing state of Lagos and this administration to the influx of the igbos is too hypocritical. Are Igbo's the only immigrants in Lagos? last time I was in Lagos everyone was speaking Yoruba, do you mean to tell me that they were all indigenes? don't Yoruba's from other states troop into Lagos??

this is a national issue, not an "Igbo" issue. Nigeria in general has to sit up in other to catch up with the rest of the world. the money used to develop Lagos came from SS. And all your yoruba leaders were too greedy and took all the major projects to Lagos. After benefitting from the revenues you don't want others to benefit too??

Every governor should develop their state. simple. stop blaming Igbos as if they're the cause of global warming.

:DW

Lagos is the cause of its own predicament.

We are currently hosting more than what we can accommodate.

By now there ought to be a certain modalities to be meant if you must reside in lagos. (dint know if the law permit anything of such).


Check out 60%of the people of Lagos, they ate non citizen, and instead of Lagos state Government to seek a lasting solution to it, it's busy creating agencies to curb problem.


Am a lagosian and I must say, things are harsh here. Imagine if I av to travel to Osun state, cuz it's peaceful. May God help this state

Another party shld take Lagos. Simple!

Ambode is a dunce. A carbon copy of fayose

My thoughts:

Ambode was too enraged with vendetta that he did not take time to tap wisdom from Fashola on what he did, who he used, how they did it and key performance focus areas to have made Lagos the exemplary reference under Fashola.

Governing a dynamic, multifaceted and multicultural State like Lagos requires understanding of Strategic Project Management principles, collaboration and effective coordination.

Ambode must align from where Fashola stopped. Weed out Fashola's excesses; and consolidate on Fashola's strength. Efforts to lean on Tinubu and discard Fashola's gains will set Lagos back by 8 years. It will be tantamount to reinventing the wheel from a retrogressive approach as against a proactive measure.

princemillla:
Lagos is the cause of its own predicament.

We are currently hosting more than what we can accommodate.

By now there ought to be a certain modalities to be meant if you must reside in lagos. (dint know if the law permit anything of such).


Check out 60%of the people of Lagos, they ate non citizen, and instead of Lagos state Government to seek a lasting solution to it, it's busy creating agencies to curb problem.


Am a lagosian and I must say, things are harsh here. Imagine if I av to travel to Osun state, cuz it's peaceful. May God help this state

citizen? This is the one Nigeria you guys are always clamouring for, you can't have your cake and eat it, Get serious bro, no man, I mean no man can handle Lagos as it is right now, every thing is just concentrated in that place and because of African mentality there is no way that city can keep up with the influx of people going there to live, now that Is why the city came second to last in the index of cities in terms of livability, to say that peaceful Lagos I on par with war torn Kabul and Tripoli should be a wake up call, dismissing the reports is like burying your ahead in the sand.Now you guys see why we voted GEJ.
Sorry bro just get on with it, next time before you wish for anything, you first of all think deep and hard about it and not flying into the band wagon. Sorry!

cocoduck:
citizen? This is the one Nigeria you guys are always clamouring for, you can't have your cake and eat it, Get serious bro, no man, I mean no man can handle Lagos as it is right now, every thing is just concentrated in that place and because of African mentality there is no way that city can keep up with the influx of people going there to live, now that Is why the city came second to last in the index of cities in terms of livability, to say that peaceful Lagos I on par with war torn Kabul and Tripoli should be a wake up call, dismissing the reports is like burying your ahead in the sand.Now you guys see why we voted GEJ.
Sorry bro just get on with it, next time before you wish for anything, you first of all think deep and hard about it and not flying into the band wagon. Sorry!

Hi, could you please explain? I didn't get you first time round. And how does GEJ come into this?

scribble:
Lagos always been spoiled

Fashola did nothing but pay the media

Guy, you're highly intelligent without the usual herd mentality syndrome.
You just got yourself a new follower.

ibedun:


Hi, could you please explain? I didn't get you first time round. And how does GEJ come into this?

the national conference report of course

ibedun:
It doesn't help that the whole Igbo nation wants to live in the tiniest state of the Federation no where near their fatherland. The level of immigration from Igboland has reached crisis point and the true Lagosians are not speaking out!

Get serious! Please which tribe(s) constitute the highest numbers of beggars on the streets of Lagos?