Dear Lagosians,
First let me thank you all for
turning out to vote on the 28th March 2015 and for doing so peacefully to make
history by electing the All Progressives Congress candidates in the
Presidential and National Assembly elections.
Once again, I must address you as
we approach Saturday’s elections, when you will be electing a Governor who will
continue after me and consolidate on the progress we have built together.
You will also be electing members
of the State House of Assembly who will make laws on your behalf to assist the
Governor and his team in the Executive arm.
Although your votes will be cast
for one political party or the other, let me remind you that you will actually
be voting for your wellbeing, security, prosperity and future.
You will also be voting for the
future of your children. You will be choosing candidates and a party that you
will entrust your lives to.
Think hard, think clearly, think
deeply. Ask yourselves a few questions.
Who has shown a better record and
example of protecting and securing you between the political parties?
Which of the parties cares more
when disasters happen?
What is the record of the parties
as it relates to the promises they have made to you in the past?
Which of the parties do you see
regularly and which one do you see once in a while?
Which of the parties do you see
when your life or property is threatened by epidemics like Ebola or by
unfortunate accidents like plane crashes?
Which of the parties is showing
that you can become home-owners without knowing anybody?
Which party has responsibility for
providing electricity for you, and which one is taking up the responsibility to
light up your streets and communities at night?
Which of them cares more about
your children and their safety?
Indeed ask yourself; which of the
parties threatened you with thugs on that sad Monday of March 16th and which is
seeking to protect you by supporting the police; with patrol vehicles, fuel and
other equipment?
Ask yourself when last you saw the
Federal Fire Service in Lagos. The proud men and women of the Lagos State Fire
Service have taken over admirably.
Ask yourself who should be
supporting the police and who is actually doing it?
Dear Lagosians, your choice of who
to vote for will be easy if you answer these questions within yourself
honestly.
Indeed, you have clear choices to
make between parties that use your resources to develop your society and
community on the one hand, and the party that chooses to bring money to you for
distribution when election beckons.
So you can choose between schools
for your children, hospitals for your community, roads for your transportation
or in the alternative, you can choose to have these services monetized once in
four years.
Remember, that choices have
consequences and your vote will decide the choice that shapes your lives.
Dear Lagosians, it is tempting to
take the right and opportunity to vote for granted. It is tempting to think
that it is too much trouble.
I agree that the process can be
made much easier. But it is no excuse to refuse to vote.
Out of 5.8 million registered
voters and 3.8 million PVC collections, only about 1.5 million turned out to
vote, on the 28th March 2015.
Think of all the pain, the effort,
the sleepless nights it took to get the PVCs to you. Think of the best way to
show that the effort was not wasted or in vain.
It seems to me that the best way
is to have all these 3.8 Million voters come out to vote.
By refusing to vote, you surrender
decision making to a few and you will be bound by the consequences of your
choices.
By refusing to vote, you do a
great disservice to many who have lived before you, who fought very hard at
great personal costs to themselves, to earn you this right.
By refusing to vote, you dishonour
the sacrifice of patriots before you who fought for the right to vote.
Remember that when they were
fighting for the right to vote, they were not fighting for yesterday, they were
fighting for today and tomorrow.
They have handed today to you and
I, can we secure tomorrow for the next generation?
Remember that since the capital of
Nigeria was moved from Lagos 24 years ago in December 1991, Lagos has been
abandoned by the Federal Government.
Ask yourself when the last major
new road in Lagos was built by the Federal Government. It was the 3rd Mainland
Bridge completed in 1990.
The assets the Federal Government
left behind almost became a burden but for our resilience to maintain them.
Today the Federal Government is owing Lagos N51 Billion which remains unpaid.
This is not in accord with the
spirit of the promise made to Lagos when the Federal Government first declared
Abuja as the capital in 1976.
The Head-of-State at the time, the
late Gen Murtala Muhammed, said then and I quote him:
“…Lagos will, in the foreseeable
future, remain the nation’s commercial capital and one of its nerve centres.
But in terms of servicing the present infrastructure alone the committed amount
of money and effort required will be such that Lagos State will not be ready to
cope.
(But we have coped at great
sacrifice)
“It will even be unfair to expect
the state to bear this heavy burden on its own. It is therefore necessary for
the Federal Government to continue to sustain the substantial investment in the
area. The port facilities and other economic activities in the Lagos area have
to be expanded.
“There is need in the
circumstances for the Federal Government to maintain a special defence and
security arrangement in Lagos which will henceforth be designated a special
area. These arrangements will be carefully worked out and written into the new
constitution. Kaduna and Port Harcourt are to be accorded similar status and
designated as Special Areas…”
Sadly, no Federal Government and
indeed not the PDP Government has done anything to redeem that promise for the
16 years it was in power or to protect Lagos.
Instead of assisting Lagos, they
attacked her. If you remember FERMA, in 2006, the same PDP seized your Local
Government money and resisted the attempt to bring Government closer to you by
creating more local Governments.
On Monday 16th March 2015, the
same PDP continued in their tradition of assaulting Lagos. Their supporters
took over a major road in Lagos and threatened your peace and security.
On Wednesday 18th March 2015, the
President-Elect, Muhammadu Buhari came to Lagos and said Lagos will receive
compensation for the role she has played in maintaining Federal Government
Assets.
Yesterday on Tuesday the 7th of
April 2015, he was here in Lagos in his first political engagement since he
became President-Elect and he reiterated his commitment to support Lagos.
This is what I will vote for. This
is what I urge you to think about as you vote on Saturday.
This is the place that every
Nigerian calls his home. It is the home of displaced people. It is the place
where the homeless arrive and are made welcome.
It is the place where generations
of Nigerians have arrived without knowing anybody but have, through the
opportunities and inclusion, become somebody.
This is the place where the Late
Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya and Owelle Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe consummated the
handshake across the Niger and played politics without bitterness.
Tell those who try to divide us
that our greatest strength has always been our diversity.
Tell them that you feel safe here,
and that I have continuously assured you of your safety as the basis of our
mutual co-existence.
Tell them that our waterways have
been assets of prosperity and sustenance, for transport, recreation and fishing
and they will remain so.
Let nobody now attempt to re-write
that history for you.
When they reel out false
statistics about Lagos, please ask them the statistics about the places they
governed for 16 years.
When they reel out statistics,
please remind them that those statistics don’t stand in isolation, they are the
burden of a whole nation and many parts of West Africa that Lagos state bears.
When they promise you heaven and
earth, remember their broken promises on power, security and many more.
Ask them to show you a plan, if
they can produce one, which is doubtful, ask them whether they have implemented
it elsewhere.
Tell them that you have seen the
Lagos Development plan for 2012 – 2025, that the Lagos Light Rail Project, the
Adiyan Water Works Phase II of 75 Million gallons a day, the solar power for
all schools and many more which are part of the plans for you and your children
and which are already being implemented.
Tell them that you will vote to
keep a plan that you can see, that is already working, instead of a plan that
you have not seen.
Ask them what happened to Vision
20:20, to the 7-Point Agenda and to Transformation.
Tell them that your bird in hand
will not be traded for a dozen unseen birds in the bush.
Tell them that this election is
not about money, tell them that it is not about ethnicity and it is not about
religion.
Tell them that this election is
about the place you call your home, the place you earn your living and the
place where your investments are the safest.
Tell them that you will not play
ethnic or religious politics with your survival. Tell them that you will not
vote with anger.
Tell them that you will vote with
common sense and for experience.
Tell them that you have seen Lagos
survive without Federal support, and you wish to see her flourish with Federal
support.
That will be the most historic
thing you will have done, putting Lagos in the centre with your votes.
History and tomorrow beckons.
Don’t turn your backs.
Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos State.
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