Moses Adeniyi
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has recounted how proativeness by his administration rescued Lagos in critical times of windy challenges.
The Governor recounted this at the flag off of his governorship campaign for reelection where he was received by a mammoth crowd at the Mobolaji Johnson Pavilion, Onikan, Lagos Island during the weekend.
The 10,000 capacity stadium was brimmed with supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) chanting solidarity and support songs as Sanwo-Olu reeled out critical interventions his administration administer to address challenges that confronted the States, among which were the issues of COVID-19 pandemic, #ENDSARS debacles, infrastructure decay, housing deficits and recent flooding challenges.
According to Sanwo-Olu, the fact that Lagos State was not submerged by the flood that recently ravaged many parts of the country despite the fact that the State is surrounded by water, and is less than two metre above the sea level, rode on his administration’s proactive measure to avert the disaster.
On environment, the Governor said the State was currently constructing 210 new drainage channels to address the issue of flooding in vulnerable communities.
Sanwo-Olu said the last three and half years had been challenging for his administration, pointing out that his Government traversed difficult terrains to deliver on its development objectives.
He said, “It has been an interesting and challenging journey for us in the last three and half years. Our administration has traversed difficult terrains and witnessed major disruption occasioned by global pandemic. Lagos had its fair share in the attendant socio-economic meltdown, but we provided strong leadership that protected the people and made the State come out better and stronger.
“Now, we can say ‘A Greater Lagos Rising’ because our State is rising on all of our modest achievements through the THEMES agenda. In Transportation and Traffic Management, Lagosians are now living with the reality of the delivery of two intracity Rail Mass Transit projects that are on the verge of completion. These projects will be handed over in the coming weeks,” he said.
He said his government has also raised the level of infrastructure in emergency response agencies, mentioning the recently completed four fire stations, recruitment of new fire fighters and provision of firefighting equipment.
Sanwo-Olu said activities of his administration, since inception, had been about purposeful governance.
He added that his government had delivered new hospitals in Badagry, Epe, and Eti-Osa, pointing out that construction of new hospitals were currently being undertaken in Ikorodu, Ojo and Lagos Island.
NewsDirect had reported that Sanwo-Olu’s campaign slogan has been tagged ‘A Greater Lagos Rising’, informed by the need to build on the Greater Lagos Dream upon which the first four years of his Administration has been structured to navigated through.
Governor Sanwo-Olu on the campaign ground said his administration did not take the support and mandate given to him over three and half years ago when he was elected as the governor of the state for granted, saying his administration worked so hard to overcome challenges caused by the global economic meltdown and other upheavals that shook the world.
He said the campaign slogan, which is a Greater Lagos Rising, was informed by the giant strides his administration recorded through the THEMES agenda, saying tremendous progress was made in the areas of transportation and traffic management, education, agriculture and other aspects bearing key relevance to the THEMES agenda, his administration’s policy thrust.
Governor Sanwo-Olu said, “You can see the completion of our rail projects, you have seen rail in Lagos for the first time in over 40, 50 years there will be an intra-city rail system. We have completed it and we are going to be handing it to you. You have seen our commitment on all of our BRT corridors, the first and last mile buses, new taxis. You have seen our commitment on ferry terminals, development ferry terminals in 17 locations across Lagos.
“We have resolved the Apapa gridlock. You have seen a new energised LASTMA that is working tirelessly. You have seen the construction and completion of the Lekki Deep seaport. You have seen the Regional Road that we are doing, you have seen the road going to Epe. You have seen the roads being constructed in Ikorodu, Alimosho, Ikoyi and Victoria Island, every parts of the state.”
The Governor added, “Lagosians can testify to our feats in education. Over 1,000 new classrooms have been added to public schools and we completed over 1,097 projects in schools. We trained our teachers in modern teaching techniques through Eko EXCEL and handed over tablets to them for teaching. Overall performance of Lagos students in WAEC has improved from 42 per cent to over 83 per cent.”
He thanked the electorate for their support and solidarity for his administration and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
He urged them to reelect him, the Presidential candidate of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and other candidates of the party for continuous efficient service delivery.
Director General of the Lagos APC Campaign Council, Sen. Ganiyu Solomon, said the party would have no problem taking its campaign to the electorate, given the ‘exceptional’ performance of the party’s governorship candidate.
In his welcome address, the Chairman of the APC, Lagos State, Hon. Cornelius Ojelabi said the party has been the ruling party in the State since the advent of democratic governance in the country, assuring the electorate that the party will not disappoint them.
Leader of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), Prince Tajudeen Olusi, said, “The combination of Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat is the best a democratic society can get in delivering results of good governance.
“Anyone who wants the development of Lagos to continue, Sanwo-Olu must be allowed to continue the good work he started.”