Press Releases

Fashola Urges Adoption Of Enterprise Management Approach To Nation’s Development
…As Works Minister commends Governor’s leadership qualities

Apr 28, 2010 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Wednesday called on the Federal Government to embrace the concept of enterprise management which entails focusing attention in terms of infrastructure to the most visible area of the country where the highest impact can be recorded with minimum resources.

Governor Babatunde Fashola gave the advice while receiving the Minister of Works, Senator Mohammed Sanusi Dagash and his Minister of State counterpart, Mr Chris Ogienwinyi on a courtesy visit to the Lagos House, Marina.

He noted that the images of countries are developed not by encounters which the people have with the whole country but with either the administrative or commercial capitals.

He explained that many of those who talk about France never went beyond Paris, while many of those who recount experiences about United Kingdom have probably only visited London, stressing that the same applies to many people who talk about United States of America after only visiting Washington and New York.

The Governor said for most people, they form their impressions about Nigeria after having visited Lagos and Abuja, adding that the cities should constitute the main areas where government should deploy its resources to record the most impact.

Governor Fashola said he viewed the visit which is the first by the entire leadership from the Federal Ministry of Works to Lagos in seven years as a move in the right direction consideration the productive capacity of Lagos which the Minister spoke glowingly spoke about.

The Lagos State Governor explained that infrastructure renewal to eliminate poverty is the cornerstone of the administration’s transformational version, adding that it has been necessitated by the overstretched infrastructure which has seen more people buying cars in the last 10 years than the number of new roads that have been built just as more children have been produced compared to the number of new hospitals built.

Said he: “As you do roads, more people are employed. As you are finishing the road, travel time is reduced and becomes more efficient. The cost of fuelling vehicles and moving passengers from one area to the other is reduced. Money saved this way enables people to have increased purchasing power”.

The Governor expressed readiness of the State Government to resolve areas of differences that might exist between the officials of the State and the Federal Government, adding: “We will however not compromise our principles”.

In his words: “We understand there will always be disagreements in terms of style, approach or choice of what to do. But there must never be a disagreement about the need to develop Lagos State”.

Governor Fashola also said with law and order prevailing in any society, the limited infrastructure can still support the citizenry in an orderly fashion.

He lamented that both sides have allowed those who benefit from living above the law to take advantage of the communication divide that existed such that brickbats have been thrown from both ends of the divide.

He said: “Somebody is profiteering from our lack of communication, building walls of distrust. Information flow is not accurate, routine issues have become difficult, allowing prejudices develop. Little things that we could have done together and moved on have been manipulated to debar our progress”

Imploring the Minister not to miss the chance to make a difference, the Governor added that several times, when many people have the opportunity to confront history, they turn their back, declaring: “You have the opportunity to confront history, to take hard decisions about the State of your youth. Do not turn your back”.

Speaking earlier, Senator Dagash said Governor Fashola remains a worthy role model to all politicians because of his intellect and maturity, adding that he is not reluctant to take a cue from some of his policy initiatives.

While acknowledging the transformation and change which Lagos has experienced since Governor Fashola came on board, he said the Governor has also managed and directed the resources of the state at the most fundamental issues on which Lagos has to grow.

Senator Daggash said he was in Lagos not only to inspect Federal Government projects and those being undertaken by FERMA but also seek solutions to congestion issues by meeting with and signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Stakeholders on the Apapa stretch like NUPENG, NARTO, PENGASSAN and PTD.

He informed that an agreement is in the offing on how to arrive at a workable solution with the stakeholders on how to move trucks, tankers and open trucks off the dual carriageway from the trunk A roads into parking lots.

Said he: “If Lagos fails in terms of infrastructure, the backbone of the Nigerian economy has failed. And for that it is not only expedient for the Federal Government to support not only your vision and by right the quest of Lagos to expand to achieve more towards creating more wealth and employment”.

Senator Dagash added that in the next two weeks, a tally system is expected to be worked out such that whenever any truck is coming into Apapa or any of the tank farms, they would pick a tally after paying prescribed fees and choose where to park for a night till it takes delivery of its wet or dry cargo.

He said the role of the Ministry is to facilitate the coming together of the stakeholders so that the roles must be protected, drainages and the lifespan of the critical links through the major carriageway.

He sought the assistance of the State Government agencies like LASTMA and possibly a taskforce that will work on decongesting traffic on the dual carriageway just as the ministry is also contending with traffic bottlenecks at Apapa, Ejigbo and the Airport road.

He said the team will also inspect on-going work at Apapa-Oworonshoki, 3rd Mainland Bridge, Mile 12, Ikorodu, adding that a major problem which the Ministry has been contending with is accessing the Right of Way on federal roads in Lagos.

The Minister said what Lagos has done in Victoria Island and Ikoyi in terms of road cautionary signs should be replicated all over the country, adding that the ministry would take a cue from it by providing same at least at the national corridors.

Also speaking, the Minister of State, Mr Chris Ogienwinyi said Governor Fashola is one leader he has always admired in the country, explaining that the decongestion which took place in Oshodi is testimonial, urging him to remain focused.

Among those who were present at the event were the Commissioner for Transport, Professor Bamidele Badejo, the Special Adviser on Works and Infrastructure, Engineer Ganiyu Johnson and the Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Works and Transport among others.