The Imperative Of Common Sense As Against Unsubstantiatedallegations And Campaign Of Calumny Against Babatunde Fashola

Re-‘VISIT THE LAGOS FASHOLA LEFT BEHIND BEFORE CONFIRMING HIS APPOINTMENT AS MINISTER...; The IMPERATIVE OF COMMON SENSE AS AGAINST UNSUBSTANTIATED ALLEGATIONS AND CAMPAIGN OF CALUMNY.

The Lagos Integrity Group (LIG) is a frontline citizen advocacy and human right organization. With membership across the length and breadth of Lagos State, LIG as a group, takes into consideration activities of government and organizations at all levels particularly as it concerns accountability and the rights of citizens and its protection at all times.

We are compelled after thorough consideration to categorically condemn what seems like the continuous and desperate attempt by some persons to disparage the hard earned integrity and character of one of the noble sons of our state, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), most recently based on his nomination by our dear President Muhammadu Buhari as a Minister to represent Lagos State in the new cabinet.

While we sincerely appreciate the rights of citizens to freely express their opinions, it is sad to see these persons particularly one Mr. Debo Adeniran who is the sole leader and member of a groups which claims to be “Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders” CACOL and some persons desperately trying to maneuver the course of truth in the last few days.

Mr. Adeniran and his CACOL are not unknown to us, he has a history of running several letter-head based organizations often times, used in blackmailing unsuspecting members of the public for personal gains. The LIG frowns bitterly about the turn of event and the desperate scheming that we

have observed on the part of these persons who are hell bent on misrepresenting the true image of Mr. Babatunde Fashola for reasons best known to them and their sponsors. For the avoidance of doubt, Mr. Fashola today is the same man who turned around the fortune of our dear state of Lagos from a 'glorified ghetto' to a modern city that is a pride of all Nigerians. Can we remind these people of how Lagos became a reference city for development even in the face of dwindling revenue and increasing influx of Nigerians from all works into Lagos?

Distinguished Senate President, permit us to list just few landmark achievements of Mr. Babatunde Fashola as the Governor of Lagos which his detractors have deliberately closed their eyes at.

Given the generally acclaimed status of education in the improvement of the society, the Fashola government gave education the attention it earns. Later, the reintegration and creation of well-furnished new blocks of classrooms, distribution of free text books, provision of well-equipped workrooms and libraries, provision of buses for teachers and students to comfort transportation problems, re-launch of uniformed voluntary administrations in the state’s public schools, implementation of Teachers’ Salary Scale (TSS) for teachers in the state public schools, evolvement of the ‘Adopt a School Initiative’, among others.

On assumption of administration, Mr. Babatunde Fashola boarded on a huge infrastructure renewal of Lagos metropolis. The main focus formed the key city highways. There was great reconstruction work going on at the same time almost all over Lagos. The result was that within the first four years of his term, Lagos metropolis wore a new look. Most of the main highways were transformed. New roads were opened up with flyover bridges. State-of-the-art pedestrian bridges were constructed to substitute the rundown old ones.

The Fashola administration also made a great progress in the rural area, as over 110 rural development projects were finished under the rural water and sanitation structure. At the end of the year 2009, 104 communities were measured for delivery of modified Type A-water scheme from the intervention fund.

Towards achieving security as one of the most important pre-conditions for human existence, the Fashola government, not only turned most hide-outs and joints that previously serve as bases for impostors and armed robbers into beautiful environment. It also established the Lagos State Security Trust Fund to effectively fund the security needs of the state on a sustainable basis.

Babatunde Raji Fashola’s largest achievement in administration was done without an earth mover in sight. That was when Nigeria was officially declared Ebola free, after it first introduced to the country, when Patrick Sawyer, the infected US-Liberian citizen and the ECOWAS official, imported the virus through Lagos airport. Fashola turned what would have been a national disaster into a public health and PR success. He took personal control of the process to track down and isolate about 1,000 people feared to have been infected since Patrick Sawyer’s coming. He broke off from a pilgrimage to Mecca, flew home and then set up an Ebola Emergency Operations Centre, which led the huge task of monitoring all those possibly infected. A team of 2,000 officials were skilled for the task, which ended up knocking on 26,000 doors. At one point the governor was being briefed up to ten times a day by disease control experts. He made a point of visiting the country’s Ebola treatment centre, a way of communicating to the Nigerian public that they should not panic needlessly. Of course, he didn’t do it alone.

All these just to mention a few, are the reasons why we sincerely question why these persons will hide under the toga of anti-corruption to discredit a man who has never been indicted nor prosecuted by anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria, a man who has done a lot to improve the lots of the commoners through his leadership of our state where he served meritoriously for two terms.

We stand bold to say that the only yardstick required by anyone who wants to come to Lagos to see what Fashola left behind is,'Common sense.'

While our belief in the sanctity of the red chambers remains undiluted, we are making this call in order not to allow these characters to confuse unsuspecting Nigerians and paint a bad image of President Buhari over his choice of Mr.Babatunde Raji Fashola as Ministers of the federal republic.

We wish to salute other compatriots who have so far shown solidarity with this Apostle of selfless service as we want to challenge whoever has any genuine reasons why Babatunde Fashola SAN, should not be appointed as a Minister to bring such forward, not these manner of petitions wholly made up on assumptions and seeming 'beer palour' figures which only best exists in the imagination of the petitioner.

Onward together, Solidarity forever.
Yours Faithfully,
Comrade Agbabiaka Ahmed. Dr. Mrs Remi Samuel
Convener, Common Sense Revolution Secretary