By Mike Ebonugwo

Perhaps taking a cue from President Muhammadu Buhari who is yet to appoint ministers three months after being sworn into office, most newly elected state governors have stayed shy of announcing commissioners to work with them to deliver the much-talked-about dividends of democracy to the people. It is a development that has sharply been criticised in some quarters as being unhealthy to democratic practices.

Ambode

Lagos is one such state where the people are eagerly awaiting their governor to announce the appointment of his commissioners and special advisers. But while they wait, it is remarkable that Lagosians have not actually been complaining about the seeming delay. Instead the governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, is already being hailed as a man of the people after three months of holding sway in Lagos State.

Some even maintain that he is running a government with human face. This fast growing belief among many in Lagos has been attributed to the fact that though Amode’s cabinet has not been consituted, this has not stopped the Governor from hitting the ground running, especially in addressing immediate challenges bothering Lagosians in different parts of the state.

Humanitarian response

To buttress the claim, those who hold this impression readily cite the Governor’s quick humanitarian response to recent tanker fire explosions that occurred in the state, saying his action came as a pleasant surprise to many who could not help but applaud him.

Although he was out of the state when the Iyana Ipaja incident occurred, the Governor had on being informed of it hurriedly returned to Lagos and headed straight to the scene of the blast. He also responded in a similar manner to the fire incident caused by a petrol tanker explosion at Idimu.

In both cases, the Governor was on hand to console and identify with the residents, especially those who suffered losses, just as he made hope-instilling promises to provide them succour to enable them.

The Governor did not stop at this humanitarian gesture in his response to these tanker fire tragedies. He had subsequently summoned a meeting with petroleum products marketers in addition to setting up a fact-finding committee to investigate and ascertain the causes of the incidents.

The Governor was again compelled to take further action in this regard following an accident involving an articulated vehicle which fell off the Ojuelegba bridge and landed on two cars, killing three persons in the process.

It was an accident that provoked another round of condemnation from many angry Lagosians who demanded that the Governor should take urgent action to arrest the ugly trend of tankers and other articulated vehicles frequently getting involved in accidents and endangering the lives of other road users and residents.

Obviously in response to the popular demand, the Ambode-led Lagos State government recently imposed a restriction on articulated vehicles- tankers, trailers and heavy-duty trucks- from plying the metropolis between the hours of 6am and 9pm.

Articulated vehicles

This is in addition to a declaration that it would henceforth impound any articulated vehicle which driver flouts the state Traffic Law 2012. Owners of such impounded vehicles would, according to state government officials, would be made to pay the stipulated fine.

Another action that readily endeared Governor Ambode to Lagosians and enhanced his man-of-the- people profile was the kindness he demonstrated towards Mrs. Ruth Uche, the mother of three set of twins whose husband absconded from their home in Agege, Lagos.

It was said that when his attention was drawn to the woman’s plight courtesy of newspaper reports, the Governor immediately directed his deputy, Mrs. Oluranti Adebule, to provide welfare support for the distraught mother of six. That intervention ensured that today, Mrs Uche, her children and her run-away husband who is back home are living comfortably.

Ambode’s interventionist gesture did not start with Mrs. Uche. He had on his second working day in office intervened to save the life of the 2015 baby of the year in the state, Miss. Oluwajomiloju Goodness Ogundimu, who was diagnosed with a heart defect that required surgery.

The state government had sponsored Baby Ogundimu’s successful surgery in India.

Also singing Governor’s praises are retirees from the various ministries, parastatals and agencies of the state. Their reason for this is not far to seek. Ambode early last month approved N11billion to offset arrears owed them since 2010.

The gesture which is also intended to take care of outstanding accrued pension rights due to retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme, was, according to Governor Ambode, in line with efforts put in place by his administration to find a holistic solution to the issue of payment of pension entitlements to retirees under the Pay As You Go pension Scheme which was stopped in April 2007.

Perhaps the praise is more resounding among residents in areas of the state with seriously distressed roads. Ask residents of Ikotun, Ejigbo, Oke Afa/Jakande Estate and motorists plying the roads that traverse these areas in Lagos, they may tell you that Ambode is the administrative messiah they had long waited to come to their rescue. Reason?

Administrative messiah

The roads in their areas that were before now lined with crater-like potholes are presently receiving a facelift and the people are the happier for it.

This is obviously a fulfilment the Governor made to the people when he visited the area on July 14.

In fact, many in the area are already rhapsodising about how their areas would soon be comparable with Ikeja, Surulere and even Victoria Island.

“Honestly, Governor Ambode has really surprised me,” declared a highly impressed Ikotun resident, Felix Okwu, a commercial vehicle operator.

He continued: “When he came to this Ikotun area and declared that he would repair all the bad roads here, many of us did not believe him; we thought it was the usual political promise that is easy to make but easy to forget. But when I saw them actually working on the roads, I could not believe my eyes.”

The on-going face-lift or rehabilitation which began at Ikotun is to stretch to Isolo, according officials of the state government.

In fact, the rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads are also being felt across the state, with residents and motorists in Ipaja also joining the popular chorus in heaping praises on the Governor. In fact, not long after he was sworn into office, Ambode had embarked on inspections to several areas of the state to ascertain the state of infrastructure there. Among the areas visited were Ipaja, Mosan-Okunola, Oshodi- Isolo, Ikotun-Ejigbo and Somolu.

Distressed roads in all the areas visited, including those in Ladipo and Mushin, were slated for rehabilitation.

The stock of goodwill Governor Ambode enjoys has also appreciated in value on account of the measures he has already taken to tackle lingering traffic challenges and safeguard life and property. Motorists and other road users are said to be grateful to him for the role he played, in collaboration with others, to curtail the menace of tanker and trailer drivers who daily besieged the Mile Two to Berger end of the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, locking traffic days on end.

Criminal activities

Confronted with complaints of an upsurge in robbery and other criminal activities, especially in the wake of the infamous Ikorodu robbery incident,   Ambode is said to have taken up the matter with the relevant security agencies in the state, encouraging them to up their game in the area of surveillance. The popular belief is that this may have paid off, especially with frequent raids on Oshodi and other crime vulnerable parts of the state by a Special Task Force on Environment which have led to the arrest s of several suspected criminals and other undesirable elements.

The Governor is also reported to have unveiled a new plan to strengthen the Rapid Response Squad, RRS, as well as establish an integrated security and emergency control platform.