By Olu Adebayo

He literally barged in on the political consciousness of the Lagos political mainstream, almost turning to shreds its well known uncompromising proclivity to doing business with only those schooled and weaned by the denizens of the old political establishment. In sum, you must have been in the eye of the people and have a track record.

Babatunde Raji Fashola

But, typical of men of history, Babatunde Raji Fashola rode to power on the back of destiny. Pitched against already well-established and grounded party heavyweights, he emerged the governorship candidate of the then Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, amidst rancorous protests that almost turn the party apart in Lagos, the only state it was able to wrestle from then President Olusegun Obasanjo’s PDP contrived electoral blitz on the South-West in 2003.

Rolling out Fashola’s massive achievements in his eight years as Lagos governor is fast becoming too routine to count, but his mantra of “the greatest good for the greatest number” stand, him out. For instance, the massive environmental renewal projects have robbed off positively on the people, and enhanced their sense of self worth that Nigerians can also live in a clean and beautiful environment.

Apart from this, the beautification and landscaping projects created mass employment for thousands of jobless people especially youths who otherwise would have been ready hands for criminal activities.

Apart from the huge attention to the environment which has greatly improved the quality of life of citizens, other iconic projects worth mentioning, even at the risk of repetition, include the Orile-Badagry Expressway reconstruction, an ambitious expansion work that will turn the hitherto four-lane road into a 10-lane super highway with light-rail and BRT lanes. This expressway, which links big-brother Nigeria to all other ECOWAS countries, had become such a big eyesore and a huge disgrace to the status of Nigeria as the leading country in the sub-region.

When completed, the highway, which is being built with some credit assistance from the World Bank, is set to be one of the best on the continent with the capacity to move millions of commuters along the corridor more efficiently, creating thousands of jobs and generally boosting the state and the national economy. It is worth mentioning here, though, that the federal government has, for political reasons, often displayed crass irresponsibility in its dealings with Lagos as the nation’s former capital and economic jugular.

Apart from doing nothing to assist the state, which is home to about 21 million Nigerians, to address its infrastructural deficit, it is said to be owing the state a debt of N51b it spent on federal roads in the state. This is not a sensible way to treat a state where the nation derives the bulk of its revenue outside oil.

One other attribute that had worked for the outgoing governor and drawn the peoples admiration, is his hands on approach to project implementation. Contractors are usually put on their toes because they don’t know when the governor will show up at project sites, sometimes at weekends.

No doubt, the incoming Akin Ambode administration has its job well cut out, as he has to build on the performance of a man whose achievements already transcends the borders of Nigeria. But, as a member of the original team, as a former Accountant-General of the state, Lagosians are looking forward to another season of stellar performance.