…Gov’s pronouncement of salary increase for workers, not political
…Lagos is only state not owing pensioners
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is vying for a second term in office. Some political analysts and observers are asking if he stands a good chance to earn the trust of Lagosians to run the affairs of the state for another four years. Gbenga Omotoso is the Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Lagos. He is of the opinion that his principal has done just about enough to earn the trust of Lagosians to be at the saddle for another four years. He bares his mind on other crucial issues such as the recent salary increment announced by the governor, the working relationship between Lagos and Ogun States, the ban on Okada and other sundry matters affecting the state. BENJAMIN OMOIKE reports.
Pronouncement of salary increment at this time perceived as political move?
First, let us say that no matter what percentage we are talking – if it’s not zero percent, I think anyone that is putting more money into your pocket now is doing you a world of good.
What the governor is saying to the workers is that we appreciate the service you’re providing and despite the fact that things are so hard, you’re till carrying on and you are putting smiles on the faces of Lagosians, who are coming to government offices.
No matter how low or high the percentage may be, I think the symbolism is that at this particular time, Mr Governor feels that workers deserve a raise and he has pronounced it.
And if you listen to him very well, he said he has instructed the office Head of service, Establishment, State Treasury Office to come together to look at the these and see what the numbers are and see how we can go, but that workers are now going to a pay rise is a forgone conclusion.
I think the whole world is hailing him for doing that but if people are now saying it is for Political reasons, let so many people in position of authority also do so for political reason and raise salaries of their workers.
What people are looking for is someone who recognises the fact that they are toiling and that they are served what they are getting, so
whether it’s politics or not, they don’t care and I feel that is the spirit that we all have to see in the gesture that Mr Governor has made.
PDP candidate, Jandor’s allegations regarding non-payment of pensioners in Lagos
My response to such allegation is to laugh.
Everybody knows that Lagos is the only state that is not owing pensioners. Up till date, Lagos is paying pensioners every month.
The backlog that we have, Mr Sanwo-Olu has been clearing it, and over N1billion was allocated to that and he has cleared it till 2021. It’s not that the backlog came during his administration, it’s been there since.
The pensioners are happy with him, anytime that he has opportunity to meet with the pensioners, you see the excitement on thier faces, that inner joy that makes you feel you’re not neglected.
I don’t think for political convenience, anybody should come up and say Lagos is owing pensioners.
Has Sanwo-Olu done enough to earn a second term?
Considering the way Lagosians view all that he has done; over 1,049 school projects, 635 roads fixed, thousands of teachers who have been trained in Lagos through Eko Excel and if you go to our hospitals now, they have been upgraded. For the first time, we are building a new General Hospital in Ojo Local Government, we have Oba Sekunmade Road in Ikorodu, Buba Marwa Roads, Food Hub in Ketu, Ejinrin Mental Health Centre, that we will be commissioning before the end of the year. I know Lagosians are people who appreciate a good job.
If you go and ask about street credibility of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, they will tell you it’s very solid. I believe Lagosians will tell Mr Sanwo-Olu that you have done well with their votes.
Lagos and Ogun MoU, what has been achieved so far?
It is not everything that government does that it puts on the pages of the newspapers or on Television.
When we had a crisis on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Lagos was there to clear the blockage that we had on our roads, it was a security matter too when they said people were being threatened on that road. Lagos and Ogun security officers joined hands to ensure that place is safe till date. Also, in the area of traffic, we are doing a lot together to ensure it was cleared, we have a smooth ride on that road now.
The Adiyan Water Works is also there, there is an agreement that Ogun will support Lagos to complete the project and some Ogun State communities that are supposed to get money from Lagos State because of their property that will be affected by the construction along that corridor, are saying they should be given water and not money.
Don’t forget the road from Ijebu-Ode to Epe has been completed and we are doing our own too from Lekki-Epe Expressway, we also have another link road in Ota, Ogun State.
You will see that the commission is working, especially in security aspects.
How would you rate Lagos’ progress?
What is currently happening in Lagos today goes beyond progress.
Let me take you back about two days before now, Mr Governor said considering the situation of things all over the world – inflation rate, rise in prices of goods and services, and disruption in supply chains, everything tight all over the world, with gas supply occasioned by the Ukraine/Russia war, among others.
He felt it was time to for us to raise the salary of civil servants, so that one will not wait for them till they start to complain by threatening to go on strike before doing what he did. He said we are doing this because this is Lagos and we are Lagos.
That shows that Lagos is making progress. If others are saying that there is a downcast and that they are not feeling fine about what is going on about the economy all over the world and he is saying people should be excited because the gesture will put more money in their pockets and this will have effect on those offering goods and services, and the general economy of Lagos.
Considering the welfare of workers and infrastructural projects done in Lagos, I think Lagos is making steady progress.
Transportation and Okada ban
The Okada matter is an emotional and troubling matter, because considering the progress we have made in Lagos we are still talking on ban of Okada, but that is the situation we have found ourselves.
The Okada ban, when it was first pronounced, Mr Governor said it was going to be a phased ban because we do not want people to complain that we are taking thier means of livelihood without giving them something in replacement, or that their means of transportation is taken away from them or an action that it is targeted at a group of people.
We wanted people to see it as an action targeted at making Lagos safe and good for all of us.
It’s not that we are saying those areas that the ban has not covered, that it will not get there; it’s a question of time, because we have stated it that Okada is not on the transportation plan that we have for Lagos, but because people are saying that it is a means of livelihood for some people and we are also trying to convince them that when you have clash of a livelihood and lives- that you have to choose lives. And most Lagosians have chosen lives because so many have been coming that they don’t want Okada in their areas.
It’s not the government alone that’s seeing this big picture that we are talking about – the danger to lives, safety and security that Okada constitutes, so, it’s not just that Okada will be allowed a free reign in Lagos, that they can ride anywhere they like, where they have been asked not to go, they shouldn’t go there, and at a point in time, all of us should have it in mind that a decision will be taken about them.
We are happy that the rate of accident has slowed down and the number of crimes that people were committing through Okada has reduced. The result of ban of Okada in 10 Local Government Areas has been yielding fruits and the compliance level has been encouraging.
Enforcement is not easy, but the police and community leaders have also helped to improve the situation.
Road construction and rehabilitation
If anybody thinks things have slowed down in the area of road maintenance, the person is not right.
Public Works Corporation, PWC, works 24 hours day and night and people attest to this through feedback that we are getting.
If you get on the social media, you will see where they are working and how they are swiftly intervening with regards to potholes across the state.
If anybody says they are doing that because of political campaign has started, the person may be politician.
Traffic gridlock, First/Last Mile buses
About the Oke-koto area in Agege area of the state, the Ministry of Works has visited the spot and something will be done anytime soon.
When you think about getting somewhere fast, and you see your legs hung somewhere in the hospital, that is not good. Government wants Lagosians to commute in decent buses that make you leave you cars at home to go and ride. The first and last miles buses, by the last count, we have pushed out 400 though. Government promised 500. Any moment from now the 100 buses will be released to the system; in terms of security, you have to put necessary gadgets in it, that is what caused the delay.
Traffic situation; there are over 9,000 roads in Lagos, there is no way Government can fix all roads in three years, we will continue to fix all of the roads through the Public Works, but the most critical thing about traffic is the human element part, people don’t obey the rules.
If we can obey the rules there is no way we will have traffic, people don’t want to use the layby to drop passengers, once we remove the human element, the traffic will reduce drastically.
More buses, yet increment in fares. Why?
Government considered the fact that there was enough notice before the increment. Governor had to do that because most of the buses run on diesel and the prices just went through the roof and there was no way they could cope.
BRT services is actually not for profit making, because if you’re talking about profit and you give it to private sector people who want to charge appropriate rates, many Lagosians will not be able to afford them.
Alternative means of transportation?
We are building the infrastructure for the Blue Line Rail system that will take passengers from Marina to Mile 2.
We also have the Redline that will convey passengers from Oyingbo to Agabado, both of them will be ready at the end of this year.
Few days ago, we saw the trains for the Red Line arrive at the Port, that shows that the rail project that we are working on is an alternative that we are talking about and it’s a linkage among all models of transportation.
If you check the records, you will see that more people are now using our waterways because they have seen that it’s safe and faster and we now have more routes and we are also building, more water jetties in Badagry, Ikorodu and other divisions of the state.
Projects waiting for commissioning
We have over 30 schools to be commissioned. We also have housing projects to be commissioned before the end of the year and jetties are also included.
What happened to the Town Hall meetings?
It is not that the Town Hall meetings are dead. It’s seasonal, it’s just that it’s season hasn’t come. Remember, immediately after the slow down of COVID-19, Mr Governor was in Ikorodu and Ajeromi and this kind of interaction took place and it was supposed to continue but other things crept in.
The interaction between the government and people is still on, but not in its usual format.
Housing Rent Scheme
If you look at the way things work here, everything is like building a house. It is a process. Every project that we are doing, we are putting in all the process.
If Mr Governor says very soon he doesn’t mean it would be delayed. He is someone that stand on his promise.
When he made the pronouncement, he was talking based on the information that he had, there may be other things that may slow down the plans, but once he makes a policy pronouncement, it is something we will follow up and it will be done.
Another thing is that we are working with the private sector on that and once you re working with external people, they are those who will probe so many things before putting pen to paper. Maybe that was what caused the delay.
Street lights
What we are doing about the street light is retrofitting. Some of the street lamps we are used to are not sustainable economically.
It’s not sustainable to spend millions on diesel, it’s not progress, it doesn’t show signs of creativity to be spending millions on street lights.
We are trying to connect everything to our system. Government knows the importance in terms of security, beauty, safety, we will all love all the street lamps to be on time, everytime.
By the time we finish the retrofitting, the whole state will be better lit than it is at the moment.
Policy implementation with respect to beggars, body cams for security agents
On the body cameras, the security agencies are supposed to be trained and because of numbers involved, not many of them are using it at the moment, but we have deployed the ones available to the officers and they are using it for the purpose it was meant for.
But the move is a bold attempt to make technology to work, to do most of the things we used to do manually.
By the time we finish the laying of cable around the state (the fibre optic ducts), and there is faster internet, mobile companies will key into this and activities around the city will be seamless.
(Street begging) Lagos is a victim of its own success, people are coming in droves into Lagos and many of them come with the intention to come and beg, what government is doing apart form picking those kids and putting them in places where they can be rehabilitated, the people that are sending them, Government is ensuring it put them before trial.
The government is doing a lot to ensure we clear Lagos of beggars, but it is an herculean job because we are prohibited by the law from sending people back to where they are coming from, the constitution allows for freedom of movement, and because things are happening in other parts of the country, Lagos is seen as safe haven away from the states with banditry, terrorism and others
For us to tackle this problem we are going to continue to increase our advocacy and at the same time enforcement.
Payment of taxes?
Let me just thank Lagosians that are paying theirs taxes, people always talk about Lagos being very rich and what are you doing with the money.
Lagos has about six million tax payers out of about 25 million population and of this six million, only 4.2 million are active tax payers.
And most of them are from what you get from LIRS people who are working for companies and their taxes are being deducted from thier pay, we call them pay-as-you-earn. That is where the bulk of the tax is coming from.
There are still so many big people who don’t pay taxes in Lagos and there are so may companies that try to dodge taxes, but LIRS is working to see that the tax net is expanded to see that those that are supposed to pay are paying.
It will be nice to know that many Lagosians are coming up by themselves to seek information on how to pay taxes, because they have seen the projects that the government is doing with the tax collected. I feel a lot can still be done to bring more people into tax net.
CCTV, LAWMA
The smart city project will allow the laying of the cables which will boost the technology and the Close Circuit Cameras, CCTV, can be more functional and internet can be faster, so that everything that needs to be done to enable communication can be easier.
People not behaving well in the way they are supposed to? We cannot blame government for all this. Lagosians are sophisticated people because we are rational, proud to be enlightened and educated. So, because of our ability to know what is right and be able to clean the environment.
I don’t think people should wait for the government to make environment cleaners.
When you look at some parts of the world, you see that flooding has claimed so many lives, and Lagos has also been warned this year and you have seen that what we have in Lagos are just flash flood once the roads are flooded, three hours after, the water has disappear, it is the kind of money the State Government has invested in clearing the drainage system
People should know what is right and how to protect your environment so that it works for you. For us to be able to leave legacies for our children, we are planting trees.
All of us have joint responsibility to ensure that our environment is clean. And I believe LAWMA is doing better than it used to do. When the Sanwo-Olu administration came, it was heap of refuse around Lagos.
We have seen the expansion of Olusosun and other waste dumpsites and with the waste recycling initiatives by the government.
Message to Lagosians
Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu is quite appreciative of thier support and he is never going to take it for granted and they should continue to support him.
He has the interest of the people at heart and his own is that Lagosians must be happy and Lagos must be put in the right place, as the pride of the back man, and that Lagos will continue to succeed so that all of us all over the world can be proud that we have a state that is economically stable, with true leadership, leadership that loves the people and anytime he calls on them to do one thing or the other for him, they are going to back him.
