By Gboyega Akinsanmi.
A battle line seems to have been drawn as the
Lagos State Government Tuesday took a swipe at the federal government,
saying the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan had nothing to
report to mark its second anniversary in office.
This was contained in a statement issued by the state Commissioner
for Information and Strategy, Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba, in reaction to the
inflammatory comments allegedly made by the Minister of Information, Mr.
Labaran Maku, on the achievements of Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN).
Ibirogba, in the statement expressed disappointment that the minister could deny monumental achievements, which the he said Fashola's administration had recorded within a period of six years.
He added that the minister should have taken time to research into some of Fashola's performance, which he said the government had received accolades even from leaders of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He explained that all Maku would have done was "to concentrate more on the achievements of the federal government if there was any and if there was nothing to report, he could still have done himself a world of good by keeping quiet than exposing himself to such ridicule through unguarded statements credited to him.
"One is not perturbed by his behaviour since it has become his stock in trade going by the way of his earlier outburst on the National Assembly for which he later had to apologise when the House of Representatives cautioned him."
The commissioner observed that the issue of environmental sanitation, which he said the minister raised apparently, betrayed his understanding of the pedestal for good governance in any society.
"It becomes apparent that the minister was befuddled by the state of development in Lagos, the nation's former capital that had been left to rot away but which the Fashola administration is taking to higher heights.
"That the BRT buses run on federal government roads is quite laughable. One may wish to ask that since the capital moved to Abuja, who has been maintaining most of the infrastructure left behind by the federal government.
"The questions are why has the Lagos-Ibadan road becoming daunting to the federal government and why has the federal government failed to replicate the BRT system in Abuja or all over the country."
He said the minister should have taken a trip to Lagos "to see the expansion of the Lagos-Badagry expressway into a 10-lane highway with ;ight rail and BRT lanes, the 39km Eti-Osa -Lekki-Epe Expressway, the recently commissioned cable-stayed bridge linking Lekki and Ikoyi communities."
He also urged Maku "to see the ongoing expansion of Mile 12-Ikorodu Road, greater attention to water transportation, the infrastructural facilities being provided all over Lagos and several other people-oriented programmes, before concluding erroneously that Fashola has not done anything in Lagos.
"Recently, President Jonathan was hosted alongside the former US President, Mr. Bill Clinton at the commissioning of the Eko Atlantic City where President Jonathan pledged that the federal government will replicate the project in other parts of the country and yet Fashola has done nothing.
Ibirogba, in the statement expressed disappointment that the minister could deny monumental achievements, which the he said Fashola's administration had recorded within a period of six years.
He added that the minister should have taken time to research into some of Fashola's performance, which he said the government had received accolades even from leaders of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He explained that all Maku would have done was "to concentrate more on the achievements of the federal government if there was any and if there was nothing to report, he could still have done himself a world of good by keeping quiet than exposing himself to such ridicule through unguarded statements credited to him.
"One is not perturbed by his behaviour since it has become his stock in trade going by the way of his earlier outburst on the National Assembly for which he later had to apologise when the House of Representatives cautioned him."
The commissioner observed that the issue of environmental sanitation, which he said the minister raised apparently, betrayed his understanding of the pedestal for good governance in any society.
"It becomes apparent that the minister was befuddled by the state of development in Lagos, the nation's former capital that had been left to rot away but which the Fashola administration is taking to higher heights.
"That the BRT buses run on federal government roads is quite laughable. One may wish to ask that since the capital moved to Abuja, who has been maintaining most of the infrastructure left behind by the federal government.
"The questions are why has the Lagos-Ibadan road becoming daunting to the federal government and why has the federal government failed to replicate the BRT system in Abuja or all over the country."
He said the minister should have taken a trip to Lagos "to see the expansion of the Lagos-Badagry expressway into a 10-lane highway with ;ight rail and BRT lanes, the 39km Eti-Osa -Lekki-Epe Expressway, the recently commissioned cable-stayed bridge linking Lekki and Ikoyi communities."
He also urged Maku "to see the ongoing expansion of Mile 12-Ikorodu Road, greater attention to water transportation, the infrastructural facilities being provided all over Lagos and several other people-oriented programmes, before concluding erroneously that Fashola has not done anything in Lagos.
"Recently, President Jonathan was hosted alongside the former US President, Mr. Bill Clinton at the commissioning of the Eko Atlantic City where President Jonathan pledged that the federal government will replicate the project in other parts of the country and yet Fashola has done nothing.
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