Two years of Ambode, power of clear vision

By May 29, the present administration of Governor Akinwumi Ambode would be two years in office. Ardent critics of the administration, that is if there are, would agree that Governor Ambode has proved his capability to manage a cosmopolitan and the most populous state in Nigeria. Indeed, when the governor was taking over from his predecessor in office and current Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, there were palpable fears about whether he would fit into what was considered then as the big shoes left by Fashola. Ambode seems to have done better than that. Having seen that Fashola shoes were becoming rather too tight, he had built or should we say, constructed his own shoes and has made it bigger.
Not only has he been able to take Lagos to the next level, he is definitely surpassing the achievements of his predecessor in office within his two years. As  a journalist, one is trained to be skeptical, keeping one’s counsel until there are evidence to convince one about the true situation of things. Not only that, in Nigeria, Government’s efforts are often waved away “dismissally”, especially when one considers the non-performance of the past. But in Ambode’s case,  the facts of his good performance are too glaring to be dismissed with a wave of the hand. Though I have never met the governor except at a distance, but his works speak for him.
When he took over governance, one of the major projects he embarked on was the electrification of Lagos roads. We were all skeptical. Would this not be one of those projects that would be started, completed with the light coming on only on the day of commissioning? How would such be sustained? We all wanted to know. But he did it. Today, most Lagos roads are lighted. It wasn’t a flash in the pan. Places like Oshodi, Abeokuta expressway and inner city roads area also enjoying good street lights. Presently, work is ongoing to light up the remaining part of the Apapa-Oshodi expressway. Indeed, no road  is completed without the accompanying street light, unlike the situation in the past.
A major area that the governor is equally making impact is in the construction of roads and expansion of previous ones in order to reduce traffic congestion. Who would have known that solution could be found to the perennial traffic that keeps vehicles moving at snail’s speed on the third Mainland bridge especially during closing hours? Commuters would spend hours from Adeniji area on the third mainland bridge to Oworonshoki. It only took a little creativity to solve the problem, with the construction of a park for vehicles which makes it easy to move in and out while dropping passengers at the  Oworonshoki end of the bridge. It was the same creativity that helped to ease traffic from that stretch of the road to the old toll gate/ Berger axis. In Ogudu, a little park was also created. Those going into the Alapere estate have no business being on the main thoroughfare. It was a very ingenious way of solving a perennial problem. But what really showcased the brilliance of the administration is the solution provided around Berger in Ojodu. Apart from expanding the road to accommodate a park for vehicles coming from the Alapere end to drop their passengers, a side road was also created for those going into Isheri area, they thus have no business coming towards the Berger bridge. For pedestrians who cross the roads in that area, one of the longest pedestrian bridges I have ever seen was constructed across the express making it easy to walk from the expressway and drop at the Ojodu bus stop, thus eliminating the danger and the attendant traffic occasioned by pedestrians crossing the road. Provision was also made for vehicles coming into Lagos as the practice of dropping commuters on the express has been  eliminated with the construction of a side road that takes vehicles from the Berger end of the Ibadan-Lagos expressway to the Ojodu garage. It was such a simple, ingenious solution that one kept asking why nobody had though about this before. But that is always the case with great ideas.
Those are just the tip of the iceberg, many other parts of Lagos have become huge construction sites. A new flyover bridge had been constructed in Abule Egba. This has eased traffic congestion in the axis. Those coming from Sango-old toll gate to Oshodi have no business with those going to Agege. Also on the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, the road is being expanded for the BRT lane that would start from Oshodi to Abule Egba. Inner roads in that axis are not left out. A particular road, old Otta road where my house is, is still a surprise. I had given up hope that any administration would ever remember the area. I never even knew the area was even charted, you can imagine my surprise when construction started on that road a few months back. Off the Lagos-Abeokuta road by Kollington bus stop, named after popular Fuji Musician, Kollington Ayinla, is another surprise road construction, the AIT/Raypower road. After ending at the Radio/TV station, the construction again veered off into communities like Amikanle, Ayetobi to link with Command Secondary school. From there one can either link up with Aboru or Abesan estate and come out by Iyana Ipaja. It is really an exciting adventure for Lagosians. I am excited because there are now many options to chose from when moving in and out of that axis. I never thought it was possible. That’s on the mainland.
The Ajah axis of the state also had a taste of the good life. The governor had earlier commissioned the Ajah flyover earlier on Wednesday,  May 17 before the commissioning of the Abule Egba flyover on the same day. The two bridges were christened Jubilee bridges in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the state. To provide alternative to the Lekki/Ikoyi bridge, the governor equally commissioned the Freedom and Admirality roads. Indeed, there’s a vision for some of the projects being embarked upon by the governor, this was captured in one of his speeches during the commissioning.
“As a government, we are irrevocably committed to making Lagos State an investment haven and we have made it a duty to put in place top class infrastructure that will facilitate movement of people, goods and materials. We are confident that these initiatives will boost commercial activities in this axis, support economic growth and significantly reduce travel time as well as other costs associated with traffic challenges.”
This, one can say captures the essence of governance under Ambode. There seems to be a vision in most of what the administration is doing in the state. This is what other states should also emulate, even at the federal level. There should be visions driving projects that government at all levels embark on. The era of starting projects for self aggrandizement should be a thing of the past. Nigeria should move beyond the mistakes of the past and take its position in the comity of developing nations of the world. Achieving this is not rocket science. Successive administrations in Lagos have shown what the power of ideas can achieve. From the administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who laid the building blocks in 1999, through Fashola and now Ambode, Lagos has clearly shown that with power creativity and vision, a lot could be achieved in terms of development.
But the special appreciation should go to Tinubu, who handpicked his successor, in spite of oppositions and gave firm support for Ambode’s emergence, Lagos is definitely on a roll. And hear Ambode: “People should understand that I am a dreamer and I want the people to dream along with me. This is like a vision. I sit down here as Governor, I have been given the opportunity to process something and improve on it. That is the singular opportunity that this office bestows on me and I don’t want to misuse it. I have lived in this city for over 50 years. What I see is wrong. I don’t like it and I want to change it.”
But a word of caution, the governor should know he has set a standard which must be maintained in the next two years, if he relents in the pursuit of that standard, we will not hesitate to take him on. But presently, he has walked his talks that he would change  Lagos and make it a different city.