by Jubril Lekan
The mantra “Lagos is working” has come to stay irrespective of the person at the helms of affairs, Lagos seems to always work probably because of its metropolitan and modern urban character which condemns whoever emerge as its administrator to succeed no matter the circumstance of his or her emergence or political background. Perhaps, this is what differentiates Lagos from all other states in Nigeria, Lagos would always work, and every new leader it produces always strive to outdo his predecessor. In Lagos, there seems to be a blue print, a master plan that they all follow evangelistic fervour, so that governor Ambode would always make mention of his predecessor implying that he intends building on what he initiated and continuing from where he stopped. A critical observer of the goings in Lagos would discover that most of the connecting streets or inner roads in Lagos are been given attention, not exactly major roads this time, of course this is not to say that he has not also devoted his attention to that. Lagos state government has spent about 19.4 billion naira on 114 inner roads in 57 local government areas and local council development areas which have all been completed. This is exactly what Lagos is doing in a recession, stimulating its economy through infrastructural development and linking every nooks and crannies of the state.
The beauty of this project is that, the construction was done by 89 indigenous contractors thereby creating jobs for over 5000 construction professionals, artisans and about 10,000 labourers indirectly. According to the governor, the roads span across 56.1kilometres with walkways of 112 kilometres, drainages and 56 kilometres of independently powered street lights. What better way to boost its mega polis status. The selection of the roads for construction was based on the concept of inclusive governance where government policies and projects would be driven by the needs of the people. The CDAs were told to identify roads in need of improvement in their areas; the state government received hundreds of requests, but eventually picked two roads in each local government.
Can you confirm this projects in your local government area; also we would like to have your opinion on the project.