Press Releases

Fashola Declines To Commission Project, Insists On Quality

May 26, 2008 - Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Monday declined to commission the newly developed multi purpose storey office and shopping complex situated at Obafemi Awolowo way in Ikeja because of the substandard finishing of the complex.

Governor Fashola who spoke at Ikeja in the course of his second day of his on-going tour of projects in the state which took him to Lagos West Senatorial District added that henceforth the government would no longer accept any half measure or management in quality of projects.

He added that his administration would no longer accept any situation where a structure that is not on sound footing is allowed to stand, insisting that the administration is ready to ensure that if it fails to get it right the first time it would start it all over again.

Said he: “structurally the building looks good, but we need to pay attention to the finishing. We are not going to manage anymore, if we don’t get it right, we won’t use it. If we get it wrong , we will bring it down and start again”.

Continuing, Fashola said: “we are not going to compromise with any contractor. There is nothing wrong with the building, it is just that we think much more detail should be paid to the finishing. The same king of attention we paid to structure should be paid to the soft furnishing and other details”

The Governor who also commissioned the State Digital village asserted that it would provide business opportunities to indigent young professionals like draughtsmen, architects and artists who cannot pay the bills of renting formal offices to have access to computers to transact their businesses.

He added that the digital village would also serve as a certified training centre for reputable organisations like Microsoft and CISCO among others so that the facilities present at the centre can also be used to improve the capability of young Nigerians.

Governor Fashola who also commissioned the rebranded Lagos State Fire Service and Safety office at Alausa promised that the State would purchase more water tankers to accompany fire fighting trucks.

He added that the move would ensure an end to the problem of water scarcity which has been responsible for slowing down the pace of the organisation’s response to fire incidents across the state.

He asserted that the state Government has not jettisoned the proposed new state drivers license scheme insisting that it is still putting finishing touches to some of the facilities that would allow the system take off successfully.

He explained that the programme is still on course and that some of the facilities at the driving school in Oshodi such as the simulator is not fully ready.

He also informed that the first phase of the Ago Palace Way expansion project and bridge would be completed by October this year.

The Lagos State Governor inspected the prototype building containing 24 courtrooms of four floors at Ogba under construction and asked the Permanent Secretary of the Office of Works to ensure that the building takes cognisance of the physically challenged who might need to gain access to it before it is completed.

At the construction site of the gorge at Yaya Abatan Street, Governor Fashola was received by a tumultuous crowd of residents and opinion leaders in the Yaya Abatan area who expressed appreciation to the Governor for embarking on the project.

The Governor appealed to the people to exercise patience with the State Government, promising that more roads and channelisation projects would be embarked upon as time goes on, adding that as long as there are human settlements, there would be development challenges.

At the site of the upgraded and rehabilitated General Hospital at Ifako- Ijaiye, Governor Fashola inspected the level of work and directed that the marble floor of the X-ray Centre should be removed as it was too slippery and could endanger the lives of patients at the hospital.

Governor Fashola inspected ongoing work at Iju road- Fagba via station and the Adiyan River which is scheduled for dredging; saying the need to dredge the Adiyan River was one of the challenges of Lagos as a coastal state.

He charged the community at Adiyan to cooperate with the contractor as the project progresses and also asked the residents to always report there observations on the project to the state.

At the Ekoro-Abule Egba road which is one of the roads listed in the rehabilitation plans of the state and expected to link Abeokuta expressway and serve as a bye pass and complete the link between Meiran , Ajasa, Command and Ayobo, Governor Fashola was told by the Special Adviser on Works and Infrastructure Engineer Ganiyu Johnson that the project has already passed 70 percent completion stage.

He told the people to expect more goodies from the present administration in Lagos State but that they should be ready to pay their taxes when due.

Governor Fashola was also at the Skills acquisition centre at Egan where inspected the level of work and commended the quality of work done of the edifice.

The Lagos State helmsman rounded up the visit with a tour of some projects like the BTL Health and Diagnostic centre and expressed satisfaction with the level of work carried out at the complex.