Speeches

Christmas Eve Party Of Island Club, Yoruba Tennis Club

Dec 24, 2009 - At this moment of our national development it is possible to bemoan the opportunities that we missed and in the process be enveloped by a pall of despair that beclouds the real gains that we have made.

As we come to the end of another year I understand the feeling of self assessment and the New Year resolutions and aspirations that were made early in the year and we could not fulfill.

All told, the hard and simple question is this - was this a truly fruitless year? I, don't think everybody in this hall can unanimously say, yes. There have been successes and set backs. We must resolve to build on the successes and see the glass as half full rather than half empty.

Some have thrown up their hands that nothing appears capable of working in this country. But against all of that despondency and despair, a light continues to flicker on this beautiful island called Lagos that you and I have helped to fire and which we must keep burning until we achieve a conflagration of success.

The fact that all is not done does not mean that it cannot be done. It simply signals that you and I, men and women of goodwill still have a lot of work to do. If we give up now, we would be quitting on ourselves. We will be quitting on our children. We will be yielding this space to a few people who mean no good for us. Simply put, they will have won, and we would have lost.

Think of all that we have achieved together. We have taken control of the threat of the Atlantic by resolutely implementing a project, the Eko Atlantic City Project that has received international certification in far away New York; we have delivered a bus system that is now the World Bank's model for Africa; from the dirtiest city, we have become the cleanest State in 2009 as adjudged by the Federal Ministry of Environment; our Transfer Loading Station for solid waste management has become Ghana's model for adoption.

We have overcome some of our greatest security and safety concerns, we now have Emergency Toll free numbers 767 and 112 to call in cases of emergencies, from an insecure State we have reduced violent crime by 79.9% at the end of September 2009 that enabled us host the biggest Eyo Festival, the Nigerian Bar Association Annual Conference of 10,000 lawyers and the U-17 World Cup for 3 (three) weeks without any loss of lives. Traffic is now moving at Oshodi, and it is now lit up at night.

These are only a few examples of how far we have come. But we must remind ourselves how we got here.

We saw that a lack of infrastructure in a city with a growing population was creating desperate conditions and making life difficult. We resolved to arrest the infrastructure deficit and designed a budget for that purpose aimed at alleviating poverty.

You signed on to that commitment, you bought into it. You paid taxes, you encouraged us and in two and half years, Lagos has become one huge construction site.

Roads, bridges, courtrooms, classrooms, jetties, hospitals, water works, drainages, markets, schools, housing estates and so much more are in various stages of completion, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs, removing desperate conditions for law abiding citizens who require legitimate opportunities.

As we approach the conclusion of these major infrastructure deliveries, we must begin the delivery of the most important infrastructure, the Infrastructure of our Minds.

We must renew hope and be positive. We must realize that we all have roles to play. Is traffic not moving because we are shopping in it? Is there refuse because we throw litter out of our cars? Is the drainage blocked and will there be flood because we dump refuse in it?

Are you cheating on the Government by not paying taxes while walking, driving or doing business on roads built with the taxes of others? Are you making more babies than your resources can support while expecting others who pay more taxes than you do, and who do not use public transport, public schools or public hospitals, to fund free health, free education and free housing for you, five wives and eight children?

Are you inducing public officers to treat your file out of turn because you are in a hurry to close a deal when you did not apply on time?

Do you throw your weight around law enforcement agents when they ask you to obey laws or perform your civic duty by reminding them that the Commissioner or the Governor was your classmate?

These and many more are examples of the attitudes that we must resolve to give up. If we sow love, courtesy, timeliness and a new work ethic, I am sure that we will reap their rewards in many fold and our most difficult hurdles will be behind us.

As a Government, we have decided to take the lead here. We are re-examining ourselves and our processes and will be announcing periodic policy changes aimed at serving you better.

We are also convinced that our salvation lies with us and only us can re-build our economy. We will encourage all those who keep money outside this economy to bring them back and invest them in new projects and investments that have a decent return on investment such as toll roads, markets, airports, ferry operations, hospitals and many such projects that we will unveil for the ownership of Nigerians.

As we approach Y2010, I believe that a new era of hope beckons and I urge us to approach it with courage, optimism and a new mind and attitude that represents the can-do-spirit of Lagos.

Thank you for listening.

Eko o ni baje o.

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos State
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