President Tinubu, You Are Forgetting Lagos -By Dele Sobowale

Dear President Bola Tinubu, from records available to me, you have always claimed Lagos Island in Lagos State as your home. If that is true, your visit to Lagos during the Yuletide in December did not reflect it. You came with a battalion of soldiers – mostly non-Lagosians – like a conqueror; not like a native son returning to celebrate with his people. Your presence at the Central Mosque, on Broad Street, which was modernised by a group of patriotic Lagosians, led by late Alhaji Abdulwahab Iyanda Folawiyo, 1928-2008, CON, exhibited none of the attributes of a family member. It was more like a satrap on inspection tour of his conquered territory.

To be quite candid, it would have been regarded as offensive – even if a non-Yoruba President had done the same thing to us. At least then we would have dismissed it as tribalism. But, how on Earth, can we explain that the slaps in our faces were delivered by one of our own. For us, it hurts too much to laugh; but, we have become too immune to official insults to cry. Were you paying us back for your loss of Lagos State in the presidential election last year? If so, it was a serious mistake. You actually need to find out why that happened. But, let me help you out a little bit.

FG LEGACIES IN LAGOS – 1975 TO 2024

“History is record of what has happened in the past”. Old Boys of Igbobi College of my set, 1958-1962, remember that line till today. However, I will not bother you and readers with how the line still sticks in my memory in 2024. It is merely sufficient to draw your attention to the fact that virtually all the major developments in Lagos were the legacies left behind by other Nigerians – northerners in fact.

The Federal Secretariat, now wasting away, the National Theatre and the Eko Bridge were legacies of the Gowon administration. The original Murtala Muhammed Airport, MM1, Tin Can Island and the Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonshoki Expressway leading to it; as well as Federal Government Colleges, Ijanikin and Ketu were legacies of the short-lived Murtala Muhammed regime. Right now, Lagos traffic is once again more chaotic than usual – all because the Third Mainland Bridge is partly closed. Elected President Shehu Shagari, who also opened the Bonny Camp Road to Epe, started the bridge; General Babangida finished it. Obasanjo ruled Nigeria for eleven years without leaving a single monument to remind us of his leadership. In eight of those years, 1999-2007, he was fully supported by Chief Bode George – who was a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Together, they had nothing to show the people of Lagos that they cared about our welfare.

Since 1999 till today, sixteen years of civilian rule under the PDP passed without any effort to improve Lagos State. This has been followed by eight years rule under the All Progressives Congress, APC; a party which you helped to form.

Look around Sir, and you will be astonished to discover that Buhari and APC also did nothing for Lagos. They could not even maintain most of the legacies left behind by others. Under Buhari, trailers and trucks blocked Eko Bridge, Apapa Wharf Road for two years and crippled our export drive. They permanently closed down the Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonsoki Expressway till today. By the time Buhari left last year, Third Mainland Bridge was a death trap. That summarises the situation up to May 29, 2023.

SOCIAL WELFARE ALLOCATIONS

Lagos State was not only routinely cheated from the standpoint of infrastructures provided by the Federal Government, the state was deliberately robbed by political leaders with regard to social welfare allocations as three examples will illustrate – again with PDP and your APC playing ignominious roles. It is probably pertinent to add that the outcome of the presidential election in Lagos in 2023 was a true reflection of the feelings of the people. The PDP and APC governments in Abuja had taken Lagos for a terrible ride in 24 years. That was why Obi came first here. Here is more evidence for you to ponder.

Shortly after resuming office in 2023, Obasanjo ordered N10 billion to be released from the Federation Account to prosecute his Poverty Alleviation Programme, PAP – without approval from the National Assembly, NASS. The late Chief Anenih, aka Mr Fix it, was placed in charge. Each of the 774 Local Governments was allocated a fixed amount to pay young people N10, 000 a month to work for six months only. From start to finish, nobody knew how many people PDP chieftains engaged. Few people in Lagos Island reported knowing anybody employed in the entire LGC.

In 2015 Buhari staggered into office and announced the Social Investment Programme, SIP; promising a lot of free money and food to poor Nigerians. The 2016 Budget submitted by Buhari included N500 billion for SIP; about N350 billion was eventually spent. School Feeding Programme received the largest allocation. The person in charge was your former Commissioner in Lagos State – a position which launched him into prominence. Apart from the allegations of funds misappropriation while running the programme from 2015 to 2019, Ogun and Osun states were allocated the lion’s share of the school feeding programme. But Lagos received next to nothing. Was it because there were no poor kids in Lagos needing to be helped? Even the recipients of the little in Lagos State are shrouded in mystery. Thus, if Ms Umar Farouk is being carpeted for activities in the Ministry from 2019 to 2023, we should, in all fairness start from 2015 to probe.

This is the sixth time I will touch upon this particular matter. As the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs was being raided, the Ministry of Labour was also involved in its own scandal.

‘774,000 jobs: FG goes after defaulting banks’ (VANGUARD, JUNE 22, 2021)

As usual, using the poor people as cover for questionable activities, Buhari’s Minister of State, Festus Keyamo, had, months earlier, told Nigerians that the FG was going to provide jobs for three months for 774, 000 youths – 1, 000 in each LG. They would be paid N20, 000 per month. The funds were released by government and promptly ended up in various bank accounts. Again, using Lagos Island as my starting point, but venturing to Ogun and Oyo states, it became clear that nobody actually knows how many kids were engaged. We have not been able to locate one young person in Lagos Island who was employed. So, I keep asking Mr Keyamo, “who received the funds allocated to Lagos Island or to the entire state for that matter?”

It would amount to willful discrimination if Ms Umar-Farouk is being grilled over N37 billion and Keyamo is not asked to account for N52 billion. In whose accounts in those defaulting banks were the funds kept? I will not rest until what belongs to our kids is given to them. And, neither should you Mr President.

IWOLOKAN

“History does not repeat itself; man does” – Prof. Barbara Tuchmann.

By the time this article is published, you would have completed eight months in office. During that time, two palliatives were declared – after you declared that “fuel subsidy is gone” and exchange rates will be harmonised. The promise to pay workers N35, 000 per month for six months has not been fulfilled beyond October in Lagos; there is no bus running on gas and less than 200 benefitted from the 50 per cent fare reduction.

Few went home for Christmas because there was cash scarcity which the CBN could not prevent. Lagos Island was ghostly as you could testify yourself. That was why your battalion was received by sombre-looking people on Nnamdi Azikiwe Street. “Ebi npa wa”, meaning “We are hungry”, was their message. Nothing could be clearer. I assumed then that there was nothing to give; and because “you can’t give what you don’t have”, nothing could be done about those empty bellies standing on the road to watch well-fed individuals drive past them to pray to Allah.

Suddenly, the rumour mills started rolling. It was alleged that the Presidency had given N200 million and N100 million worth of rice to every Senator and member of the House of Representatives in the NASS. That means, at least, one trillion naira worth of rice landed in Lagos State – your home state; as you claim. Once again, Lagos Island is the weather-vane for determining where and how the wind is blowing on matters like this. We have a Senator and House Member; but, we have no idea what happened to our share of rice. That raises several questions.

Was rice actually allocated to federal lawmakers? How much? And, what happened to the rice?

Certainly Mr President, you don’t want to join the list of the people who hide behind helping the poor to misappropriate funds. I am willing to give you the benefit of doubt on this matter. But, please find out what happened to the rice. Otherwise you too will be accused of forgetting Lagos.

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