By Enitan Olukotun<\/p>\n
Immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Raji
\nFashola,(SAN) as a football enthusiast understands the pain star
\nplayer goes through when benched for a less skillful player. While the
\nstar player would be concerned about his career, millions of fans
\naround the globe would be grappling to know why the coach fails to
\nshow Messi when the game became unbearable.
\nMost often, in the game of football , teams handlers and their
\nmanagers have genuine altruistic, not self-serving motive of resting
\ntheir bests. But in politics, it is a jungle game. Treacherous
\nintrigues and use of fiery darts are part of the rules of the games.
\nThe foregoing aptly captured what I observed at the 10th Bola Tinubu
\nColloquium held at the Eko Hotels on last Thursday.
\nIt was astonishing to watch an erstwhile poster boy and the beacon of
\nhope of then opposition, Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN), which later
\nmorphed to APC reduced to an ordinary spectator in a state he governed
\nfor 8 years.
\nFashola, an arguable super performer who raised the bar of service
\ndelivery in governance in Nigeria watched the event from his seat at
\nthe second row designated for ministers. But Fashola didnt belong to
\nthe second row at such an historic event.
\nDespite his shortcomings, he stood to be counted when it mattered most
\nfor Lagos ruling political class. The bellwether minister who should
\nbe a proud host of President Muhammadu Buhari was mistaken for a
\ngrade-B guest in Lagos, his home state.
\nIf the position of his seat was immaterial, the none-role for Fashola
\nat such an epoch event which had the President in attendance was a
\nrift taken too far. He was not even graced with honour to supervise
\nthe cutting of the cake nor given the task for vote of thanks. Yet,
\nFashola is the actualizer of modern Lagos.
\nIf Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo unwittingly grouped Fashola among the
\nministers while saluting dignitaries, it was obviously not an
\noversight for the celebrator, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu not to specifically
\nrecognize his successor. For Tinubu, there would not have been a
\nbetter opportunity to demonstrate to the people who scorned and
\nexpressed doubt about his role as chief peace missioner in APC that he
\nmeant business.
\nThis systematic degrading and humiliation of the former governor
\ndidnt start last Thursday. On the occasion to celebrate Governor
\nAkinwunmi Ambodes 100 days in office, similar treatment was meted to
\nFashola whom was said not to have been invited by Lagos State
\nGovernment but for Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo who prevailed on him
\nto join his entourage to Lagos. He was not accorded the honour to
\ncommission any of the projects not even the LASEMA Emergency Centre in
\nCappa, Oshodi, which he (Fashola) had completed before he left office
\nas the governor.
\nThe political stature and influence of Tinubu would have shrunk like
\nother governors in class 1999 if Fashola had not been a great
\nsuccessor. The lion of Bourdillon could roar and expanded his
\npolitical conquest to other terrains because his successor was
\nsucceeding at home. The former Chief of Staff turned governor was a
\npolitical bulwark for Tinubu.
\nTinubu, perhaps would have ceased to be Jagaban of Lagos, not even the
\ntouted Africa, if Fashola was like Theodore Orji, the successor of
\nOrji Uzor Kalu of Abia State who schemed out the boss of relevance and
\nretired Kalu politically turning him to a stateman without a state.
\nThere were ample opportunities for Fashola to retire Tinubu. But he
\nwas benevolent to his benefactor. In 2006 in the run up to 2017
\ngeneral elections, when the speculation of stopping BRF for second
\nterm was rife, Fashola had the best chance to forever cage the lion of
\nBourdillon politically but he deferred to Tinubu.
\nThe popularity of Fashola occasioned by his sterling performance in
\nthe areas of infrastructure, education, environment, health and his
\nrespect for social contract that existed between the governed and
\nthose in authorities was palpable and could not be denied by his most
\nvitriolic critic .
\nFashola became a strong brand, a mass movement peopled and driven by
\nLagosians. If he had jumped ship, victory was certain and that would
\nhave signaled the political eclipse of Jagaban Borgu. For this
\nsingular honour, Tinubu should be eternally grateful to a loyal and
\ncompetent protg despite the recent fallouts.
\nFormer governor Fashola was a great asset in dislodging the behemoth
\nPDP. He modeled a seemingly working template for other aspirants in
\nthe then opposition to market to voters in their respective states.
\nMany rode on the crest of his popularity and exemplary leadership to
\npower.
\nAgain, despite the wrangling of the APC governorship primaries, in
\n2015 Fashola enlisted to campaign vigorously for a former Accountant
\nGeneral in the state, Akinwunmi Ambode as the flag bearer of the All
\nProgressives Congress, APC in Lagos. He took Ambode round Lagos
\nassuring Lagosians of his credibility and ability to deliver. They
\nmounted rostrum together to canvass for votes. Unlike Ambode, Fashola
\nwas a match for the PDPs Jimi Agbaje who is imbue with great charisma
\nand gift of gab.
\nFashola did the most of the talking all through the campaign trail.
\nFashola fantastically marketed Ambode as yet another performer who
\nwill consolidate his achievements and chart greater development path
\nfor Lagos. While Fashola was firing darts at PDP-controlled federal
\ngovernment led by Goodluck Jonathan, the former governor and the
\ncampaigner in chief was hitting Jimi Agbaje below the belt in Lagos.
\nShortly after Ambode emerged winner in a fiercely contested election,
\nan agenda and campaign to totally alienate Fashola from the political
\nlandscape of Lagos was afoot. The first salvo was the revelations of
\nalleged odious multi-million Naira deals Fashola cut while in office.
\nThe Ambode-led government regaled the public on how Fashola dug two
\nbore-holes for a whopping N139 million and designed personal website
\nfor N78 million.
\nThe alleged sleaze alarmed Lagosians who had earlier adored Fashola
\nas a saint. The image and reputation of the former governor were
\nirreparable shattered while he strove in vain shrug off the stigma of
\na treasury looter.
\nAgainst all expectations, President Muhammadu Buhari ignored the
\nglaring allegations of corruption against Fashola and made him the
\nmost influential and powerful minister in his cabinet saddling him
\nwith onerous duty to oversee three critical ministries of Power, Works
\nand Housing.
\nAs Fashola moved to Abuja, political associates and friends of the
\nformer governor were wielded out of the Lagos State system. Permanent
\nSecretaries and heads of agencies perceived to be loyal to Fashola
\nincluding the sister of the former governor were rudely shown the
\ndoor. In the same manner, structures at the grassroots suspected to be
\nsympathetic to the minister were either dislodged or coerced into the
\nnew emergent force.
\nIn furtherance of the campaign to run the former governor out of
\nrelevance and obliterate his achievements from the consciousness of
\nLagosians, there were systematic efforts to undo Fasholas feats. The
\nPSPs waste management scheme set up by Fashola was disbanded for
\nVisionscape, a foreign environmental services firm which is enmeshed
\nin controversies. Kick Against Indiscipline brigades was replaced with
\nLagos Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC).
\nThe Ilubirin Housing Scheme which was under construction before the
\nformer governor left office is abandoned. No single brick has been
\nadded since Fashola left Lagos. This writer also gathered that
\nGovernor Akinwunmi Ambode is yet to allot parcel of land for Fashola
\nto build Federal Housing Scheme for Lagosians which many states have
\nplugged into.
\nThe consequence of the Ambode\/Fashola faceoff is dire on Lagos. A
\nbustling city plagued by huge housing deficit should not be denied of
\na Federal-government housing scheme because of rift between two
\nleaders within the same political family.<\/p>\n
Enitan Olukotun, a journalist wrote from Lagos<\/p>\n
By Enitan Olukotun Immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola,(SAN) as a football enthusiast understands the pain star player goes through when benched for a less skillful…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n