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Phrank Shaibu, Special Assistant, Public Communication to the PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar has described Bola Tinubu, the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress as the worst civilian governor in Lagos.
Shaibu said this in a statement on Sunday, January 15, 2023.
According to him, the best governor of Lagos is Lateef Jakande who governed the state from 1979 to 1983.
Shaibu said, “Tinubu cannot be the best product from Lagos. That title belongs to the late Lateef Jakande who was a disciple of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Jakande built the Lekki-Epe Expressway from scratch, effectively opening up the Lekki Peninsula axis. Jakande constructed the Alausa Government Secretariat and Governor’s Office, the Lagos State University (LASU) and the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ).
“He built all the low-cost housing units in Lagos. Some of the housing units include low cost estates at Amuwo-Odofin, Ijaiye, Dolphin, Oke-Afa, Ije, Abesan, Iponri, Ipaja, Abule Nla, Epe, Anikantamo, Surulere, Iba, Ikorodu, Badagry.
“Jakande built all the general hospitals in Gbagada and Ikorodu as well as LASUTH. He also built 20 health centres in the state. Jakande also constructed most of the primary and secondary schools in Lagos that still stand today.
“Available records stated that Jakande built 11,000 classrooms between March and August 1980 and by 1983, he had built over 22,000 classrooms with 40 pupils per class. The then governor, in exhibiting his passion for education, established a Teacher Training College and a College of Education (COE).”
He said Jakande declared free education at all levels despite inheriting an empty treasury from the military.
He maintained that Jakande was such an outstanding administrator whose tenure as a governor remained a yardstick for good governance in Lagos.
“All these he achieved in just four years. Besides, until his death, the late Jakande lived a modest life around Coker Street, Ilupeju and refused to corner the resources of the state”, he said.
Shaibu further questioned Tinubu’s achievements in Lagos, saying the former governor’s claim that he increased the state’s Internally Generated Revenue from N600 million in 1999 to N5 billion has been fact-checked to be false.
Shaibu said, “Tinubu also claims Lagos was “a jungle, an uncivilised place” when he took over in 1999. This is pure falsehood since Lagos was the headquarters of the stock exchange and the private sector since the 1960s.
“His claim that the entire state had just one ambulance when he took over in 1999 is also impossible to believe and is specious at best.
“Tinubu’s strategy is based on falsehood. He paints a grim picture of Lagos he inherited, describing the state as a jungle and then exaggerates the little achievements he made in his eight years in office but Nigerians must not be fooled.”
He further argued that Tinubu’s successors, Babatunde Fashola, and Akinwunmi Ambode did a much better job in Lagos.
“Tinubu continues to take credit for the work of others even though he himself was a failure in government. He counts 1999 to 2023 as his tenure as Lagos State governor, therefore,appropriating the achievement of other governors and then promises to carry out their exploits on a national level”, he said.
He concluded that if after 23 years, Lagos still does not come up in the top 30 most liveable cities in Africa, there is no guarantee that Tinubu’s administration would fare better in Aso Rock.