How the governor and his men rule Lagos – RAJI FASHOLA UNSCRIPTED (1)on July 07, 2013 at 12:00 am in Politics By Jide Ajani This is the story of the Lagos State Executive Council, EXCO! More importantly, however, it is the storyof a state governor, Babatunde RajiFashola, and how the state EXCO takes decisions that affect the millions of people living in the state. It is a story that is at once compelling and revealing. From the very serious to the very mundane and sometimes ridiculous, spending about 11hours observing the EXCO members and their chairman invokes a feeling of appreciation regarding what it takes to govern the complex state called Lagos. This is a first part in what can be described as a fairly formal environment. Another session, open-ended, would be presented. “E mi-o ni gba o” (I no go gree-o, I won’t allow it) Abraham Lincoln once said that “if you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend”. That, perhaps, is what has kept Lagos State together under the governorship of Babatunde Raji Fashola. At first, it was like a very difficult pill to swallow for Lagosians – his style, the need to change Lagos State and make it a mega city, the demolitions, the new rules he created on how to operate and govern; the apolitical posturing, sometimes bordering on the stiff-necked – because the old style, the affable, politically induced aura of inclusiveness and tolerance that his successor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had created, was seen by many as a template for success in governance. But here was a man, a gangling lawyer, thrust upon a polity of clashing socio-economic-religious and political interests, in a manner most shocking; and pushing an agenda that was considered alien and finicky! It was so bad that even between Fashola and Tinubu, there was a disagreement on matters of style
Posted on: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 09:07:47 +0000
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