Cover Story
(Editorial) Tinubu and the New Lagos
Since its creation in 1967 by the military government of Gen. Yakubu Gowon, no leader has dominated its affairs and stamped his name and authority in the political landscape as Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. For a man to capture a state that is rich, indeed the richest in both human and material resources, and most enlightened and developed, speaks tremendously of his leadership depth and political sagacity. Some mischievously say, ‘Tinubu is Lagos’.
From 1999 when he emerged as governor in controversial, some would say questionable, circumstances, following the return to democratic rule, he has bestridden the state like a colossus, dictating who gets what, when and how. For a man to control such a mega state for so long without any strong and credible opposition and challenge is instructive of his political strength and leadership capacity. Without question, Tinubu is directly or otherwise responsible for the new status of Lagos as a mega city and an emerging economic power house in the continent.
Like him or not, you cannot in anyway diminish his accomplishments as a leader of a state that is the third largest economy in the sub region. As a microcosm of Nigeria, Lagos is bedeviled with the same political afflictions and governmental challenges, but he has been able to establish a leadership tradition that has become a model of vision, performance and stability. What the state is witnessing today in the ongoing transformation is a testament to his foresight and ability to identify and groom potential leaders who will give their best to the state.
Compared with other states in the country, Lagos now occupies a special position in terms of quality leadership and development. Outside Lagos, there is hardly anywhere in the country where a semblance of governance is taking place simply because the quality of leadership is very abysmally low; and without effective leadership nothing meaningful can be achieved. It is not about picking his successors; so have other governors. Beyond few exceptions like Enugu and Ebonyi states, no governor has emerged without the full endorsement of his predecessor. Also it has nothing to do with one-party dominance of the state, which is applicable to other states; yet the stories are quite different.
So it goes beyond hand-picking your successor. The real factor is what kinds of people are being picked and what is their mandate? In other states, successors are picked to continue the looting and sharing of public resources rather having a plan to change the face of the state and the life of people. This is the missing link in other states – a long term plan to transform their states.
Each governor comes with his own ill-digested and poorly conceived brain-waves, with the sole intent to loot, which leaves the state and people worse than before. So, instead of improving with successive leaders, most of the states have witnessed increasing deterioration in performance and provision of public goods. This is where Lagos is different, and the credit goes to the leadership of Tinubu who since 1999 has continued to follow a definite development plan for the state and the result is clearly evident across the state.
Tinubu laid the foundation of what is happening in Lagos today. Unlike Nigeria and other states where the successor leader is qualitatively worse than its predecessor, Lagos has moved in the superlative trajectory of good, better and best. Tinubu provided good leadership by laying out the broad development framework for the state; his immediate successor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola took it a notch higher by providing practical expression and direction to the plan, while Mr. Akinwumi Ambode has taken to it an unprecedented level.
Lagos clearly proves why the country is not working and how much government can do with commitment, vision, focus, and determination. Lagos is working because there is purposeful leadership; Lagos is working because there is a long term plan, and Lagos is working because there is commitment to the plan. Without these ingredients development cannot be achieved.
Some people would say Lagos is rich and money is not a problem like in other states; may be so, but it does not completely explain the remarkable transformation in the state. Lagos was not oil producing until recently, yet it was able to generate enough money to implement its policies while those oil rich states like Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom are still in the backwater of development. Before he became governor, Lagos IGR was just N600 million; he took it to N6 billion per month. Now the state generates close to N30 billion monthly.
Common perception about his political stranglehold on the state is that it is for selfish reasons. Of course, there is ample evidence and justification for such opinion. But that is looking at the matter from a very narrow and limited understanding. Without being apologetic, the so called selfish interest pales into insignificance when compared to the good it has brought state in terms of purposeful and focused leadership devoid of the petty squabbles that characterize successions in other states.
As the most enlightened and sophisticated set of Nigerians, Lagosians would not have tolerated such monopolistic and highhanded political hegemony if there is nothing in it for them; most residents agree that his control of the state has produced effective and productive governance, although democratically, it leaves much to be desired. Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore did not run the best democratic regime but he took the nation from the third word to the first in a generation.
Edmond Burke, British political philosopher once quipped, “forms of government let fool debate; the best government is what works”. Lagos is working and this newspaper salutes the leadership of Tinubu for the feat in the ocean of despair and paralysis in governance. As former governor Lateef Jakande was responsible for the egalitarian nature of the state, Tinubu would be remembered for taking the state to a modern and mega city status.
