900 Days: Sanwo-Olu’s THEMES Agenda In The Mud

By Doris Israel Ijeoma

On Sunday, May 29 2022, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu marked his third year in office as the 15th Governor of Lagos State.

Recall that a major highlight of the inaugural speech of Sanwo-Olu is to make ‘Lagos Greater’.

In order to actually actualize this vision, Mr. Governor devised Project T.H.E.M.E.S, an acronym for his administration’s six strategic development agenda namely, Traffic Management and Transportation, Health and Environment, Education and Technology, Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy, Entertainment and Tourism as well as Security and Governance.

But it is sad to write that Lagos State has become the opposite of the THEMES agenda.

Starting off with Traffic Management and Transportation, the Sanwo-Olu – led administration has failed woefully. Lagos is one of the most congested cities in the world. Commuters spend at least three hours in traffic each day. The roads are clogged and millions of commuters are choked with frustration about the daily hassle. Traffic congestion, with its noise and environmental pollution, takes a huge toll on workers’ mental and physical health.

Health professionals have even linked its overall damage to the increasing rate of suicide in the city. The only time the roads were decongested was during the lockdown. Yet no effort has been made by the Govenor to reduce traffic congestion.

Even the bus rapid transit (BRT) that is meant to reduce the congestion as it has its lane, is sometimes limited. How can there be only 3 buses at the shelter where hundreds of workers throng daily to use the BRT services as it is cheaper?

What about poor healthcare? Findings by the Healthcare Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency, HEFAMAA, shows that in Lagos, there are 26 registered General Hospitals, 256 public healthcare centers, 2, 886 private hospitals or specialist clinics and laboratories or diagnostic centers in addition to an estimated 160 tradomedical centers.

Despite the high number of the health facilities, there are still crowded emergency wards, lack of empathy from health workers and having to wait endlessly before getting a shared room in hospitals.

Sanwo-olu’s performance in the health sector has been abysmal. Investment in infrastructure has been poor, and meager remuneration for health workers has created a massive brain drain to the US and Europe.

Hardly a year passes without a major strike by nurses, doctors, or health consultants. The major reasons for these strikes are poor salaries and lack of government investment in the health sector. Unfortunately, many Lagosians cannot afford private hospitals; they are simply too expensive.

In environment, I wonder what Sanwo-Olu is doing because Lagos is now the second-worst city to live in among 172 cities worldwide, a new report shows.

The revelation is according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in its 2022 ranking of the world’s most liveable cities. The ‘Centre of Excellence’ was ranked 171st of the 172 countries ranked by the EIU.

Whenever it rains in Lagos, the true picture of a mega city in dire need of an improved environmental sanitation becomes obvious. It gets so bad that some of the communities are submerged by flood following overflowing of drainage systems that have been blocked by heaps of refuse.

In this 21st century, pupils are still sitting on bare floor, tyres, broken furniture, classroom windows, and even standing to be taught. It tells us how bad the education system is.

Aside the menace of over-crowded classrooms, deficit of furniture and other learning facilities, another major menace in the state’s education system is the apparent dearth of teachers, as well as alleged heavy tax withdrawal from teachers’ salaries, and the delay in paying them their pension packages, among others. Yet Sanwo-Olu says he is working.

There are no jobs. Every year, universities in the state are releasing graduates, to do what exactly? Even if they manage to get a job, it’s one with a paltry salary.

As part of efforts to reduce the rate of unemployment in Lagos, Sanwo-Olu launched an internship Programme for 4,000 unemployed graduates. The Graduate Internship Placement
Programme (GIPP) is designed to give candidates the opportunity to develop employability and work-ready skills that are needed in securing gainful employment.
But after the six-month internship, what next? And after employing 4000 graduates, what happens to the rest?

Perturbed by incessant crimes in Lagos State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu recently banned commercial motorcycles, popularly called Okada, in six local government areas (LGAs).

The governor explained that the decision was to immediately address the chaos and menace created by Okada riders in the listed areas.

The ban a came days after Okada riders killed and burnt a young sound engineer in Lekki after an argument over N100 balance.

Indeed, robbery and other forms of crime have unleashed pains on Lagos residents.

Infrastructure deficit in many parts of the state, high rate of unemployment and an avalanche of other socio-economic challenges also stare the governor in the face.

As the chief security officer of the state, he had admitted on many occasions the need to stamp out all forms of criminal elements from the state, even as he solicited the collaboration of all stakeholders to tame the ugly trend.

Lagos State witnessed an unprecedented security challenge during the #EndSARS anti-police brutality protests of 2020, which resulted in the destruction of public and private property, including 27 police stations and the Igbosere High Court, among others.

Now Sanwo-Olu has won the APC governorship ticket, hoping to return for second term, I really hope he fulfils his manifesto to make Lagos great again because this is the melting pot for our nation where anybody can come in with a lot of aspirations and do well. Lagos is a state that gives hope to a lot of Nigerians.

Sanwo-Olu do not disappoint Lagosians.