JIMI AGBAJE
Friends of
Jimi Agbaje Worldwide, PDP UK and the old students of St.Gregory College Lagos
organised an interactive fund-raising event tagged ‘An Evening with Jimi
Agbaje’ for Nigerians in diaspora on Sunday January 4th, 2015 in North
London. The amiable gubernatorial
candidate gave an extempore speech as he brilliantly shed light on his
blueprint for a new Lagos – a blueprint that will be beneficial to both the
present and future generations of Lagosians and Nigerians in general.
The
interactive session attracted the crème de la crème of the Nigerian community
in the United Kingdom, Europe, America as well as some invited guests from
Nigeria. Jimi Agbaje, a pharmacist by training and a man described in many
quarters as a political jinx breaker and the voice of the masses, kicked off
his speech by painting a picture of what is really at stake in the forthcoming
elections. He said: “Lagosians must determine the Lagos of their dreams as they
cast their votes for their next Executive Governor. It is up to them to choose either REAL CHANGE
or the continuity of the same old policies that have favoured a few and created
more hardship for the greater part of the population. Let me give you three scenarios to further
explain the give-and-take policies of the current administration:
• Think for second about the commercial
motorcyclists popularly called Okada riders. They were all given safety crash
helmets before the 2011 election by the ruling party. After they won the
election, the government withdrew their crash helmets and seized and destroyed
their motorcycles. This left many of
them without jobs and in deep hardship because their main means of livelihood
was now forcefully taken away from them without any form of palliative measures
put in place.
• In a typical Lagos market, market
women are subjected to N1000 per day levy before they are able to display their
wares for sale. This illegal revenue –
with no proof of official receipt – goes directly into the coffers of the local
government authority completely unaccounted for. The current government’s policies have grayed
out what used to be a clear distinction between taxation and regulation which
has in turn created more hardship for the common man and woman on the street. I
share their concerns and I have assured them that I am their voice.
• Let’s look at the tuition fees at our
state-owned tertiary institutions. The
ruling government recently increased the fees by almost 1000% – beyond the
reach of the average student only to reduce it because the general election was
around the corner. Government actions should not be based solely on politically
expedience at the expense of prioritizing the welfare of its people.
Now the
question is: are our people wiser now? Will it be possible for Lagos’ ruling
party to fool us again given their give-and-take track record of the last
4-years? I don’t think so.”
Jimi Agbaje,
who anchored his conversation on the tripod of Security, Education and Health
spoke on the issue of Lagos as the ‘Mega-City’ of Nigeria. He expressed
disappointment in the whole project whose planning lacks a human face and its
monitoring inefficient. He stated: “From 1999, Lagos’ Internally Generated
Revenue increased from N10 billion to over N400 billion in 2014. Lagos State’s economy has grown exponentially
over the years but at what cost. Lagos State is currently ranked 28th out of
36th state in Nigeria in terms of enforcement of contracts. Lagos is the hardest place to get land titles
in the whole of Nigeria and those of you with lands and properties in Lagos
will understand that story better. Lagos may look fantastic in terms of
structures but it is far from being economically viable especially when you
consider the vast potential of its people.
The Lagos of our dreams must be populated with vibrant, well-skilled and
creative people irrespective of gender, tribes and political background. We must begin too see Lagos as not just an
economic nerve-centre of Nigeria but the commercial centre for West Africa
sub-region and in fact the whole of Africa.”
THE PDP
GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE FURTHER SPOKE ON
THE GENERAL INFRASTRUCTURAL DECAY IN LAGOS STATE:
“The
replacement of Molue buses with BRT buses is a good initiative but the poor
implementation is killing the project.
For example, BRT is gradually becoming another Molue bus. If you move round Lagos’ major roads, you’re likely to notice broken-down BRT buses
blocking the traffic flow to cause more congestion. A Mega-City cannot grow with poor
transportation system. The light-rail
project would definitely further assist the easy transportation of our people
but no one can tell when that contract will be full completed.”
ON YOUTH
EMPOWERMENT AND QUALITATIVE EDUCATION, AGBAJE LAMENTED THE LAPSES AND ADVOCATED
FOR A ROBUST ALL ENCOMPASSING SOLUTIONS:
“Primary
education is the foundation of proper learning for any child any where in the
world. Many of our primary school
leavers from government-owned schools cannot properly read and write after
their Primary-6 final examinations.
These type of children would always have problems coping with the rigour
of the secondary school education. We
need to re-design our educational system in Lagos state and promote vocational
training amongst our children. The
people who are currently shaping the world are not university graduates but
they are creative people with technical and vocational skills. Our people must be well-trained and equipped
to support a Lagos poised to be a global city of the future. We cannot settle
for ‘passes’. We must strive to be a talented,
innovative and creative people.
The
government should begin to facilitate legislation that will encourage, for
example, a construction company who has been awarded a road construction
contract in Alimosho local government area to employ job-seeking youths in the
area. Without adequate jobs and opportunities,
our youths have a higher tendency of becoming hoodlums and ‘area boys’ that
cause mayhem in society. As we discharge
our duties, we should also not discriminate against non-indigenes that are
willing to contribute to our state.
ON THE
PROPOSED INFRASTRUCTURAL PROJECTS INCLUDING THE LAGOS ATLANTIC CITY, AGBAJE
POINTED OUT A FEW ISSUES:
“It is clear
what the impact of the Lagos Atlantic City will have on the congestion of the
Victoria Island axis given the increased growth in traffic flow to this area.
We should begin to consider opening up and developing Epe, Badagry or Ikorodu
and help improve economic opportunities in these areas to reduce the impact and
pressure on the Lagos coastlines. For
Lagos’ housing needs, our proposed projects shall be private-sector driven but
very affordable for ordinary Lagosians – who would be able to pay for them
using mortgages with reasonable interest rates.
I intend to build over 150,000 housing units for Lagosians as well as
non-Lagosians within four years”.
ON HEALTH
AND GENERAL WELFARE OF THE LAGOSIANS, AGBAJE AS A WORLD-CLASS PHARMACIST AND
HEALTH WORKER AFFIRMED HIS TOTAL COMMITMENT TO THE EFFICIENT HEALTH CARE DELIVERY
SYSTEM IN LAGOS STATE.
Among the
important personalities at the interactive session were: Alhaji Dr. Bamanga
Tukur – former PDP Chairman, Otunba Abayomi Fakorede - PDP Chairman UK, Chief
Akeem Akinosho – PDP Chairman South West UK, Mogaji Hakeem Adetoro and Yeye
Banke Adetoro of Royal Textiles UK, Chief Bimbo Roberts Folayan, Chairman
Central Associations of Nigeria UK (CAN,UK), Barrister Bob Olukoya, Convener
Friends of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Mr.Alistair Soyode – MD/CEO Ben TV, Mrs.
Solape Epega – Executive Director, African Women in Business, Hon.Soji Fashina,
Barrister Gbenga Akinmoyo, Morenike Animasahun, Barrister Nwosu – Chairman
Board of Trustees PDP UK, Mr Femi Okutubo – Publisher/CEO Trumpet Media Group,
Kate Anolue, Rosaline Fadipe and many others others.
by Dare
Lasisi
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