LAGOS — Former presidential candidate Professor Pat Utomi and Professor Itse Sagay, have lampooned the Federal Government for failing to make significant impact in the development of the country, saying “the Federal Government should learn Lagos state administration strategy.”
They spoke in Lagos, during the public presentation of a book, entitled: ‘Fashola: The Historic Reconstruction of Lagos authored by Mr. Emeka Odikpo, a legal practitioner.
Sagay argued that it was unfortunate that people currently holding political power at the centre had only succeeded in bringing the country to shame before the comity of nation.
According to him, “It is the type of the government that will have. It is the PDP type of mentality. When you have a breakaway type of PDP governor like Amaechi, who is trying to make an impact in the life of the people and establish some legacies of good governance, it is not in the character of the PDP. So, they have to destroy him”.
He urged Governor Babatunde Fashola to look beyond Lagos politics and contest for the presidential election in 2015, noting that the kind of transformation Lagos witnessed under his administration and under his predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed could be replicated at the centre.
On his part, Utomi blamed the cancellation of Metro Line project during the administration of former Governor Lateef Jakande by the military for the traffic congestion witnessed in the state today.
He said Lagos transformation “is a mark of commitment and continuity. This is indeed a committed administration. For long, everyone has been talking about 2nd Niger Bridge. The country will definitely learn from what is happening in Lagos.”
He commended Fashola for sustaining the good work his illustrious predecessor left behind, saying for Fashola “to have continued to sustain the work left behind, he must have been driven with passion”.
Utomi decried the abolition of the metro line being constructed by former Governor of Lagos, Lateef Jakande, by the administration of Mudashiru Lawal as military governor of Lagos, saying that the metro line undertaken by Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the same time with that of Lagos State had since been completed.
“Though, Mudashiru Lawal is a good man, one of my saddest days in life was when he stopped the metro line project. Kuala Lumpur that started their metro line with Lagos at the same time then has since completed hers.
“I am happy that dream is being recreated now by the Fashola administration and many of us will live to see that dream being fulfilled.” he said, while describing the Lekki-Ikoyi suspension bridge which was captured by the book as fantastic.
Source: Vanguard