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Our reporter sampled the views of some serving members of the National Youths Service Corps in Lagos State on the performance of the Akinwunmi Ambode administration and their expectations before the 2019 general election. Below are excerpts of their responses as presented by LANATU JOY SHELTON.
He has tried, but… – Victoria Mokwunyi
Well with what I am seeing, the governor is working but I think he has to put in more effort because whenever you are doing something in a society as a governor you need to listen to the people in terms of areas of need. Well, in the area of road infrastructure, he is doing well and the project going on at Oshodi is great. He must be commended on that.
However, I discovered that house rent in the state is very expensive. I think there should be an interface between the state government and landlords on how to look into this serious matter. When people cannot find accommodation and they resort to sleeping under the bridge, they create a social problem for government. But I am also touched by the recent Land Use Charge Law which has become very controversial. With this, I doubt it so much if government can face the landlords to say anything about soaring house rent.
Again, in the area of education, although the state government is really trying, it should do more through prompt payment of teachers’ salaries and rehabilitating more schools to provide a conducive environment for learning. I believe that when teachers are rightly motivated, they give their best and that will positively impact the society.
Government must also as a matter of urgency, address the problem of filth in the state. Lagos environment is very dirty. There must be urgent step to address this environmental hazard. Government must establish a task force against act of indiscipline and indiscriminate dumping of refuse. People nowadays drop their refuse in unauthorised places and you wonder what has happened to people’s senses. I hear about the Cleaner Lagos Initiative that the state government is pursuing and the arrangement with a company called Visionscape; what I do not know is why, with all these the whole place is stinking. What is happening in Lagos can cause an epidemic.
Some people attribute a lot of things happening in Lagos to huge population, but for me, I think that is even more of an advantage than otherwise. Yes the population is much but they can still make use of the population to their own advantage. You know human beings, I don’t understand; it’s like sometimes we need laws like strict laws in order for us to work accordingly. For me, the population does not matter; this population issue is not just in Lagos State; if you go to other states you still meet it there, so the population is not the problem. So, the major things I want the Ambo administration to address before the next election are the dirt in Lagos; high level indiscipline both in government and among the people; high cost of rent, etc.
So, on whether Governor Ambode should come back or not in 2019, my take is that he should be returned provided he looks into the housing issue, environmental pollution and educational need of the people.
He must check excesses of landlords – Kehinde Osas
Interesting, am going to be making comparison of two different administrations in APC that I have seen- the Fashola era and the current Ambode’s. Now looking at the Fashola era there are some work that he did that majority of Lagosians are benefiting from today while there are some that he did that some of the people are crying and criticising him. For me, I would say that Fashola was probably one of the best governors that Lagos State has had, at least in this dispensation. He did so many things; he did some infrastructure work; he did well in cleaning up Lagos better than what I am seeing now. From my own point of view, during Fashola’s era Lagos was perfectly clean, if not all areas, most parts of Lagos was clean. I want Ambode to bring back LAWMA if the new people are not ready to work. I understand there are hitches here and there, but Lagos must not be allowed to sink before they are ready to deploy their expertise to give us the much-talked about cleaner Lagos.
Sometimes, I wonder the sense in stopping the usual last Saturday of every month environmental sanitation exercise that used to be observed, which helped to keep Lagos clean.
On the soaring house rent in Lagos, if Ambode himself cannot call out landlords to have meeting with them, he should set up a committee to do so on his behalf. Many Lagos residents are passing through hard times as a result of lost of jobs and general bad economy; there must be an urgent intervention by government in whatever form.
The Fashola administration started a good job by rolling out Tenancy Law; the current administration can go a step further by insisting that agent and agreement fees which are contributing to the high cost of rents must be pruned. For instance, you will see an accommodation of say N120,000 (One hundred and twenty thousand Naira only) and agent and agreement fees will push it up to N200,000 (Two hundred thousand naira) and those agents liaise with the landlords, that’s why government should set up a committee with the landlords and have a talk with them. You see a two-bedroom flat of N350,000 and the agent and agreement fees is close to N500, 000 (Five hundred thousand naira); it does not make any sense. It is very absurd and disheartening. It’s wrong. Agent and agreement fees should be scraped.
He has made some giant strides – Oche Anthony
I want Ambode to come back in 2019 because of his commitment and the enormous job he has done so far in Lagos. He has touched every sector. Let me start with transportation; he has done a lot in the transport sector both in land and water. Many people who live in Ikorodu working in Victoria Island or Lekki can now resume work very early compared to what the case was in the past. So people in those areas can now reach their office early because Ambode has strengthened the water transportation. Going to Victoria Island, Ikorodu, Lekki you will see a lot of boats to convey workers from various places even down to Ekpe, Badagry and other places. There are quite other giant strides the Ambode administration has made in the last few years.
LANATU JOY SHELTON
