After the massive destruction that followed the killing of EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Tollgate and the shockwaves it sent into the spines of Lagos State government in particular and Nigeria at large, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos governor, says time has come to start healing the wounds.
That disposition of mind is quite commendable even when the vexed question of who ordered soldiers to fire live bullets at peaceful and defenseless protesters and why it had to happen remain largely unanswered and unexplained.
The governor has been going about assessing the degree of destruction. He has also been busy hosting solidarity and sympathy visits by his governor-colleagues and also South West politicians, especially those of the ruling All Progressives Alliance (APC).
This too is commendable. But we deem it urgent and compelling for the state government to start the healing process with security. Safety of residents needs urgent attention and should be treated as such.
The governor’s meeting with officers and men of the police force in Lagos last Wednesday where he promised to give scholarship to the children of all police officers who died in the course of quelling the protest was instructive and well advised.
The police, in fear or protest for the killing of their colleagues in the line of duty and the burning of their stations, about 21 of them in Lagos alone, have stayed off Lagos roads, and the impact has been huge.
What we see on Lagos roads now is a reign of terror that has affected not only the safety and socio-economic lives of the citizens, but also the productivity of the numerous industries in the state whose workers have stayed away from office for fear of the unknown.
One way or another, this affects everybody including the state government. While household income is reduced at individual level, the state’s gross domestic product (GDP) and revenue are suffering.
Either in solidarity or fear or both, the predatory and over-zealous officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) have joined the police to stay away from the roads. What this has done is to turn Lagos roads into jungles where everybody is right and wrong at the same time.
The ensuing chaos and gridlock present scenes that can only be likened to those in weird movies where life and death are in mortal combat only separated by witches, devils and the deep blue sea.
The reality on ground is that the finest of moments have been created for miscreants and armed robbers to attack motorists in traffic, brandishing lethal weapons with which they maim and, sometimes, kill. We are alarmed by this situation and, therefore, call on the state government to do something urgently to arrest it.
We advise that the state should pursue the healing process through multi-dimensional ways. One sure way is building confidence in the people by securing the state so that people can go about their normal business without fear. The state had, before now, been adjudged one of the safest in spite of its complexity and diversity. Now is time to return to the status quo ante.
We also advise that the governor should make the whole state a huge construction site by commencing immediately the rebuilding of the destroyed public assets and encouraging, through financial assistance, affected private sector operators to start rebuilding their destroyed assets too.
We hope that this will engender economic activities that will create jobs for many residents including the restive youths. It is our hope too that, if these youths start earning income today, tomorrow they will not heed any call to join a destructive mission.
We agree with those who say that Lagos is a land of opportunities. But it is pertinent to point out too that the state is one of the most difficult environments for living and business in the world. The state has the worst roads network in Africa and this contributes to the insecurity in the state. We believe that investing in the state’s roads infrastructure is an extension of investment in security.
Globally, security of lives and property is a fundamental duty of government. Indeed, it is the whole essence and meaning of governance. Nigeria has garnered notoriety for its disquieting insecurity situation reflected largely in insurgent activities in the Northern part of the country, and kidnapping plus militancy in the South. Armed robbery is given.
Ben Bruce, a Senator of the Federal Republic, says insecurity and rising youth restiveness in the country is a testimony of failure of leadership which cuts across all levels of governance. We cannot agree more.
It is painful that Nigeria is one of the few countries of the world where virtually everything is insecure. In the country, if one is not talking about insecurity of lives and property, one will be talking about job insecurity, food insecurity and, these days, marriage insecurity for spouses who fail to guard against rampaging intruders and snatchers.
In our view, all these have their roots in the country’s weak economy. If jobs are insecure, it is because the economy is too weak to support investment that will lead to expansion of opportunities. The leadership of the country seems too inept to do the needful, but time has come for them to roll up the sleeves and get to work. For Lagos, here too lies the starting point for healing the wounds.
