By Nurudeen Oshinlaja
In a recent conversation about the avowed leading status of Lagos State ahead of other Nigerian states, a duo of Nigerian colleagues opined that the state loses as much as it gains socioeconomically from her aggressive quest and propensity to always acquire what they termed the ‘big’ economic projects in Nigeria. They cited the Lekki Deep Seaport and the Dangote Refinery as examples of such opportunities that Lagos State should have yielded to other states. They argued that Lagos State’s unwillingness to cede such nationally significant ‘big’ projects to other states hurts the state than benefits it. I responded that no Lagosian will forgive a Lagos State governor who does not fight for more socioeconomic projects for the state. They would not buy my defence and were vociferous in their belief that Lagos State should slow down and allow other states to take some of the big investments else the state will continue to lose as much as it gains. At that point, I blurted “but x minus x is better than zero”. They shuddered and we all laughed in unison and the conversation became calmer.
The two non-Lagosian colleagues of mine emphasised the overpopulation (population density of more than 5,000 persons per square km) in Lagos State and the pervasive disorderliness in some parts of the state as the major reasons why the state is yet to lead as it should in the continent and compete as it should globally. Despite its very small landmass size, the fact that Lagos State could lose as much as half of its population and still be twice as populated as Kano State speaks to the unresolved, disruptive, embarrassingly intractable issue of national economic and geopolitical injustices in Nigeria. That Lagos State caters for about a tenth of Nigeria’s 200+ million population is daunting and the excessive socioeconomic and environmental pressure on the state’s resources is too big a burden.
It is contended that the state is in a dynamic equilibrium state. Just as the difference between x and x is zero, so it seems that Lagos State makes ‘zero’ progress because all the socioeconomic inflows the state records appear to be consumed completely by the increasing socioeconomic and environmental costs on a continuous basis. Therefore, it is thought that shedding some economic weights to other states may be best for Lagos State as the state will gradually revert to an optimum population. As sound as this idea is, I refuse to agree that Lagos State should slow down; the onus is on other states to accelerate and catch up. Lagos State and its LGAs/LCDAs must continue to reinvent their affairs, and scout and attract more investments to ensure that cumulative inflows outstrip pressures at all times for all the state’s affairs.
Lagos State must first imbibe transparent financial management to maintain its economic leadership in Nigeria and Africa. The financial systems of the state and all its councils must be devoid of opacity in order to lock in the confidence of investors, multinational organisations and enterprises, donors, aid agencies, and the public. A quick check of the records of Lagos State financial performance shows a good average ratio of capital expenditure to total expenditure and fair budget performance as reports from 2010 indicate. Also, Lagos State is comparatively doing well in terms of IGR generation. Yet, promise of the governments in the state and people’s expectations are sadly unfulfilled. This can only be caused by financial indiscretion of the executives. It is nothing short of disgraceful for governments in the state to fail to fulfil promises made to the people considering the resources at its disposal and it reeks of insubordination to refuse to communicate timeously challenges surrounding the failure to the people. That it seems like the state house of assembly has abdicated its oversight responsibility, or unabashedly colluded with the executive or resigned to learned hopelessness taints the ‘state of excellence’ status of our state. Is it not trite that giving accounts and being held to accounts are hallmarks of good governance more so of progressives? Lack of accountability tarnishes achievements and retrogresses a nation.
The revamping of the social welfare infrastructures of Lagos State should get far more focus than the current situation. Health facilities in Lagos State should now be of international standard and the provision of health service in the state should be repackaged and better coordinated to complement the expertise of our health professionals. For example, social health care will be a novel idea that will: enrich and expand health service delivery in Lagos State, revitalise the state government’s people-centric agenda, and create useful employment in the state. Connected to healthcare is sanitation and provision of water for domestic and industrial uses. The state governor, H.E. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, recently acknowledged challenges in the provision of piped water to the people of Lagos State. The state cannot resign to fate! All actions must be deployed to harness the appropriate mix of surface water and groundwater resources in the state for the benefit of the people. Similarly, rather than being “sorry” for the perennial environmental issue of flooding, it will be great to identify, and implement sustainable water management options in partnership with the contiguous Ogun state.
Education is the social construct that Lagos State should probably be far ahead qualitatively and in cumulative terms not only in Nigeria but in Africa. Lagos State’s education infrastructures and mode of education delivery should by now be enviable examples to other states in Nigeria. It should, by now, be embarrassing to have, for example, Lagos State secondary schools without well-furnished classrooms, wellequipped laboratories, libraries and basic sporting facilities. Similarly, all LGAs/LCDAs in the state should be ashamed to have primary schools where children attend schools whose buildings are in distress. Adequate staffing of public primary and secondary schools should not be an issue in Lagos State. The people should not have to see private primary and secondary schools as more quality options than the public ones.
Visible evidence suggests that the state government is doing well in the provision of affordable housing, and provision of rail and water transport infrastructure. Whilst the unceasing actions to add more to the stock of public houses is commendable, theallocation and management of the houses would benefit from uncompromised efficiency. The coming on stream of the Lagos ‘Red’ rail line and the gracious impetus injected into the water transportation system are excellent examples of what Lagos State can achieve even as the government is encouraged to continue to seek expansion and safety. Meanwhile, road rehabilitation and construction across the state have been disappointing by many accounts. Many intra-community, intercommunity, intra-city and inter-city roads in the state are eyesores. This failure significantly retards commerce in the state. As much as the state deserves commendation in its traffic management solution, it is clear that the modus operandi can still be more ingenious, orderly, and humane.
The gigantic issue of food security in the state deserves a thorough study so that all connected challenges can be addressed and all associated gains can be realised. Since the state has huge, active demands, it should wield big influence in the supply and distribution sides of the endeavour. The uniqueness of the state offer opportunity to explore options that are less land intensive but capable of creating value-addition jobs that will support the socioeconomic success of the state.
The Lagos State socioeconomic situation appears to be in a dynamic equilibrium situation whereby applications of well-thought positive public actions will catapult the state into the pedestal of interminable trend of self-sufficiency. For manifold gains to accrue from all anticipated positive actions, however, the concern of poor financial management and lack of financial accountability across the state has to be addressed immediately. Rather than seeking to pulverise calls for reasons, it is high time governments in the state focussed on repackaging the state’s public affairs so that the state’s ‘x minus x can always be much greater than zero’.
Nurudeen Oshinlaja, a university researcher writes from Cardiff, UK
