Opinion
By Temitope Ajayi
Those who think they are taking a dig at the President have been gloating. Their usual refrain is that the man they said built Lagos should build Nigeria for them to see. As Governor of Lagos, the President reformed governance and set the state on the path of irreversible progress.
President Tinubu has never claimed he did it alone or discounted the contributions of others who led the state before him. Some of the landmark projects he started are still standing, and the plans and vision he articulated are still being implemented till today. We talk about the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Complex at the Lekki Free Trade Zone and the transformation that has taken place within the Lagos economy in the last twenty years, and you think about Bola Tinubu, who engineered them.
Leadership is about fixing today’s problems and thinking ahead for years. The good thing is Tinubu did not accomplish all he did in Lagos within a year. The new Lagos metro Red Line being test-run is a product of his visionary leadership, just like the Blue Line, which has carried over two million passengers in the last two years.
No sane person can argue against the considerable progress governance has delivered to Lagos State since 1999. Just last week in China, the state, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Finance Incorporated, inked a new deal on the 68-kilometre Lagos Green Line Metro that will move from Ibeju-Lekki to join the Blue Line at Marina. That is another great leap forward: how progressive societies are built from generation to generation.
As Governor of Lagos State, President Tinubu faced numerous challenges. Many wrote him off within his first year in office. However, like a Phoenix, he rose to these challenges as a statesman. This President does not shy away from challenges. He works tirelessly to overcome and prevail. He understands there are no easy choices to make. He has made it clear that he will make the right and intricate decisions for the country, even if those decisions are unpopular. And he has indeed made the right choices that will deliver significant gains for the country and its people.
-Ajayi is Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
10th September, 2024.
C.E.
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