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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Lagos: Between Action Governor And Action Government, By Tayo Ogunbiyi

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by Tayo Ogunbiyi

It was, perhaps, during the era of Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande, the first democratically elected Governor of Lagos State, that the lexicon ‘Action Governor’ became popular in Nigeria. LKJ, as Jakande is popularly called by his admirers, took governance to an un-imaginable height in Lagos state. Many of his populist policies and programmes, especially in the housing, public transportation and education sectors, really endeared him to all and sundry. His passion for the development of Lagos state knew no bound. The ambitious Lagos metro line project, which, if it had seen the light of the day, would have revolutionized public transportation in Lagos state, was conceived by his administration. Till date, a few of the housing estates established by his administration, thirty-two years after, are still serving the housing needs of Lagosians.

LKJ worked round the clock in his bid to fast track the development of the state. Reports had it that on December 31st,  1983, when the Shehu Shagari civilian administration was toppled, in a military coup d’état, soldiers who came to arrest LKJ met him in his office working, deep in the night, on a New Year eve. Such was his legendary dedication to duty and passion for hard work. It is, therefore, not surprising that LKJ became a star among the 19 governors of the second republic. He soon became known by several accolades such as ‘Baba Kekere’ (junior Awolowo), ‘Friend of the Masses’, ‘Action Governor’ among others. Of these names, the one that really became most popular is ‘Action Governor’. During the second republic, all over the country, there was only one ‘Action Governor’ –LKJ.

The military coup of 1983 effectively terminated the second republic and ushered in 29 years of un-interrupted military rule in the country. During this period, military administrators were posted into the various states as governors. A few of such governors that were posted to Lagos state tried to emulate the ‘Action Governor’ fashion of LKJ, thereby recording varying degree of successes. Towards the tail end of military rule, precisely from 1996 to 1999, came the then Colonel Buba Marwa. He was the last of the military administrators in Lagos. He particularly became a darling of Lagosians as a result of the efforts he made to renew infrastructure in the state. Before he came on board, infrastructure and security situation in the state were almost in a shamble. Marwa promptly made some efforts to redress the situation. Under his leadership, his initiative, the state’s security outfit, ‘Operation Swift’, was able to dislodge criminals and the so called ‘area boys’ (street urchins) from their hitherto dark spots.

However, from 1999 till date, Lagos has been blessed with a different kind of ‘Action Governors’. Without a doubt, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his predecessor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, have taken Lagos to a new height. They are both ‘Action Governors’ in their own right. For space constrain, one would not be able to sufficiently dwell on their numerous giant strides. But, one would, however, like to briefly reflect on how they have been able to shift the paradigm in Lagos from the ‘Action Governor’ Archetype to the ‘Action Government’ model.

The duo has been able to achieve this swing through institution building. Rather than build the machinery of government around themselves, they decided to build enduring government institutions that make governance a collective responsibility. Hence, in Lagos today, we have functioning and well thought-out agencies and bodies such as Lagos State Advertising Agency, LASAA, Lagos State Building Control Agency, LASBCA, Lagos State Traffic Management Agency, LASTMA, Lagbus Asset Management, LAGBUS, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Agency, LAMATA, Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI, Lagos State Resident Registration Agency, LASRRA, Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau, LASRAB, Lagos State Drivers Institute, LASDRI, Lagos State Safety Commission, Citizens Mediation Center, CMC, Office of Public Defenders, OPD, to mention but a few.

The good thing about these agencies and bodies is that their creation has made governance in the state become a well- structured system that functions as a unit. In the ‘Action Governor’ tradition, governance tends to become over-personalized. Everything has a tendency to revolve around the personality of the Governor who cuts the figure of a cult hero. Many see him as the proverbial cat with nine lives, or the household foreman, who does the jobs of everyone else on a construction site. In as much as it is good to be an ‘Action Governor’, it becomes somehow ridiculous and self-seeking when governance revolves around an individual. Governance achieves better and faster results when it is anchored on viable and enduring institutions. It is only then that it would be able to function as a system in which all the component parts depend on each other for effectiveness. Building institutions is, thus, better than building individuals. The value of the earlier endures for long while same cannot be said of the latter. If we are to achieve the Nigeria of our collective dream, we need to lay greater emphasis on institution building. It is the institutions that we build that actually make governance a continuous venture. This is where Lagos has gotten it right in the last fourteen years of democratic governance. This is why Lagos has been working.

Tayo Ogunbiyi writes from Abuja.

Opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author

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