Who is to blame? Pt 2...Babatunde Raji Fashola?

If you haven't read the Part 1...[http://olukunle.blogspot.com/2009/09/who-is-to-blame-pt-1umaru-yaradua.html#links]

At the same time that the President’s plane was descending, Gov. Fashola was sitting at his table at the Governors office, Alausa, deeply in thought. What should I do about the overbearing influence of Tinubu? People have said they really appreciate what I am doing but can I stand on my own politically without Tinubu’s support? I don’t want to have any confrontation with Tinubu. He has a lot of money and he is a seasoned politician. Who are those that can be considered as my henchmen when the chips are down? Have they not at one time or the other been part of the Tinubu machinery? See me o, as if there is another machinery in place in Lagos right now. I don’t think I have the might or the will to take on his well oiled-political machinery. Let’s assume that I even do, do I want to? Can I afford it? Will that not wreck me financially? I’m confused. Everywhere I go, people sing my praises. What exactly have I done? If only they know that I have not done much more than 20% of what I am supposed to have done? Even though they are singing my praises, there is still a lot more that can be done in terms of improving security, whipping KAI and LASTMA officials into shape. What is the next step that I should take to tackle those two agencies? Do I scrap them and build new agencies in their place? There are a lot of OND, HND and university graduates who can do a better job than the glorified Agberos, little educated personnel that the outfit currently parades. I’ll look for a way to increase their pay, give them better training and be on their neck to deliver. However, can the state afford the bill that will come with that? Severance pay for the personnel that will be laid off and finance for the new training facilities and all that…Will that not draw criticism from the civil society? Some really stupid people would start shouting that they’ve been doing a good job as if picking on harmless people on the street and exploiting them can be regarded as part of the good job they’re said to be doing.

The LCDA’s are now more of recruitment centers for thugs and miscreants. The ordinary okada men cannot ply the roads without one or two of them having a broken head or nose at the end of the day. If we revert to 20local government which is not fair and commensurate with what our counterpart states have in the north, there is no harm in that. Wait a min though…wont I be looked on as a weakling? This issue is way beyond me now and to give in to the Federal govt will be termed as a Northern Victory by some people. No o, I don’t see it as such but a very good way of reducing overhead cost and with proper coordination, we can achieve much more without having to create LCDA’s which are actually redundant. Who created the initial local governments? The concept has been wrong from the start. I think it should be scrapped/reorganized and by then, we can make our ministries much more effective in delivering dividends of democracy…that would require the constitution to be changed…I am tired…its like you approach a problem to tackle it and the more you approach it, the more dimensions you see about the problem and then people expect you to wave a magic wand and solve all their problems. How can I stop LASTMA/KAI and especially the police, yes the Police from receiving kickbacks from motorists and Agberos? If I can get them to stop thinking it is their natural right to collect kickbacks from these people, the others would follow suit. The report reaching me is that they are regarded as tin-gods and they don’t even pay bus fares. If a commercial bus-driver carries any uniformed personnel on board, that gives him a license to become a momentary King of the Road. The problem is that I don’t have direct control over them. They are subject to the Commissioner of Police who in turn is subject to the Inspector General of Police. A showdown is risky. What can I do to tackle them? Are they the only impoverished Nigerians? They and not anything else …haa not forgetting the PHCN, which is a story for another day. The Police Force is actually a source of headaches for most people in Lagos today. It’s not their fault too…if not for the bus drivers and operators who claim ignorance and just continue to give them money instead of calling their bluff and challenging them to do the real duty they are being paid for.

I’m tired, tired, tired. I just want to get over with this first term. Should I go for a second term or not? IF I don’t, I will be betraying the people of Lagos state who have faith in me. How will I explain that decision to them? Even sick Mr. President is going for a second term? If I don’t go for a second term, I will be looked on as a weakling. I am the true son of my father…chuckles…infact I am the reincarnation of my grandfather and I have been here long enough and I’ve acquired a lot of sense overtime. I am the man with the seven lives…Not one thousand Tinubus can stop me. I will continue to fight for the common man and deliver the dividends of democracy to the people of Lagos state.