I have been glued to my set watching the proceedings of the ministerial screening.Right from Tuesday when the screening started,i wanted to see and hear only one man speak,Babatunde Fashola.When he came on board,he did not disappoint.He mesmerized and had the senate spellbound with his eloquent and articulate manner in putting his points across and answering their questions at the ministerial screening.
I saw something that somebody said on twitter and had to share it cos it was so apt.
The post said Fashola is the kind of man that would sleep with your wife and give you credible reasons for doing so..You will end up agreeing with him! I am still rolling on the floor! That was funny. Fashola is my guy,i was not happy with the explanation of the N78m website though,Fash said
he is a lawyer and does not sign contracts and that the Ministry takes care of that..i expected a better answer.
His words were,“I don’t sign cheques. I don’t fix contract prices, State Ministries handle these.”
But no one is perfect and all in all FASHOLA is still the man!
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Fashola is a difficult man for a neutral not to like when you hear him speak, firm, articulate, upright and full of substance.Making him a minister is like making a Professor the headmaster of a primary school.We could have had him and Buhari at the top,but Nigerians chose religion above common sense.Well,God dey,we go manage am as a minister.
Some of the keypoints Fashola made at the ministerial screening were on debts,on this particular subject,he gave a classic quote...
"I'm not a debt man. The US is about $19trillion in debt but still rules the world,I want to b that kind of debtor"
He also said We can't borrow to pay salaries, we can't borrow to run generators. Instead of borrowing to run gen I will invest in a power plant.
On loyalty,another classic quote came from him..."The concept of loyalty is a very strange one. My prayer is that 'may our loyalties never be tested."
My Knowledge of Abuja is not as deep as my knowledge of Lagos. I have lived in Lagos all my life.
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On security,Babatunde Fashola remarkerd-On security, Fashola said, “ As far as security is concerned, that is the primary purpose of every government. It is the purpose for which government exists, to protect the citizens and their assets and it is the toughest job that any government can have. It is the challenge that leaders across the world are facing — terrorism, youthful gangs, cults and so on.
“My attitude was to see criminals as my competitors and in a competition, my desire was to use my resources to outspend my competitors, out-think the competition and out-maneuver the competition. But our risks are different. As a governor, my job was to ensure that nobody died, my job was to ensure that nobody robs. So, I have no magic for error. Every citizen that was robbed, I have failed that citizen. So, I have to be right every time, the criminal has to be right only once.
If we are afraid of abuse, start the state police. Not every state should start if it can’t be funded.We are under policed based on statistics and my recommendation is decentralization.As governor I felt responsible for every citizen that was robbed.Security remains the primary but toughest job a leader can have. I have heard the argument that government will abuse the Police for political purposes.
“The abuse of political power is not as important as loss of lives, and everything we do to advance that cause makes us more respected as government that cares. There is a process for curing abuse of institution but there is no process known to me today for recovering lives already lost.
Online Technology is a very versatile tool for tax collection… moving to it would be important. Before we increase taxes we must optimize the capacity to receive what is in place.
But most impressively,he refused to take the credit of transforming Lagos by himself and instead said, “Our Work in Lagos was a Team Effort, I won’t appropriate personal responsibility for the Good Work.”