‘An Open Letter’ to public officeholders: Don’t treat Nigerians as dipensable servants

This article – lightly labelled “An Open Letter” – takes its bearing from a Facebook post on Saturday, June 29, 2024, by the Honourable Commissioner for Information and Strategy in the Lagos State Government, Mr Gbenga Omotosho, who can be described as a “veteran (authority, consumate, long-serving, professional, well-versed) Journalist.”

Before he’s appointed into Government, Omotosho had risen through the ranks to the posts of Deputy Editor, Editor, Columnist and Member of the Editorial Board of two of the most influential Newspapers in Nigeria: The Guardian and The Nation, which are a stone-throw from each other in the Oshodi-Isolo business district of Lagos State.

This piece isn’t about Journalism and Journalists, but a partial reaction to the Omotosho post, summarising the weekly activities of the Lagos State Government, under the indefatigable and amiable Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who, by my estimation, hasn’t any competitor among his peer-Governors since he mounted the saddle of leadership in 2019.

Let me confess that I barely perused the headlines – and not the explanatory notes to the visual clips – shown over a background music, because of the special effects of the production. Entitled, “Recap of news for week Sunday, June 23, to Saturday, June 29, 2024,” some of the headers are: “Cholera: Lagos adopts one strategy to combat outbreak; LASEPA warns against consumption of contaminated water, poor sanitation; LIWAC 2024: Sanwo-Olu charges stakeholders on improving water, sanitation sector.

“We are resolute in our quest for flood-free state – LASG; Flooding: Lagos to construct additional drainage collector at Agungi; Building safety: LSMTL holds meeting with stakeholders, consultants; Don’t build, trade under powerlines, LASBSC warns residents; We are creating business-friendly environment to encourage investors; TESCOM inducts newly-recruited post-primary teachers.

“Hamza charges Army recruits from Lagos to be of good conduct, professional etiquette; Commissioner solicits support of residents to eradicate drug, substance abuse in Lagos; Albinism: Experts advocate for prevention of skin cancer in affected persons; International Widows’ Day: LASG empowers 800 vulnerable widows; Lagos empowers youths on acquaculture; Hajj 2024: More Lagos Pilgrims return home.”

Though some may assume that the clips were unrelated to the discourse hereunder, they’re, however, enough to rouse some latent issues that’d bothered me for long about governance by elected and appointed politicians, and public and private workers. They seem to have the same or similar mentality to marginalise Nigerians they consider as servants, rather than their masters.

Omotosho – who’s instrumental to my receiving an over-unduly delayed Letter of Appointment at The Guardian, effective April 1, 1998 – and Governor Sanwo-Olu and his Government should bat an eyelid, as I merely seized on the post to address the powers at all levels of Nigeria’s governance structure.

So, instead of a timeously short response to Omotoso’s post on his wall on Facebook, I delayed, and expanded it under an encompassing headline. And because Lagos leads the way in most sectors of the polity, I zeroed in on the State Government’s handling of the issues highted, for a domino effect on other States of the Federation. Happy reading!

“Good day, Sir. Best greetings of a probable dreary and wetful season we’re entering in Lagos. It’s hoped that the Lagos State Government and the residents have prepared for the predictable deluge of flooding that will overwhelm many States across the country.

“My sincere kudos to the Lagos State government and Governor Sanwo-Olu and his workaholic team for the good jobs they’re doing to make Lagos a truly Mega City in name and appearance, for which most open-minded residents are very appreciative!

“Particularly uplifting, and heartwarming is the trailblazing Blue Line Rail and Red Line Rail system that’s marked Lagos out as seriously striving to join the league of ultramodern cities around the globe. The proposed Fourth Mainland Bridge will add to the superstructure of the state!

“Besides the government’s excellent and professional handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state, I take due cognisance – as a resident in Alimosho Local Government Area – of the presence of the Alimosho General Hospital that caters daily to the medical needs of thousands of patients. Even as a nearby dumpsite fouls the air quality of the facility, and displaces surrounding structures and businesses, the beneficiary population is grateful to the government for its continued upgrade of the hospital that now uses e-Cards for patients’ medical records.

It’s also gratifying to learn that the Sanwo-Olu administration has disbursed a princely N25b in grants and loans to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), through the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), to enhance productivity and economic growth in the state, as disclosed by the governor via his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, on July 11, at the 2024 Business Day Newspaper CEO Forum, tagged, “Governors in Conversation-Innovative Governance: Steering States through Economic Turbulence.”

The single-digit loans weren’t only offered to sustain and train the beneficiaries on how to manage their businesses, but the Lagos State government also assisted them to “source products, have access to the market, and help them to interact with NAFDAC, BOI, CAC, and Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), among other agencies, for them to understand how to run their businesses within the framework of the laws,” Sanwo-Olu said, adding that, “It is for us to create those types of environments that allow private people to run their businesses and create jobs for the future.”

Commendable as these efforts are, many Lagosians – like the fabled Oliver Twist – want to see more work, particularly to meet the needs of those at the grassroots. While people are seeing standard infrastructure and other developmental strides in highbrow areas of the state, little or no appreciable efforts seem to be spared to spread same to populated suburbans and communities.

“For instance, the Lagos Government appears to have completely forgotten the Igando Community, which some derisively refer to as “New Igando” without even near-commensurate modern amenities befitting such an appellation.

“Since we began residency there in November 2005, there’ve virtually been absence of noticeable indices of development in the area. We’ve been our own Government: provide water; grade and mend roads, streets, and construct culverts; purchase transformers, cables, poles and installation, which the supposed electricity providers fiatly – in line with its framework – take ownership of from the community people, who provide the amenities.

“We’re also responsible for remedying any minor or major faults in the power supply system. And yet, we hardly get up to 10hrs of supply in a month. Sometimes, we go for weeks without a blink of power supply. Because the distribution company (DISCO), Ikeja Electric – in which the Lagos State Government reportedly has some stake – has deliberately abandoned reading Analogue meters – even serviceable and functional ones – it brings OVER-ESTIMATED Bills in thousands of Naira each month, for power it doesn’t supply to customers.

“Ikeja Electric embarks on this dubious, fraudulent and unpatriotic scheme through what it terms CAPPING – a means by which the firm bills similarly-graded households the SAME AMOUNTS, whether the street, road, or community receives power supply or not within the billing period.

“When customers protest the outrageous bills, the ubiquitous “Disconnection Crew” of Ikeja Electric will threaten the people with total darkness, and actually simply go to the service transmformer and remove the fuses, which they only return after days, weeks or months of “sufficient mollification” (you know what that means in the notorious history that the DISCOS inherited from the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) and Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). This is the life in the New Igando Community!

“Inward Iyana-Oba, right from the the second and third environmentally-hazardous dumpsites in Igando alone, up to the Igando Roundabout Police Station Road – where, ironically, there’s a nearby TCN/Ikeja Electric feeder station – on the Isheri-LASU Road, inhabitants of the expansive communities that border Ayobo-Ipaja are at the mercy of power outages or total blackout from the Ikeja Electric.

“Last December, though, something unimaginable happened! On its volition – perhaps scandalised by its abysmal performance pre, during and post- Yuletide season – Ikeja Electric announced it’d bring the month’s bills down drastically. The message is reproduced below:

“‘Dear Esteem Customers

Compliment of the season.

We are again using this medium to inform you that our hearts are with you in this period of poor service. We assure you that management is giving due attention to its resolution and that the poor service will reflect when you receive your December 2023 bill in January. However, the bill received now (N7,052.42) is for November 2023 consumption, PLEASE, endeavor to pay up to avoid accumulating outstanding debts on your bill. Thanks for your usual understanding as we strive to serve you better.’

“And true to Ikeja Electric’s word, the lowest customers were billed only N1,779.90, from a high of average of N8,000.00. Well, the grace period was just that December, as the company continued its astronomical billing: January 2024 (N3,459.05), February (4,553.71), March (N10,477.90), April (N6,716.60) (there’s protest against the bills), May (N9,06.99) and June (N9,906), without power supply up to 15hrs per month. Please, observe that May and June bills are the same! How come?

“Away from Ikeja Electric’s abracadabra, we in New Igando only hear about or see Lagos Government’s presence in some parts of Alimosho LGA, reportedly the most populated in Lagos State. In these hard times in Nigeria, and particularly in Lagos, we hear of Federal Government’s grants of Palliatives – in huge cash and thousands of tons of food products – to State Governments, including Lagos, which reportedly augmented with its own Palliatives.

“But as I write this “Letter,” we have not seen or received – nor seen somebody in my community and beyond – who admitted getting a grain of rice, beans, maize, garri; a strand of noodles or pasta; a satchet of “pure” water, tomato puree, breverage; a cube of condiment or seasoning; a raw tomato, onion, pepper; the least-measure of salt, sugar; palm and vegetable oil; cassava, plantain and yam flour; or a tuber of yam, cassava, cocoyam, potato and plantain.

“There’s no doubting the Lagos State government’s release of these Palliatives to be distributed to the most affected in the grassroots, but did they receive the largesse, and/or in the quantity or amount earmarked by the government?

“If in doubt, let the Lagos State government commission a credible survey of households in the local government areas, to find out if the residents had received such Palliatives from official coffers or warehouses; the government would be shocked by the findings!

“I have informally interviewed many residents in my community, and beyond, and no resident had admitted to’ve seen or received any Palliatives since 2023. Two exceptions, though: A man said he attended a meeting of one of several Community Development Associations (CDAs) in my area, where a few cartons of noodles and pastas were presented as government’s Palliatives for the CDA. He said the sharing formula was, three people to a satchet of pasta, and one person to a satchet of noodles, adding that to solve the ensuing confusion, it’s decided that the head of each street at the meeting be given one carton of noodles or pasta to distribute among their street members!

“The other exception was a few residents, who admitted they’d heard that ‘Government is selling some foodstuffs at reduced prices of 25% at Special Food Markets in some local government areas,’ which they said they didn’t have the means to travel to, and buy the goods, as some confessed that, ‘we live from hand to mouth,’ and ‘often go to bed without food.’

“Lagos State – with its economy that can cater for over 10 States in Nigeria – can afford to provide basic foodstuffs like rice, beans, garri, yam, palm/vegetable oil, tomato puree, beverages, noodles, pasta and a token cash to each Household on its Land Use Charge scheme six or four times a year for the next three years! Don’t ask me how; those in Government know they can do it with prudent allocation and management of resources, and the right political will!

“In the kind of governance system we run in Nigeria, majority of Lagosians – like residents in other States of the Federation – feel abandoned, meant only for election of politicians into public offices every four years, to make themselves, their families and cronies comfortable as “the masters,” and regularly ask us, “the servants,” to tighten our belts on already lean and emaciated waists.

“In closing, except then-Governor Babatunde Fashola, at the Marina House seat of Lagos Government, during the coverage of an official engagement, and Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, at a press briefing at his Gbagada campaign office when he’s still a governorship aspirant in 2014; I’ve never seen or met – in flesh and blood – Governor Sanwo-Olu, Deputy Governor Hamzat, and the Senator for my District, House of Representatives Member, House of Assembly Member, Local Government Chairman, LCDA Chairman, and the Councillor. When will I meet any of these elected officials, a few of whom I only see on television (Ikeja Electric permitting)?

“Particularly in these hard times, Lagosians – and indeed Nigerians – want to see more of their leaders in their communities and homesteads, to show that they care and feel their pains, and to reassure and explain to them what they’re doing to alleviate their sufferings. May the Almighty touch the hearts of our leaders to do right by the people they swear to serve!

“Once more, my sincere appreciation for the good works Governor Sanwo-Olu and his Government are doing in Lagos State. Wishing them more grease to their elbows! God bless our Leaders! God bless Lagos State!! God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!