By Debo Popoola
Dear Mr Fashola,
It is with excitement that we at TheCapital receive the news of your appointment as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; and it is gladdening that you have been assigned to man such sensitive ministries as power, works and housing– the sum total of Nigeria.These ministries are the vital components of the engine of a nation, without them, a nation remains at stand still. If a nation is running well and smooth, the reason is not far fetched, a look at the power, works and housing sectors of that nation reveals it. But if a nation is like a broken down vessel on the shore, tossed forth and back by the tides and torrents of the sea, then those sensitive sectors have not been effective.
The infrastructure of a nation consists of the roads interlinking the towns and cities within the country, the power – the electricity – the nation generates to run its economic and social activities, and the shelter – houses – the nation provides for its citizens.
The failure and success of any government is judged byhow it has handled the infrastructure of a nation. Infrastructure is the nerve and heart of every nation.
Developed countries are developed because they have developed their infrastructures. These nations have good roads, good housing facilities, good hospitals, good schools, stable electricity and everything that will make life worthy of living is readily available. On the other hand, the reason why some countries like ours are called third world countries or developing or under-developing nations is because we are lacking what these other nations have.
To you Mr Fashola, you have been assigned a very daunting task, a very heavy load has been mounted on your head. But as the going says, a big head wears the large hat, there is no fear in whether you are capable of achieving greatness or not. The truth is who else is capable of handling such daunting task if not someone who has shown similar fit in the past, someone like you Mr Fashola, the honourable minister of works, power and housing.
Many people have said: “If Fashola can transform Lagos, he can do same for Nigeria”. Your apparent achievements as the governor of the most populous city in Africa has announced to the world that a black man and a Nigerian for that matter has that coveted Midas finger that turnseverything it touches to gold. Your exceptional leadership skill coupled with your charismatic figure and your scintillating eloquence gave a surging redefinition of leadership in Nigeria. In fact, many see you as the reason why APC won the election. You were the postal boy of the change mantra, the figure model of the leadership the people thirsted and hungered for from your party.
From a personal vintage point, President Buhari has vested on you, lets say like fifty percentage of his power as the president of Nigeria. In future, we might look back and referto this administration asBuhari/Fashola administration like we do when referring to Buhari’s military regime asBuhari/Idiagbon regime.
President Buhari is known for delegating power to efficient people, so by singling you out to steer the wheels of those ministries, you must have won his heart. But whose heart have you not won Mr Fashola with your remarkable achievements as the governor of Lagos statethat your absence is still heavily felt among Lagosians especially when the man you handed power to seems not to have that vibrancy and astuteness that characterised your tenure?
Honourable minister sir, Nigerians are happy that you are now in charge. You are more than a minister, you are more of a messiah.
Our infrastructure is in coma, if dead is an overstatement. The past administrations who met it in that state, instead of resuscitating it, only exacerbated its condition.
As big and blessed Nigeria is, electricity is like gold to many of us citizens. With the natural gas the nation is blessed with, we should be exporting electricity to other African countries, but unfortunately, you wallow in darkness if you cannot afford to by a generator.
If there is anything that needs immediate attention in our nation, it is the power sector, and we as Nigerians are sure that you are capable of effecting that change your party promised.
Honourable minister sir, Nigerians will want you to replicate the massive road construction you embarked upon during your time as governor of Lagos. Lagos, a city globally known for rowdiness and disorderliness, experienced a rapid change of fortune and status and the city became a model megacity for Africa and a pride to the nation.
One of your amazing wonderful achievements in Lagos is the change that Oshodi, a once upon a time den of thieves and ones named the most polluted and dirtiestregion in the world, experienced. Oshodi became a metaphor fora sudden transformation from rot to sparkling. Oshodi won the attention of the world asthose foreign press who love to make the decadence associated with the former Oshodi as the postal picture for the whole Nigeria, were forced to air special documentaries on the change that happened toOshodi.
Finally Mr Fashola, as the minister of the federal republic, accountability is key, especially at this point when our revenue has taking a slope. The past instances where your accountability triggered public questioning hurt some of us, but the past has gone, a new chapter has been opened.
We believe you can and Nigerians are at your back.
