Robert Awokuse
It was a night of verbal fireworks in Lagos on Sunday, January 13, as four governorship candidates for the March 2, 2019 gubernatorial election, locked horns in a debate to x-ray their plans for the state if elected governor.
The event, which was organised by The Platform, tagged “Lagos Gubernatorial Debate”, particularly demanded the candidates to state emphatically and convincingly why they want to occupy the number one position in the state.
The candidates in attendance were Babatunde Gbadamosi (Action Democratic Party, ADP); Babajide Sanwo-Olu (All Progressives Congress, APC); Jimi Agbaje (Peoples Democratic Party, PDP); and Owolabi Salis (Alliance for Democracy, AD).
The debate which was moderated by Victor Oladokun, an External Affairs Director at the African Development Bank, ADB, requested the candidates to present their arguments in 90 seconds on any given question.
Responding to the opening question on what makes the candidates qualified to rule Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, Owolabi Salis, who was the first to react, said the issue of traffic was germane and that he would do all within his power to take back for the benefit of all what he called the “common wealth of Lagos”, which according to him is currently in the hands of one person.
In his submission, Jimi Agbaje said as a trained pharmacist who set up his practice at 26, he knows the importance of young people arriving at work on time, stressing that traffic gridlock would be one of the things that he will tackle in the first 100 days in office.
He added : “We need to bring character to governance”.
On his part, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said having served as a three time commissioner in Lagos State, he has what it takes to move the state forward in all ramifications, noting that traffic congestion would be addressed.
Babatunde Gbadamosi also said he is qualified, poised to take Lagos to another level through his intervention plans on gridlock in his first 100 days in office, adding that he would push for better welfare for civil servants.
On education, Gbadamosi said he would tackle the problem of children out of pre-school saying, ”We are going to devolve more powers and build more schools in communities, and give them back to the local governments for effective management.”
Sanwo-Olu stated that as Commissioner for Establishment, Training and Pensions, he was training people on capacity building, hence, the need for capacity development for teachers in Lagos.
“We need to come up with a curriculum at the primary level for children before they get to the secondary school level,” he said.
Agbaje stressed the need for technology, saying that children in public schools in Lagos State have no exposure to technology, calling for adequate internet facilities.
He added that “those with vested interest keep pushing this away from happening.”
Salis noted that the less privileged have problems with educating their children as some people “have sat down on the commonwealth” of the state.
“We will develop a blue print to tackle this,” he stressed.
Reacting to a question on the health sector, particularly on efforts to prevent doctors from leaving the country, Salis said he would set up a “World Executive Council” to tackle health related issues in the state.
While noting that life expectancy in Lagos has dropped to 49 years, Agbaje said that a health insurance model is key.
He said primary health care which takes care of 75 per cent of ailments, would aggressively be made functional.
“People run to hospital to cure malaria, it should not be so in a government that works,” he said.
Responding, Sanwo-Olu urged Lagosians to take advantage of the Lagos Health Insurance Scheme, calling on the private sector to join hands with the state government in providing efficient healthcare services to the people.
On his part, Gbadamosi noted that brain drain was responsible for the problem facing medical services in the state, as local doctors are moving out of the country for better remunerations, adding that foreign doctors are better paid.
“For instance, in the US, a doctor gets 200,000 dollars per annum,” he said, adding that if elected he would provide better remunerations for doctors and other health workers.
On the tax collection and its judicious use, Gbadamosi, said wastage of public funds derived from taxes, which according to him is spent on white elephant projects would become a thing of the past.
“We will bring prudence into public spending,” he said.
Responding, Sanwo-Olu, who asked rhetorically how many people are on the tax list, said less than 800,000 people are captured in a city of over 20 million.
He further suggested that aggressive tax mobilisation and awareness must be harmonised for the people to see reasons why payment of taxes is important.
Agbaje, in his submission, said the economy must be grown in order to grow the tax list.
Salis noted that sadly some people have put personal interest over public interest, even in terms of tax collection.
In reducing the number of slums in Lagos, Sanwo-Olu said that planning with regards to land reforms would be crucial, while Agbaje noted that these are challenges of a mega city and would be addressed.
Gbadamosi added that through his Lagos Integration Regeneration Plan, all the money currently going to Alpha Beta would be ploughed into infrastructure.
On what could be done to attract infrastructure and technology, Gbadamosi said landlines would be provided, just as Sanwo-Olu hopes to build technology hubs in all local governments so that right of way won’t be a problem.
Agbaje added that those in power have put bottlenecks everywhere, “Internet is a way of life and should be easily accessible.”
Salis further said there is the need for investment in theoretical education, which must be done in conjunction with the federal government.
The debate had in attendance captains of industry, media professionals, academics, party chieftains and supporters, amongst others.
