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As Nigeria commemorates its 50th
anniversary today, the governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, on
Thursday assured citizens that there is a future for the nation.

Calling on Nigerians to let go of the
failures from the last 50 years, and look forward to a greater nation,
the governor said that people should be more concerned on how to place
the country in a much better pedestal.

“There is life, there is hope and I
believe that what lies ahead of us really, is more important than what
we have to put behind us,” said Mr Fashola at the presidential wing of
the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA), Lagos while speaking to
correspondents.

“I think we should focus more in engaging with the present and the future rather than mourning the past.”

The Lagos State helmsman said that
residents of the city should be expectant of the dividends of democracy
come the next 50 years, adding that the economy of Lagos will receive a
positive boost.

“Expect improved quality service
delivery, safer city state, good quality of life, better life
expectancy for the citizenry, and better opportunity for prosperity in
all sectors of the economy,” he said.

Why there is a slow down

Asked what could be responsible for the
sudden slowdown in his government’s performance in recent times, Mr
Fashola argued that his administration has not relented in its work,
adding that climatic constraints have affected workflow drastically.

“The pace of work has not slowed down.
Traditionally, you must understand that we want to maximise every
distraction that we had. The weather has not helped and, therefore,
there is going to be a lot of waste. Road construction particularly is
a very technical thing that requires asphalt, bitumen to be heated up
and applied on the surface,” he said.

“Once you have bad weather, when the
road has even been prepared for laying of bitumen, you have to stop,
lose all the materials to the rain. Note that you already have labour
on site and you have to pay them even though they can’t work.”

He explained that embarking on
aggressive infrastructural development during the season tends to waste
resources and that as soon as the State government gets a sound weather
forecast it will commence work.

“It is not that the work can’t be done, but it comes with a lot of
waste and therefore we are hoping that the weather forecaster that we
have now will be able to announce accurately and therefore, we will be
able to do more with the little that we have,” he said.