Fashola: President Buhari’s Star-Minister in Make or Mar Spot. Femi Ojo

Picture courtesy of naijaeforum.com

 One minister in President Buhari’s newly formed cabinet that is too difficult to ignore is the former Lagos State governor and the current triple substantive minister of Power, Housing and Works, Mr. Babatunde Fashola. He is currently the man of the moment and who I refer to as the ‘star boy’ in President Buhari’s new cabinet.  Fashola’s many achievements in Lagos state are too plethora to start mentioning. Fashola was one governor that Lagosians and indeed Nigerians will remember for a long time to come for his many infrastructural development in virtually all sectors in Lagos State i.e. housing, road construction, sanitation and environmental beautification, security, traffic, education, energy and power, youth development and empowerment, poverty alleviation etc. Indeed he remains one of the first rated political administrators in the country.

It was all applauds for Mr. Fashola last week as President Buhari appointed him as the only triple minister in his cabinets to oversee three strategic ministries of Power, Works and Housing. With the appointment, President Buhari has elevated Mr. Fashola to a strategic position and has strategically put the former governor at the center of our national politics perhaps, for more important future elective position. Like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who discovered and gave Mr. Fashola the political opportunity in Lagos State, Mr. Buhari might have knowingly or unknowingly positioned Fashola for higher future political ambition.

However beyond the hails that have been coming since Mr. Fashola was appointed, I am afraid, the former governor is in a make or mar spot. He is because if Mr. Fashola replicated sterling achievements in the three ministries he is currently heading, Nigerians will surely entreat that he presides over the nation in the nearest future. If otherwise (God forbid) our people may forget his sterling achievement as Lagos State governor and immediately judge him based on his latest performances. I have no doubts that Mr. Fashola knows that this is yet another time to roll up his sleeves and prove wrong those political pigs waiting to deride him. 

The tasks before Mr. Fashola are enormous, he has to tackle the problems associated with power generation in Nigeria. Currently Nigeria, an economy of about 180 million population generates 4,000Mw and distributes less. Mr. Fashola has to worry about how to increase power generation and take the ministry into an enviable position. Not only that, Nigerians are expecting that Mr. Fashola will perform wonders by fashioning out the quickest, safest and most cost effective way to bring light and relief to Nigerians. This if achieved will help the economy grow especially the Small and Medium Enterprises, homes and industries will also benefit and this in turn will attract foreign investors to the country.

Currently, the privatized market in the power sector still struggle to bring the much needed change and now that Mr. Fashola has been appointed, Nigerians will expect that he will help bring standard in regulating the activities of the private operators in this sector. Fashola will also need to look at alternative sources of energy which the country has in abundance. The solar, the wind, bio-mass etc. are other sources of energy that our country needs to embrace in our energy and power policy. Indeed there are so many expectations from Mr. Fash!

 Let say it to Mr. Fash, our federal roads need a lot of transformation, majority are not actually motorable, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway needs expansion, East-West road, Benin-Ore, Oyo-Ogbomoso road etc. There are bad roads everywhere you go in Nigeria. The expectations of Nigerians from the minister on their rehabilitations, expansion and where necessary construction of new ones are very high. Nigerians want to see a new maintenance culture on our roads, it is expected of our minister to replicate good maintenance culture here at the centre.

The housing deficit in Nigeria is about 17-18 million. The new minister of housing, Mr. Fashola has a lot of work to do in this sector. Nigerians are expecting a new thinking by the minister that will stimulate ideas that can solve these deficits. The Nigeria’s underdeveloped mortgage industry will be expected to be rejigged by the new minister by tapping into opportunities provided by technology to speed up level of housing construction. Mr. Fash will also be expected to set a clear target like he did in Lagos state to house Nigerians in the next four years of this administration.

The current political position for Mr. Fash, I will say  is a make or mar position , he is either about to consolidate and expand his political power at the centre based on the outcomes we are about to see in his new capacity as the only triple minister in the current administration or if otherwise, Nigerians might as well markdown his sterling achievements as that exceptional former governor of Lagos State (God forbid!). As Nigerians patiently wait to see President Buhari’s cabinets hit the ground running, we wish that this government of change will truly make a difference!