Lagos Governor Fashola Happy with Democracy & Optimistic For Growth in S/Leone

The Executive Governor Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) of Lagos State the Commercial centre of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has expressed delight for the President Ernest Bai Koroma’s Government momentum in keeping with democratic principles in Governing Sierra Leone.  (Photo: His Worship Moses Sesay shaking hands with Lagos Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola)

Officially welcoming a Sierra Leonean delegation comprising Freetown Lord Mayor George Herbert A. Williams, Makeni Lord Mayor Moses, Sierra Leone’s High Commissioner to Nigeria H.E. Henry O. Macauley and other Councillors at his state House Lodge in Lagos, “I attended president koroma’s inauguration to see the birth of democracy, and also use the attendance as an opportunity to demonstrate our (Lagos state Government) commitment to the development of the continent. “I am happy Sierra Leone has not looked back and democracy is on course. “The fact that the entire local Government in Sierra Leone became constituted through democratic means, points to a direction, that great things are about coming again to the people of Sierra Leone. “I am monitoring events there”.

The  executive Governor of the Nigerian state with the highest number of people (eighteen Million(18M) expressed his conviction to  the delegation,  while officially Welcoming the two Lord  Mayors, the High Commissioner  and other local Government officials at his Lagos State- House in Nigeria.

 Nigeria’s Lagos State Executive Governor Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) was very categorical in telling Sierra Leone’s Capital City Mayor His Worshipful George Herbert A. Williams that he is ready, willing and able to help him transform Freetown the capital City of Sierra Leone.

“Transformation of any city, state or country can only be done through Democracy, which is the mandate of the people coupled with the preservation of traditional values and customs. “We cannot build Lagos as a Peculiar western city: “we have our own customs and values.

“We eat roasted meat on the road side, we eat roasted peanuts on the motor parks and we also buy food at road junctions.

“These are our own Kentucky, Manhattan and Piccadilly, where we buy our own home made food.

He said transformation of Freetown can be possible through division of labour according to specialization as a method, and collectivism (total involvement with commitment) as a scheme”.

“Any government that has the legitimacy of the people, driven from a popular mandate can find the resources to do its job.

“My people are not only paying their taxes, but they are happy to do so because they have an accountable government that responds to their questions with results.

“Any time people make demands we don’t think it is a burden, we see it as a challenge, by doing the best and leaving the rest”. Said Governor Fashola.

The executive Governor formally invited the two Lord Mayors to the Management of Lagos Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) and Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport authority (LAMATA) for update on the operations of these two key institutions.

Earlier,  His Worshipful George Herbert Akinremi Williams the Mayor of Freetown City Council told the executive Governor of Lagos the commercial city of Federal Republic of Nigeria Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN),that his visit  to Lagos is tied with the agenda for Change policy of President Ernest Bai Koroma.

“I am in Lagos to dialogue with you and some sections of your government particularly, the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) which is responsible for the cleanliness of the state, the lushness of its green, its landscaping and the freshness of its air which are now striking features that welcome a first time visitor coming into that city, and learn the strategies applied, that I will replicate in my city.

 Again, I am here to learn the knowledge used, and the pattern applied by your government to improve on city transport facility, particularly so, when one considers the present population of Lagos which is eighteen million people.

In his introduction, Sierra Leone’s High Commissioner to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, ECOWAS and the Central African Countries H.E. Henry O Macauley said Sierra Leone and the Federal Republic of Nigeria share some common values.

He said names given to Nigerians at birth can also be found in Sierra Leone, while both countries share similar Food menu.

In terms of Languages, H.E Henry Macauley said though Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo speakers are predominantly found in Nigeria, they can also be found in seven other West African Countries including Sierra Leone.

The High Commissioner said Sierra Leone also served as the educational centre of British West Africa. Through Fourah Bay College which was established in 1827, Sierra Leone rapidly became a magnet for English-speaking Africans on the West Coast. For more than a century, it was the only European-style University in western Sub-Saharan Africa, where many Nigerians got their tertiary education.

Pasco Gerald Temple, Information Attaché, Sierra Leone High Commission, Abuja, Nigeria

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