Governor Babatunde Fashola is reputed to have made appreciable progress in the affairs of Africa’s economic capital, Lagos State.
His gigantic strides in infrastructural development, environmental sanitation, traffic management and internally generated revenues cannot be ignored. The praise and accolades the governor receives everyday from political analysts, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), international development bodies and stakeholders at large are well deserved. He has indeed changed the face of Lagos. But has he done enough?
Many have criticised the governor for focusing mostly on urban areas and abandoning the rural areas. The governor at various forums has justified his concentration on these areas, on the grounds that the majority of those in the rural areas work in these urban areas, so they benefit from the developments in such areas.
Not deterred by accusations that his government is elitist, Fashola has soldiered on in his quest to ensure Lagosians have a brighter and more rewarding future – as his campaign slogan stated in 2007 when he first contested for the no 1 position in the state. This is not to say though, that the Fashola administration has done nothing for rural areas.
A Naij photo-journalist has captured through his lens a typical rural setting in Lagos, with focus on the Ifako area of Lagos. See the pictures below:
A deep gully filled with dirt between two houses in a street in the area
A pedestrian bridge constructed with planks in the area
Residents here are obviously comfortable using the ‘bridge’
Occupants of houses in the area need to climb high well-laid planks to gain access into their homes
A typical street in the area threatened by erosion
Another view of the street
An overview of the area
It will be recalled that last year, a lawmaker, Ipoola Ahmed Omisore, representing Ifako-Ijaiye constituency 2 in the Lagos State House of Assembly , donated his one-day salary to Miss Basirat Abiona of Vetland Grammar School, Lagos.
