Buhari Official Visit to Lagos begins tomorrow
President Muhammadu Buhari will tomorrow
begin a two-day working visit to Lagos State, thereby making him the
first Nigerian president that will officially visit the state in the
past fourteen years.
Ahead of Buhari’s visit, the state
government has released traffic guide, which it said, would help its
residents to review their travel plans between Monday and Tuesday to
avoid undue traffic congestion in the metropolis.
The Commissioner for Information and
Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, confirmed the president’s official visit
to the state in a statement he issued yesterday, noting that the
president would inaugurate some landmark projects the administration of
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had fully executed in its first year.
Beyond inaugurating different projects, a
government source told THISDAY that traditional rulers, illustrious
indigenes and political leaders would seize the opportunity the
president’s visit offers to renew their call for special status for
Lagos.
Also, the government official disclosed
that traditional rulers in particular would ask the president to work
with the National Assembly and ensure that the 37 local council
development areas (LCDAs) are granted full status.
During the visit, it was gathered that
the president would be requested to return to Lagos State Government,
Federal Secretariat and Tafawa Balewa Square among other properties of
the federal government that were sold under the administration of former
President Olusegun Obasanjo.
In his statement, Ayorinde said
President Buhari’s official visit “is the first time in about 15 years
that a sitting president will be visiting the state on a working visit.”
According to him, it is a testimony to the landmark achievements in the last one year of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as well as the good working relationship between Lagos State and the federal government.
During the visit, Ayorinde disclosed that Buhari “will formally inaugurate the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) Rescue Unit in Cappa Oshodi built by the state government to ensure prompt and swift response to emergency situations in the state.”
According to him, it is a testimony to the landmark achievements in the last one year of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as well as the good working relationship between Lagos State and the federal government.
During the visit, Ayorinde disclosed that Buhari “will formally inaugurate the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) Rescue Unit in Cappa Oshodi built by the state government to ensure prompt and swift response to emergency situations in the state.”
After unveiling the LASEMA Rescue Unit,
the commissioner said the president “will thereafter inaugurate the
newly constructed Ago Palace Way in Okota, Isolo after which he will pay
homage to the Oba of Lagos, His Royal Majesty, Oba Babatunde Rilwanu
Aremu Akiolu at the Iga Iduganran, Lagos Island.
“The President will later be hosted to a
reception by the state government at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos
where he will also commission and hand over security equipment and
vehicles contributed by the Ambode administration to security agencies
to beef up security in the state.”
He added that Lagos residents “are
looking forward with excitement to receive the President in the state,
just as he urged residents to bear with law enforcement agents and
traffic control authorities who will effect road diversions in some of
the routes that the President motorcade will pass through during the
visit.”
However, since former President Olusegun
Obasanjo’s official visit to Lagos in November 2002, no sitting
president has officially visited the state despite its status as
Nigeria’s economic capital and its contribution to national economy.
Though all past presidents during their tenure used the airport in the
state as transit point and paid non-state visits to Lagos.
Under the Obasanjo administration, the
federal government’s hostile relation with Lagos State Government was
evident, resulting in constitutional tussles that were resolved by the
Supreme Court. The crisis between the federal and the state government
was as a result of the political differences between former President
Obasanjo and the then governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is now a
national leader of the All Progressives Congress.
The conflict between Obasanjo and Tinubu
erupted in 2002 when the latter created 37 additional local council
development areas (LCDAs), which brought the number of local councils in
the state to 57.
But the conflict escalated before the 2003 general election during which the former president furiously led the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in an historic electoral contest to take control of Lagos.
But the conflict escalated before the 2003 general election during which the former president furiously led the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in an historic electoral contest to take control of Lagos.
While the Supreme Court declared the
decision of the state government to create 37 additional councils
constitutional, Tinubu was re-elected in a historic contest that edged
out governors in five other South-west states.
Obasanjo’s immediate successor, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, who resolved some of the conflicts between the federal and state government, did not visit Lagos during the period he lasted in office apparently due to his grave health condition that finally claimed his life in 2010.
Obasanjo’s immediate successor, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, who resolved some of the conflicts between the federal and state government, did not visit Lagos during the period he lasted in office apparently due to his grave health condition that finally claimed his life in 2010.
Likewise, Yar’Adua’s successor, Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan never paid official visit to the state even though he
got massive support from the electorate in the state in the 2011
presidential election.
Ahead of the 2015 general election, Jonathan unofficially visited the state almost on weekly basis, holding meetings with political leaders and consulting traditional rulers, captains of industries and civil society practitioners.
Ahead of the 2015 general election, Jonathan unofficially visited the state almost on weekly basis, holding meetings with political leaders and consulting traditional rulers, captains of industries and civil society practitioners.
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