Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has insisted that a fact that could not be denied by anyone who worked closely with Tinubu from 1999 to 2007, was that he designed the development master plan of the state.
Speaking as a special guest on ‘Your View,’ a programme on Television Continental (TVC), where he spoke about his government’s achievements, his re-election, family values and relationship with the APC presidential candidate, Sanwo-Olu said Tinubu could not be deprived of the credit for the reforms that transformed Lagos to one of the biggest economies in Africa.
His words: “With all sense of humility, I joined the Tinubu government over 20 years ago. I was General Manager in my bank before I joined Tinubu in November 2002. From the very first day of my appointment, I was in Tinubu’s cabinet and I saw things first hand.
“I am a living witness to the development vision put forward by Tinubu. It’s not something we should be blabbing about; it’s a fact we all know. Under the leadership of Tinubu, we set up documents called LASEEDS and SEEDS, which are economic development blueprints for Lagos.
“We also had what we called a 10-point agenda, which laid the foundation for revenue generation drive, transportation reform and public infrastructure renewal.
“LASEEDS and SEEDS documents were working blueprint for transformation in Lagos. We set up the Ehingbeti Economic Summit to run year on year, where we collate inputs from the private sector and put them in flesh of public documents and generate a working paper we could implement.
“I was the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, so I was part of those that developed the documents. Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), for example, did not just come out of the space; Tinubu set up LAMATA with the World Bank in 2002. I was part of the first set of personnel that worked in LAMATA, which is one of the best transportation agencies in the world.
“That’s how the blueprint was developed and we had a 20-year development plan for it, which former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola improved on. He expunged some items and replaced them based on the realities of the period.
“Former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode did similar thing. Our government is doing same, because there is continuity. We’re able to see the challenges of previous governments and we decided on those things we can take quickly. Tinubu deserves the credit because he is the one that was able to bake the first retinue of very intelligent people that worked with him to develop implementable blueprint.”
