On Lagos’ Investment In Infrastructure Development

Opinion

Opinion

By Tayo Ogunbiyi

Infrastructure development is critical to achieving human capital development in any society. The economic impact that infrastructure improvement has on nation building cannot be over-emphasised. Considering the statistics that about 85 percent of the people in the world reside in the developing world and transition economies, and with 67 percent of that population below age 35, the need for infrastructure development to support enduring development remains a matter of major concern for all nations of the world. Across the world, provision of crucial services  is still far below required  expectation as almost 1.6 billion people have no access to power, 1.2 billion people lack access to safe and potable drinking water while  2.4 billion are faced with the challenge of insufficient medical facilities. Ironically, the infrastructure’s budget of many developing countries’  is dwindling. In Nigeria, for instance, the budgeting tradition, in recent time, has been for recurrent expenditure to be above capital outlay.

Without doubt, the growth of any country’s economy hugely depends on the status of its infrastructure . The dearth of needed infrastructure in a given society places serious limitation on human capital development.  It is in view of the its crucial role to achieving rapid economic growth that advanced nations of the world commit huge investment to infrastructure development. J.F. Kennedy, a former President of the United States of America, USA, once put the relationship between infrastructure development and economic prosperity into a proper perspective when he affirmed that: “America has good roads, not because America is rich, but America is rich because it has good roads”. Essentially, the prosperity of a nation depends on the state of its infrastructure. From the ancient  Roman empire to the super economic powers of the 21st century, it has been clearly demonstrated that no nation can accomplish true greatness  without evolving pragmatic strategies for long-term  infrastructure development.

According  to the World Bank, every 1% of government funds spent on infrastructure leads to an equivalent 1% increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which invariably means that there is a correlation between any meaningful inputs in infrastructure development which reflects on economic growth, indices, hence the value of infrastructure cannot be underplayed. Infrastructure development has in recent times assumed a pride of place  in Nigeria’s strive to achieve social and economic progress. Consequently, governments across the country are placing high premium on infrastructure as the central point of their administrations.

Undoubtedly, since the inauguration of the fourth republic in May,1999, Lagos state has been in the forefront of infrastructure regeneration and development in the country. That Lagos has become one massive construction site since 1999 is not in doubt. The list of major concluded and on-going infrastructure development projects in the state is endless. In Lagos today, capital expenditure is given prominence over re-current expenses. New blocks of classrooms daily spring up in public schools, new roads and bridges are being constructed and commissioned while existing ones are being re-habilitated in different locations across the state with quality delivery being the watchword. Similarly, first class health facilities now adorn most of the public hospitals while the Operation Green Lagos project has transformed the environmental landscape of the state. Against all odds, the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system has become a relative success as its scope of operations is being expanded to other parts of the state. There is also a renewed effort to transform the rural areas of the state through provision of access roads, electricity and water.

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It is with a view to sustaining the vision to develop infrastructure across the state that the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), recently handed over the Ejigbo-Ajao Estate Link Bridge.  The State Governor also recently handed over the 2.68km Alaba/Cemetery road in the Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government. In same vein, the state Governor recently  handed over the Amuwo-Odofin Maternal and Childcare Centre in FESTAC Town, the sixth in the series, to FESTAC residents. Out of the ten such centres planned for the State by the present administration, six have been completed and are fully operational including the Amuwo-Odofin MCC which became operational about two months ago. Others are located in Ajegunle, Gbaja in Surulere, Ifako-Ijaiye, Isolo and Ikorodu.  It will be recalled that the state Governor used the occasion of the last Democracy Day on May 29 to hand over the 1.38km Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge.

For any government that worth its salt, particularly in developing countries, infrastructure development remains crucial to attaining growth across all sectors . This explains the why the Lagos state government is continuously thinking and working to improve infrastructure across the state. Presently, several slums in the state are being upgraded by the state government through the Lagos Metropolitan Development and Governance Project (LMDGP). The Mile 12-Ikorodu road is currently being upgraded to accommodate BRT lanes and other latest road infrastructures. The light rail project from National Theatre, Iganmu to Mile 2 is nearing completion. Very soon, the light rail project along the Badagry axis will become a reality. This is in addition to the government’s vision of completely transforming the Badagry axis though redevelopment of the major expressway connecting West Africa to Nigeria.

True democracy cannot exist in a society incapable of supporting the aspirations its people. A truly representative government must be able to create the enabling environment for its citizenry to freely express itself in positive ways so that the diverse potentials of its people could be easily harnessed for growth and development. French political thinker and historian , Alexis de Tocqueville, in his immortal classic, Democracy in America (1835), insists that building the people is more necessary than creating wealth, for the value of the latter is tied to the existence of the earlier. Undoubtedly , Governor Fashola was having Tocqueville in mind when he declared recently at a public function that “if this investment matures (the investment in infrastructure development), Lagos will be a better place because we believe clearly, without any doubt, that the development of infrastructure across the state will ultimately open the doors f prosperity to our people.” How appropriate!

•Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

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