Reasons Tinubu’s victory in South East, Nigeria is sacrosanct

What many people do not know is that His Excellency, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the initiator of the present-day Lagos Rail Mass Transit system which the network of railway tracks will soon be completed and will come in full use to ease transportation bottlenecks in Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre.

The Lagos rail system is being managed by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), an agency created by the same Tinubu when he was Governor of Lagos state, between 1999 and 2007.

One arm of Tinubu’s transport initiative was the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and an idea to develop Lagos Rail Mass Transit in 2000s with the construction set in December 2003. The first proposal worth $135 million was part of the wider Lagos Urban Transportation scheme. LAMATA earlier concentrated on creating a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, running between Mile 12 and Lagos Island. LAMATA decided to progress with the rail scheme later in 2008, focusing on the Blue and Red Lines.

The first section of the network, Phase I of the Blue Line, was originally planned to be completed in 2011, but the construction has suffered many delays caused by shortage of funds and change of government. In February 2021, the Lagos State Government announced that the Blue and Red Lines would be open by December 2022.

Governor Asiwaju Tinubu actually reviewed the design for seven rail lines for Lagos State in 2005. When he left office, his mentored successors such as Babatunde Fashola who immediately succeeded Tinubu was the one who it fell on to commenced the construction of the rail lines which Fashola, who was a member of the initial committee for rail actualization constituted by Tinubu, started with the Blue line running from Badagry into Lagos Island.

The Green line is for the Lekki corridor all the way to Epe and Epe to connect the purple line to Ikorodu. Such was the network of rail design that Tinubu initiated and which is gradually coming to complete fruition in Lagos state.

Good and capital projects, such as rail projects, take time for their actualization, particularly in an era where there is a fluctuating economy with growing demands by other sectors, but the important thing is that there is fidelity in the execution of the project initiated by a rear leader who saw tomorrow. It is Tinubu’s foresight that has continued to propel the Lagos growth, a growth of about 24 years which has brought attraction and glory to the state.

In a similar initiative, Asiwaju Tinubu recently disclosed before his kitchen members that Nigerians will be amazed at the transportation plan he has for the entire Nigeria, particularly for the Eastern region, where he said he will replicate the Lagos rail success story in two flanks. He said that such flanks would be the reactivation and remodeling of the Eastern railway corridor and the new coastal rail corridor that will run through the southern coastal states, from Lagos to Ondo, Delta, to Rivers, Akwa-Ibom and Calabar. He also promised that in his proposed rail network in the south east and south-south, states such as Delta will be connected to Anambra, to Enugu and Ebonyi states, while Rivers state will link up with Imo state, to join the Onitsha mega terminus. Tinubu also said that he considers the Anambra, Kogi and Enugu Omambara water side as coastal areas with great economic potential; hence it will not be left out in his transportation for economic growth blueprint.

There is every reason to believe Asiwaju in whatever he pledges because he s a man who has reach the peak of his political career with positive results in governance delivery. What is more amazing about Asiwaju is his sense of nationality. He believes in the nation Nigeria and views every section of the country as his constituency, including the south east. Considering the number of non Lagos state indigenes he has mentored and given powers of administrative authorities. Asiwaju qualifies to be described as a detribalized Nigerian. His human resources products that include people from the south east are good testimonies of Pan-Nationalism.

There is no doubt that Asiwaju loves Ndigbo and will do his best to assuage their feelings if voted to become Nigeria president in 2023. The south east may not give Asiwaju 100 percent votes but they can as well give him 25 percent votes to confirm his central figure. The south east missed hosting the 2022 Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) national conference to Lagos state despite the Awka convention center that could as well have contained the audience. It is the Asiwaju imitative, his development scheme that prodded into the future that is still selling Lagos more than other southern Nigeria states.

One thing you can’t take away from Asiwaju is the security foundation he laid and grooming of proactive leaders that have exhibited excellencies in the leadership of Lagos state. From Governors Fashola to Ambode and to Sanwo-Olu, Tinubu’s successors have made Lagos a better state with magnificent infrastructure, security and nightlife which attracted the NBA conference. The southeast should be able to tap from the man with vision and charisma to drive development, which is the type of leadership that all parts of the country currently deserve.

It is evident that the people of the southeast are aware of these abilities and will vote wisely by voting for Tinubu during the presidential election. The Igbo who most of their population reside and visit Lagos state are in the picture of what Oshodi was before Tinubu became the governor of Lagos state and the clean-up that has taken place in Lagos is to the envy of all.

Without being hypocritical, it is in the public demonstration that Asiwaju is the man who saw the future and has continued to work for its actualization. He is a man of ideas who conceived investments and industries and leisure for Lagos state. This is the more reason the states in the southeast cannot afford to key into the strides that the 2023 southern Nigeria presidential candidate, Tinubu is replete with and I’m sure he will poll more than the 25 percent votes cast from the five states of the region.

While giant strides and other rail projects are going on in other zones, many residents of South East and South-South are questioning why they are not also benefiting from the rail modernisation project. They are particularly asking what has stopped the government from rehabilitating the railway line from Port Harcourt to Makurdi, which stopped operations many years ago after existing for decades. At some point, the government made N2m per trip in a train of eight coaches from Port Harcourt to Enugu.

The absence of rail services in the South East and South-South, Mr. Henry Chibuzo, an investor said, has adversely affected the economy of the areas. It has therefore become expedient that we vote Tinubu that has plans for Ndigbo and the entire Nation.

As a head of an agency in charge of compliance and enforcement in a city, I know the difficulty and challenges required to make conformity but it takes a Man like Tinubu to implement these noble development plans. For him it is no longer about money, power or fame because he has had it all, but about leaving legacies that other Nigerians can benefit from such as was bequeathed by the Great Zik of Africa, Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello and other Statesmen of Nigeria that Asiwaju has grown to join in their rank.

One of the pending experiences of the unique general elections that would be conducted in February 2023 is that unlike before when the APC did not get so much votes in the South east, times have changed and I can assure the rest of Nigerians that Ndigbo have integrated properly into the country with His Excellencies Governors Hope Uzodinma of Imo and Dave Umahi of Ebonyi state’s mainstreaming in the national party. I can also give the assurance that with these firebrand leaders and with the mobilization in Enugu state, we will ensure that at least three out of the five states in the south east will vote APC for national integration.

For the interest Nigeria project, I urge everyone the in south east and in the rest Nigerian to work for the greater interest of the country by voting for Asiwaju Bola Ahmad Tinubu. It is time to become more united and to build a more prosperous country we would all be more proud of. For me, I stand by the JAGABAN to the end.

Dr. Onoh is a former PDP Governorship Aspirant in Enugu State