‘Jimi Agbaje cannot be pushed around’

Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, speaks on his plans to revamp the education system in Lagos and differences in his experience as a governorship candidate in the state in 2007 and 2015,  Kamal Tayo Oropo and Seye Olumide report.

DIFFERENCES between 2007 and 2015 governorship campaigns

 There is significant different between the two campaigns because this one is a lot more hectic than 2007.

  In the 2007 campaign, we had numbers of limitations. We tried to reach out to a lot of people through the mass media but this time around, people tried to reach you one on-one and so you have the challenge of trying to reach out to everybody that is a hectic base.

  We definitely have a stronger platform (PDP) that we are working but even with that it is hectic, don’t forger that we are going against a ruling party that has been here for nearly 16 years.

  The ruling APC is a very entrenched organisation that we are working to remove and they are not taking it lying low. They are also fighting that has made it more hectic.

 Infrastructural development of Lagos between 2007 and now

 Obviously there have been some level of improvements in certain areas and some areas have not had it so good. But the main issue is the challenges of the global mega city, which are still there.

  For instance the issues of education are there because it is clear,

all over the world that any community, state or nation that does not have a well-educated population is in trouble. This is a stage of a knowledge economy. We still have our challenges in the area of education in the state.

 There are still the challenges of universal access to health. This still remain a challenge to us and again we have the issues of the natural fallout of the global mega city like housing and urban renewal, so we have a housing situation where nearly over 70 per cent of the population are living in substandard housing condition.

 So these are some of the challenges we are facing. We have transportation. We still have a long way to go. We cannot say that we are on top of that. For a global mega city, these are the issues we have.

  Then lets come to the basis, water has its own issues. We are still facing the problem of portable water, which has its own health challenges. Against the problem of how to create new urban communities for Lagos is there.

  The challenges of getting other areas of Lagos, especially those places that are expanding, how to cope with making them communities that can stand on their own. In this regard we want to look at the Alimoso area, Badagry, Epe and others.

 The bases are still there with us, so the agenda is still well cut out and so we can’t say that we are moving in the direction that we ought to but that is not to say that we have not make some progress in some areas.

  Agenda for Lagos state

 Very clearly education is priority number one. The idea is that you can’t have any progressive or developed country without a well-educated workforce. That is priority number one.

  What we find is that if you look at the way education is structured in the state, we discovered that there is a lot more emphasis on tertiary and secondary education at the expense of primary education and what we are saying is that we need to place more emphasis on primary education.

  If you do a survey, the result shows that there are more children in private primary schools than they are in public schools. But then, we also know that a number of these private primary schools don’t really offer much but people still believe that they offer more than public primary schools.

  So it is important that we place more emphasis on primary education, if we do it right, it means we will get a sound foundation for our children.

   For example, a child who cannot read and write English properly and cannot think in English, he or she becomes very difficult to teach at the secondary level. Do you expect such child to pass? Of course not!

  On what we are going to do differently, one is to place more emphasis on primary education and to look at the general issues of teachers and the facilities. We need to have more teachers, to have better provision for teachers’ development and welfare.

  It is interesting you spoke about the Old Western Region, don’t forger that this region at a time spent nearly 40 per cent of its budget on education. It was that much of a priority, again I am not saying that we are going to spend 40 per cent but definitely you have to begin to put more on education.

  There is also the issue of education that relates with technical and vocational field, I think we have to begin to look at our technical and vocational education in a different ways.

   If you look at the National Bureau of Statistics where we have the categories of people who were unemployed, you will discover that when they got to the categories of artisans, there is hardly an artisan that is unemployed. That tells you the kind of opportunities that are out there for them (artisans) but then what matter is what kind of skills do they have?

  Government responsibility is to begin to prepare people for those types of skills to participate in the new world of today and not in the old fashion. That is the kind of things that you have to get people to get into.

 Another thing about basic education is that if you look at the Old Western Region, the command of English of those that did Standard Six is totally different. More importantly education has gone into innovation and creativity. 

 We should stop preparing them (our children) for the factory but to prepare them to be innovative and creative. We have to emphasis on that.

  It is not going to be costly and don’t forget that the constitution is very clear that basic education is a right and not about cost. I keep saying the difference between public and private basic education would be in the extracurricular activities that come into the private.

   In terms of academics they (public, private schools) should be at par and what we aimed is to produce students in our public and private schools that are at par in terms of academic.

  It is not just a right of the student to have basic education but it is in the interest of the nation to have people that have sound education.

  Percentage of budget for education

 At present Lagos State is spending about 14 per cent of its budget on education but we are aiming at bringing it up to about 18 per cent.

  On health programme

 For health we are very clear that the model fashioned along the line of universal access to health and health insurance. We have to use a model that is close to what we know that is Health Insurance Model because what that does is that it addresses a lot of issues that is affecting us at the moment.

   Reaction to verbal attack on his person by Governor Babatunde Fashola

 It is unfortunate that is has turned to that. I am a firm believer that governance and politicking should be about ideas rather than personal accusations and all that. May be there is some sensitivity in terms of what we are saying. To some extent the only way I can explain it is that there is some sensitivity as to the type of things we have come out with. Not from us, but the way others see us.

   I think there has been this impression that we (Lagos) have been a fantastic state in terms of performance. Again I have always been on record that we have made progress, but we shouldn’t fool ourselves that we are where we want to be. At times like this, it is good to see our selves the way people sees us and I think maybe the governor is being sensitive to these issues, these are not my findings, these are findings by people. 

  So when we go out there and say we are a great, yes, we may feel we are great within, Nigeria. But let us even look at Nigeria and see how they look at us, so we have the World Bank survey, like I said that says that Lagos State is bad in terms of construction techniques, registration of property, it is not our study but it is the study of World Bank.

  It is a study that everyone subscribes to. So we’re saying that if you want to improve foreign investment and the economy of Lagos, then you have to address this.

    Somebody is being very sensitive because it is like they have said he has not done well in that regard. So when we say that there is what we call availability index, which is done by the economic intelligence unit that scored Lagos as a state at number 137 out of 140, it is not my study, it is an international study that is acceptable.  It ranks us as the worst 4th city in the world.

Godfatherism in PDP 

 It’s very amusing because it is also common knowledge that Jimi Agbaje’s reputation is that he cannot be pushed around and then the same people now say he has gone somewhere else where they will push him around.

 Like I said it’s time for politics, so you try and play on and throw anything. Jimi Agbaje remains his own person. I read the cartoons and I laugh. First I was Bode George’s baby where he was working me along, the other one was Senator Ogunlewe, and so, for me I have a very thick skin to all these issues because it is not true.

 I tell people even the choice of a running mate for me was my choice, nobody told me to pick someone as my running mate. I picked my running mate

   On tax default

 This is part of the mud being thrown about. It is funny, when I was told about it; I said Governor Fashola couldn’t have said that. If I recall, I just got a letter of appreciation on payment of tax. Then another statement said it is not Jimi Agbaje, it is his company. The initial statement that I got was that I was a serial tax defaulter. So that means it is about politics and not about anything.

 Governor Fashola knows that there is a difference between the person and his company, and to say that because my company is involved, I am the one who is guilty. I believe he is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. I don’t want people to interpret that to mean I am only giving an excuse or anything.

 Corruption and management of Lagos State resources

 How do you relate the achievement the government claims to have made with the money? For the last 16 years Lagos State has spent or has had over four trillion naira, that is a lot of money, for us we have not had value for money.

Unfortunately, those who run Lagos State government are those that

shouts about corruption.

   If we all agree as Nigerians that there is corruption across the board in our country, at the federal, state, local government, even in the private sector, I am not aware of anybody that has been charged for corruption at the high level, I am talking about the state level.

  So, in Lagos State when they point fingers at the federal, at least you see some people taken to court and are sentenced. I am not saying that is enough, there is a great room for improvement at that level, but at least you can see action. Lagos State I am not aware.