BASKING in his landslide victory at the Tuesdays poll, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State has declared that if people in the state thought they had seen progress and development in the last four years of his administration, Lagosians would be surprised at what his government still has in stock as it commences a new mandate.The people have not seen anything yet; this renewed mandate would greatly surpass what we have achieved, he said.Thanking the Lagos electorate, Fashola stressed: This is a bigger mandate than the mandate that brought me into office; its almost double. My understanding of it is that it is demanded of us to do more than we have done.On behalf of the members of my team and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), I assure you that you would not find us wanting. We would double our efforts to make your lives better; we would do whatever we can to use our resources.At this point, let me also congratulate the other parties and other candidates. We had a good race, and to say that the electioneering is now over; its is time to get to work.He assured that the administration would also welcome useful criticism, as: We do not claim to have monopoly of ideas.Beside Fashola and his new deputy, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, the ACN retains its three senators, clinched 24 House of Representatives candidates and 40 House of Assembly members.But Fashola noted: For me, this is a victory for democracy; its a victory for Lagos, and it is a victory for good governance and for the development of our people. I thank God Almighty for this great day.Yesterday, the 26th of April was a day of triumph and victory for progressive governance. Everything was possible yesterday, but God willing, good governance prevailed.In his lengthy votes of thanks, Fashola made specific mention of operators of commercial motorcyclists, otherwise known as okada riders. The governor, on more than five occasions during his campaign, had to reassure the operators that his administration had no intention of banning their operations. This was consequent upon a running battle between the operators and law enforcement agencies of the state, which rival political parties tried to turn into a campaign issue.We are not planning to ban operations of commercial cyclists in the state. We are only trying to prevent loss of lives and limbs by insisting that you, okada riders and your passengers, wear protective headgears.We dont want avoidable loss of lives in Lagos; thats why we say you people should not carry underage children and pregnant women. All the states of the federation where your operations have been banned are all Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) controlled states, Fashola said.Members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who were cut up in electoral violence, also received Fasholas gratitude and assurance.His words: Especially, let me single out the young men and women of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), and I think that this victory, this threshold is really their day. They have showed that good things have begun to evolve in this country. They have stood up for their generation and I think they have been better for this nation.First, they gave us a voter register that is generally acceptable; secondly, they gave us an election, which, by many standards of our previous performance, was less controversial, in spite of the challenges. But in that process, many of them lost their lives. They are heroes; they are martyrs.I want to use this opportunity to appeal to everybody, who holds office from today, to remember that they (the NYSC members) shed their blood so that they can hold office and I think they must not die in vain. The only way we can continue to immortalize their efforts is to go out there and do the work, the electorate demand of us and change the lives of the people to make things better within the means of our ability.Consequently, his plans for youth remains and will be improved upon. He stressed that the responsibility of the government and this generation is simply to provide the platform and environment that will unleash the power and potential of the Nigerian youths.He said his administration would do all it could to ensure that the future of the youths does not decay, as his the government will continue to fashion out programmes that will build and secure the future of the youths in the state.Fashola promised that more job opportunities would be created to accommodate the youths, promising that the government would continue with its vacation jobs for students.Last year, the state created over 5,000 job opportunities for students on vacation with the public service, to keep the youths busy, mentor them and provide extra cash and pocket money to enable them address their basic needs.In addition to the Lagos State Sports Endowment Fund (LSSEF), the administration vowed to continue harnessing the potentials of Lagosians in youth and sports development through the support of competitions such as the Principals Cup among secondary schools in the state; the School Sports Festival; the State Sports Festival; the U-13 Soccer Championship; the U-15 Swimming Competition; Falilat Ogunkoya 400 Meet; Governors Cup; the International Squash Racket Competition; MTN Street Soccer and the Oba Cup. The governor promised to make these competitions more attractive.The undergoing transformation process at the Agege Stadium, similar to that of Teslim Balogun, in terms of the standard of its facilities, is to be concluded in the last lap of his administration in the state. The stadium boasts of a FIFA standard track and sitting capacity of 15,000.
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