@mansmith, The Fashola Training School for Political Appointees should be run by an NGO, IMO.

We need 36 Fasholas in 9ja to make rapid progress.

That man be d only governor wey don show say im no go skool for nothin and dat he knows what leadership is all about. All the other governors don crase, that's why 9ja remains in a merry-go-round of poverty and corruption.

He deserves the award 10 times over. Gba bee!

he worth it. Is it true that they want to impeach Fashola?

Well deserved but he shouldn't rest on his oars as there is still much work to be done!
Anyways , Congrats to him seeing the award wasn't given to any thieving governor nor their cronies.

nas 00:

We need 36 Fasholas in 9ja to make rapid progress.

That sounds rather far fetched
We need one Leader @ the highest echelon who can accurately capture the vision for 9ja's greatness and inculcate it into others. Once the vision is well documented, anyone [whether leader or led] can read it, take personal ownership and run with it.

A lot of state Governors and even the president need to go and intern under Gov Fashola. Why would they want to go to Havard to learn Governance when they have him?

We ought to look beyond this "award" thing trying to become a "religion" stuff. Babatunde Fashola, governor of Lagos state has proved that yes we can; his concepts, dreams, transparent human, social and economical projects(start to finish well). Kudos also to his team.

I thank God for his life and vision. He has moved from mission to actualizing his continued vision in Lagos state.

Sound and civilized mind indeed. Thank you sir.

It can only get better, I must say that discipline is good and should be embraced as we stay away from complains.

This man has shown an impeccable love towards the development of the society. He truly deserves the award as he is an epitome of true leadership in a country where people run after crass materialism when elected into public office.
He has displayed the efficacy of the magic wand he possesses to transform Lagos into a cynosure of all eyes. Ride on Fashola.

The two important state in nigeria were the governorship is difficult is oyo and lagos.


This is an abuse of cartography. Could the poster explain how the satellite imagery he attached supports the caption.
Or was he hoping we would be so impressed by his skills with google earth and photoshop we wouldn't notice the lack of content in the post.

I think it was not only guardian that chose him as man of the year. About three Nigerian newspapers have already done so- Vanguard and I think Sun Newspapers.

To be honest and clear,fashola has shown a great explemary leadership quality which i opined that fellow governors can emulate from.He deserves more and i do hope that in the nearest future he can contest for the highest office in the land.Congrats
eko o ní baje o.

Mazel Tov

Outcome of Military intervention- Fashola that ought to be accounting for the governed ,reverse is the case ,They are accounting for him.

Like I said on another thread, Fashola is ahead of other Political leaders because he refuses to play politics with issues that matter to the electorate. Lagos has resolved to pass the Freedom of Information bill this month. This will be a great thing for Nigeria . Once again, Fashola is leading by example and throwning the 'Gauntlet down' to the rest of our dishonest and self-serving leaders - including a distinctly compromised Senate President and AGF. Hopefully ,other States will be motivated to follow suit but I doubt it.

The FOI bill guarantees public access to information about anyone. The FOI bill puts a bit more power and control in the hands of the average Nigerian thus making him less subservience and less easy to decieve and control. This is something 99% of Nigerian leaders , even those doing well, will not want !!!!! It is only an honest leaders , with integrity, who will support this bill with an eye on building strong and enduring institutions that strenghten good Governance plus improves democracy.

Trueword wrote:

Fashola's work in Lagos is a ray of hope that Nigeria can still function as one country. If you look at Fashola's administration, it is multiethnic and everyone is working together in order to improve Lagos State. Lagos is pretty much a smaller version of Nigeria because of its diversity. In that light, it is possible for Nigeria to function as one nation. We just have to get rid of the people in power that perpetuate tribal politics  for  their own selfish gains.

Precisely !!! This is why I keep insisting that what Nigeria need , first and foremost , is a focused and detribalised President who will work for Nigerians and not the various cabals that keep us down.

A good leaders can carry those under him along in goodness and goodwill whereas bad leaders - and we have had a lot of them - always bespoil the air leaving a bad stench people come to regard as pleasant aroma with time !!!

The way Fashola is carrying Lagos administrators along in good Governance is how it can also be done at National level.

Gbawe:

Trueword wrote:

Precisely !!! This is why I keep insisting that what Nigeria need , first and foremost , is a focused and detribalised President who will work for Nigerians and not the various cabals that keep us down.

A good leaders can carry those under him along in goodness and goodwill whereas bad leaders - and we have had a lot of them - always bespoil the air leaving a bad stench people come to regard as pleasant aroma with time !!!

The way Fashola is carrying Lagos administrators along in good Governance is how it can also be done at National level.

Well said bro.

How I wish Onyarugbulem is still alive (RIP), let him and fasola run Nigeria. Trust me , things will be good cause both has the same mind and think in the same way, not like others that only think of looting here and there. I like a leader with good mission and vision not all this akamu leaders that will just form some points and call it 7 point agender or something, agender wey no dey work, na to cover up in other to steal money.

May God help us.

I live in Lag. I come from the S/East, and I know other states in Naija b/c I travel around Naija mostly. I have never seen a state like Lagos in terms of improvement, good governance and dedication.

Why I like Fashola is dt he doesnt spend tax-payers' money laundering his image in the media, like other govs. He believes in Word of Mouth. I have always told pple dt any gov doing much of ads in TV and media is fake. I remember d days of "ENUGU STATE IS WORKING; TO GOD BE THE GLORY," which Nnamani used in deceiving the whole world. But, compare Chime with Nnamani today, u see a major diffce.

We Lagosians tacitly agree dt even if Fashola wants to come out 4 presidency, we would vote him automatically.

Anybody who says Fashola doesnt deserve this award has a problem. Has he checked d road system now, security, hold-up situation, neatness of Lagos, clearing of area boys-infested areas? Oshodi, Mile 2, Stadium, Ijora Olopa, etc are no more black spots. I m not his advocate; i dont even know who he is (of course I dont need to, to say what he has done), but i can feel him all around Lagos.

Ndeewonu:

I have always told pple dt any gov doing much of ads in TV and media is fake. I remember d days of "ENUGU STATE IS WORKING; TO GOD BE THE GLORY," which Nnamani used in deceiving the whole world. But, compare Chime with Nnamani today, u see a major diffce.

I've heard this statement so often, I started believing it until last month when I visited Enugu.
Despite whatever Nnamani did or didn't do, Chime's accomplishments are yet to compare with nnamani's achievements.

He deserved the highest honour in the land not a newspaper award haba.

Ndeewonu:

I live in Lag. I come from the S/East, and I know other states in Naija b/c I travel around Naija mostly. I have never seen a state like Lagos in terms of improvement, good governance and dedication.

Why is like Fashola is dt he doesnt spend tax-payers' money laundering his image in the media, like other govs. He believe in Word of Mouth. I have always told pple dt any gov doing much of ads in TV and media is fake. I remember d days of "ENUGU STATE IS WORKING; TO GOD BE THE GLORY," which Nnamani used in deceiving the whole world. But, compare Chime with Nnamani today, u see a major diffce.

We Lagosians tacitly agree dt even if Fashola wants to come out 4 presidency, we would vote him automatically.

Anybody who says Fashola doesnt deserve this award has a problem. Has he checked d road system now, security, hold-up situation, neatness of Lagos, clearing of area boys-infested areas? Oshodi, Mile 2, Stadium, Ijora Olopa, etc are no more black spots. I m not his advocate; i dont even know who he is (of course I dont need to, to say what he has done), but i can feel him all around Lagos.

Word! Need I say more? Eko o ni baje o.

The more i hear of the wonders in Lagos state the more embarrassed i become for other governors who are going about doing advertisement on CNN and the rest of them. Here in Rivers State, the government awards contracts to some people without pedigree and they go on public holidays leaving the work undone. Before it was rain is falling now that we are inside harmattan, these criminals and political jobbers have been on break from the time of the prophets birthday till this christmas and up into new year. The government meanwhile has become a spectator in the whole drama now am hearing four hundred and something billion.

skfa1:

lol,          

I think somebody has done something like Fasola before but he was killed (Navy Onyarugbulem). He did great for ondo state people before he left for Benin city where he died. I pray they dont kill Fasola cause our people like to kill good people.

pls point of correction! onyarugbulem didnt die in benin, he died in his home town far in the east.

Fashola,great man,

This is the benefit of a good education, a good career before entering politics, a SAN (he has bought honour to this position just like Gani, Keyamo, Falana are doing, ). Well done to them, our country can be great if only we all do our honest quota.

Everybody cant be Mega rich but everybody deserves a decent life style, and believe it or not this is the main area of advantage the western world have over us, Men of good leadership with principles,

Lets encourgae our own when they make an attempt to set things right (even if at times we dont favour thier polices), Let's stand for progress in our nation !!!! Cos No matter what anyone says, No where like home !!!!!!!

Well deserved award.
This is one Naija award where merit was a determining factor

international media is also saying the same thing. There was another story by THE ECONOMIST in April


Politics: Lagos State governor puts others in the shade

By Matthew Green

Published: July 20 2009 22:31 | Last updated: July 20 2009 22:31

Pausing from selling “chin-chin” – sweets made from twists of fried dough – on the verge of a half-built road in Lagos, Oluwaseun Tokunbo quickly warms to the city’s favourite topic: the new governor.

“His impact on Lagos State has been so awesome,” she says, to nods from a couple of friends sheltering from the drizzle under her lime green umbrella. “We have 36 states in Nigeria – they should copy what he has done.”

Such glowing praise is not normally afforded to politicians in Nigeria, where a legacy of military coups, grand-scale corruption and steadily-worsening electoral fraud since the transition from army rule a decade ago has corroded any sense of mutual obligation between government and people.

Yet Babatunde Fashola has won widespread respect since he took over as governor of Lagos State two years ago for the simple reason that he is seen to be getting things done. Accelerating a plan to decongest the streets of the megacity of perhaps 18m people, he has razed chaotic markets and started building bridges and roads.

His motto is played constantly on FM radios and is even emblazoned under the airport flyover in a pattern of carefully-planted shrubs: “Eko o ni baje”. In Yoruba, the dominant language in the city, it means: “Lagos will not be spoiled.”

“We’re planning the city – building and planning new towns and satellite communities that will form the basis of the infrastructure: rail, road and water transportation for the future,” says Mr Fashola.

Yet as the more sceptical Lagosians point out, Mr Fashola is doing no more than what any governor should: delivering public goods. The excitement he has generated simply by turning up for work is in many ways a damning commentary on the performance of the political class as a whole.

Liyel Imoke, governor of Cross River State, a former power minister and member of the ruling People’s Democratic party, sums up the feeling across Nigeria: “There is complete, total breakdown of the social contract.”

Guaranteed a share of oil wealth under the constitution, the governments in Nigeria’s 36 states assume wide responsibilities in areas such as health, education and infrastructure. Graft and inefficiency at the level of state and local governments – which also receive a substantial cut of oil revenues – are the main reasons so many Nigerians lack even minimal services.

At a secondary school run by Lagos State government near the Agboroko-Igboelerin road, children in green uniforms cram four to a desk – and more than 120 to a classroom.

Holding a switch to keep order, the headmistress laments the decline she has witnessed during her 30- year career.

“The standard of education is falling, it’s really falling,” she says.

“If we only had 30-50 children in a class, we would be able to supervise them.”

The previous generation of state governors – many of whom left office in 2007 after serving two four-year terms – is, in general, little missed. So flagrant was the corruption that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, an anti-graft agency, has charged more than 10 former state governors with money laundering.

In many cases, the current crop of governors, the vast majority of whom belong to the People’s Democratic party, owe their positions directly to their predecessors.

These political “godfathers” engineered their successors’ ascent at elections that were often little more than rigging competitions conducted with a complete disregard for the popular will. Many have been challenged in the courts, leading to re-runs and long-running legal disputes.

So broken is the electoral system that legitimacy tends to spring more from what leaders do rather than how they arrived in office. Mr Fashola’s performance on behalf of the opposition Action Congress has prompted optimists among the elite to talk of a possible “Fashola effect” – the hope that his example is starting to put peer pressure on others to deliver.

Sceptics abound. Uche Onyeagucha, a veteran human rights activist who contested the Imo State governorship for Action Congress, says there is still widespread evidence of graft. “It’s too early to conclude there’s going to be any improvement,” he says. “The governors today are stealing like the ones before.”

Yet even the most jaded Nigeria watchers admit there are signs of some new initiatives. Bayelsa State is introducing an innovative electronic system to weed out “ghost” civil servants. Katsina State in the north says it is making progress in improving delivery of education and healthcare. The governor of Niger State is among those actively courting foreign investors. Mr Imoke has backed a crackdown by respected environmentalists on illegal logging. Imo, Ogun and Kwara states want to emulate Lagos and issue bonds to fund infrastructure.

The irony is that several of the governors who appear to be making the fastest progress are those who have broken with their erstwhile “godfathers” and have the greatest motive to start building a base of popular support.

Rotimi Amaechi, who fell out with his own “godfather”, was appointed governor of Rivers State in the Niger Delta without winning a single vote after judges annulled the election of his rival.

He has since proved to be among the most proactive in terms of building roads and health centres. Some see a similar dynamic at work with Sullivan Chime, the governor of the eastern state of Enugu, who has pursued similarly populist road building policies after a row with his erstwhile “godfather”.

Even in Lagos, many people believe that Mr Fashola’s enthusiastic performance is motivated in part by a desire to create a model of what the Action Congress can achieve to serve the party’s eventual aim of winning control of the economically-important south-west.

The mastermind behind this plan? Bola Tinubu, the former state governor and the “godfather” who put Mr Fashola into office.


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/09eb7cac-7500-11de-9ed5-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=9e5befe2-74d9-11de-8ad5-00144feabdc0.html

I left Lagos a years and 4 months ago and happy to see that the good works are maintained by Fashola. I wish other Govs will follow suit. All the encomium poured on Fashola will be needless if all the Govs and the sick president measured up to standard. Lets believe that they will learn lesson from Gov Fashola.

Fashola, Man of the Year? There is this old saying in French, "Au Royaume des aveugles, les borgnes sont rois,

KunleOshob:

A well deserved honour, congrats BRF. Lets also pray that that 1mbecile that calls himself Tinubu would stop constituting himsef as a nuisance in the running of Lagos and stealing our funds via ABC & Hitech amongst several other front companies.

True talk.

Award or no award, Fashola has really proved that he is a man to be reckoned with in terms of governing. Action speaks louder…  A man like him is what the country needs at this crucial time to forge ahead. Eko oni baje! Naija si ma dun si!

I forgot to add God bless Babatunde Raji Fashola

he deserves it

Fashola or no Fashola, Lagos is one big, ugly, vast, humongous slum. Yuck! Worse than the South Bronx. And I have to aplogize --- to the South Bronx for the comparason

he deserves it so much, at a time i ll give out just about any amount to charity just to spend some time with that man. he is the bomb!