Popularly referred to as the economic hub of the country, Lagos state has a population of 20 million people, making the sprawling city bigger than the developed cities of London, Buenos Aires and even Beijing.
In Lagos, there are 20,000 people per square kilometer while it has been estimated that some 3,000 people from other states of the country flood the state every day without leaving.
But perhaps the most impressive project for the Lagos of tomorrow is no other than the Eko Atlantic, a pioneering residential and business development located on the Victoria Island, along its upmarket Bar Beach coastline.
The ambitious project is being built on three and half square miles of land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean and is expected to provide accommodation for 250,000 people and employment opportunities for a further 150,000.
Aside this, the United Nations has conferred a megacity status on cities with a population of 10 million and above.
Interestingly, Lagos belongs to this category.
But a megacity requires a stronger financial base. The sheer size of funding required in sustaining a megacity is beyond what a government could provide on its own.
Progressive increase
This is where creativity comes in as other sources of revenue must be sought in order to finance government’s expenditure.
These other sources include borrowing, both internally and externally, grants, bonds, Public Private Partnerships and others. In Lagos State, for instance, despite the progressive increase in the monthly Internally Generated Revenue, (IGR), of the state from a meagre N500 million in 1999 to about N20 billion presently, the state government still has to invent options to fund its projects.
Perhaps, this informed the need for the scramble for Lagos by political actors across party divides.
With elections around the corner, the battle for the governorship position in Lagos State promises to be fierce as the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP have begun flexing their political muscles ahead of the April 11, 2015 election.
For the ruling party, the polls will be keenly contested.
Already, the is cast between the APC candidate, Mr Akinwumi Ambode and his PDP counterpart, Mr Jimi Agbaje.
Interestingly, the two contenders have gone round the nooks and crannies of the state to tell the people of the state their plans, visions and missions for the people of the state.
The clamour for votes has reached a height that not only have appealed to indigenes of the state but have gone a step further to seek the support of non-indigenes resident in the state.
Like the scramble for the African continent by European powers in the 18th and 19th Century, which eventually led to the partitioning of Africa, Agbaje and Ambode are making efforts to transverse the state to get support from non-indigenes.
It is imperative to note that non-indigenes in Lagos State have become a major factor in Lagos politics and as such, their votes are important to determine the outcome of elections in the state.
Daily influx
It would be apt to state here that Lagos has become home to many people as there are daily influx of people from all parts of the country.
Expectedly, non-indigenes make up bulk of the population of the state but not only northerners, easterners and those from the South-South are non-indigenes resident in Lagos.
There are also a large chunk of people from the South-west, who are resident in Lagos.
Interestingly also, the non-indigenes have, over the years, occupied political offices in the state. With the governorship elections around the corner, pundits posit that the roles of non-indigenes cannot be overlooked as they remain a major factor that will determine the outcome of the elections and also, who emerges next governor of the state. In 2005/2006, when the population census was taken, the government of Bola Tinubu did a census alongside the Federal Government and came out with the figure that Igbo have 43 per cent population in Lagos State. As a result of the insurgency in the north today, the population has increased.
The APC and PDP have realised the importance of the non-indigenes, hence the parties decided to concede some elective positions to them.
Presently, the non-indigenes resident have continued to endorse Ambode and Agbaje, promising to throw their weights behind the duo owing to their voting population in the state. However, the two candidates have found the non-indigenes from the South-East geopolitical zone as the beautiful bride.
Overtures by the APC and PDP have been made to leaderships of market associations and political leaders from the region resident in Lagos to support their cause. Also, promises of democracy dividends have been made to the Igbo resident in Lagos by both Agbaje and Ambode.
It is important to state here that in the 16 year rule of the present administration, those from the South-East have benefited from the political appointments in the APC-controlled government having served in the executive cabinet of the state state.
The PDP governorship candidate, on the other hand, has promised the Igbos of not only political appointments, it has assured those who are mostly traders, to protect their business interest in the state. Perhaps, this has left the Igbos divided over which of the governorship candidate to support.
Ambode gets endorsement
Only recently, Igbo traditional rulers in Lagos, under the aegis of Eze Ndigbo in Lagos, endorsed noting that Ndigbo has enjoyed robust and cordial relationship with the APC administration since 1999.
At a briefing in Lagos, Eze Uchechukwu Nwachukwu said Ndigbo in Lagos will vote for Buhari and the Lagos State APC governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, on March 28 and April 11.
Reportedly, Nwachukwu said “after a strategic meeting of Ndigbo in Lagos, we have resolved to vote for the APC. Our interest in the state has been protected and we equally want to show appreciation by voting for the APC candidates. “I call on all our brothers and sisters to use their vote wisely, by this pronouncement we have endorsed Akinwunmi Ambode.”
Agbaje too
Similarly, an Igbo group, the Association of Ndi Eze Ndigbo in the Diaspora comprising all Ezes in the North, South West, South South and overseas in conjunction with the Lagos State chapter gave its backing to the candidature of Agbaje. In a press conference, Eze John Greg Uzobuadi, who is the association’s spokesman, said the Igbo supreme traditional head in the state, reaffirmed its support for Agbaje whom they described as friend of Ndigbo.
The association stated that it was no longer news that some Igbo chiefs (not traditional leaders) hosted the conference where they claimed to be the leaders of Igbo tradition in Lagos State.
While stating that the constitution of Nigeria guarantees the chiefs the right to free speech and association, it does not give them the right to misrepresent Ndigbo.
The race for Alausa House is reaching its crescendo, non-indigenes have a large population in the state that can decide who becomes the governor or any position.
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