Tag Archives: Babatunde Raji Fashola

City People Magazine’s Minister of the Year Award goes to Babatunde Raji Fashola

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The Minister of Power, Works and Housing has won the Minister of the Year Award organised by City People Magazine.

The award ceremony was held at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja on Sunday.

Read Mr. Fashola’s remarks at the ceremony, as sent to PREMIUM TIMES by his aides, below.

P R O T O C O L S

It is always very easy for members of the public to pick and choose from a Team, who they like more within a Team.

So in a football club, we tend to pick the best striker or midfielder or defender.

But in doing so, we sometimes forget that what is most important is the team and the work they do together; the Team work, that allows any striker, midfielder or defender to thrive.

There will be no good striker, midfielder and defender in a team that does not do well.

Therefore collective success must be, and is indeed, more important than individual recognition.

A Government is no different from a football club, to the extent that they comprise individuals of different talents, passions and experiences who must work together to deliver service to the public.

A successful team is led by a Great and resourceful manager, who often has a dependable assistant.

In our Government team, President Muhammadu Buhari has discharged that role effectively by picking a team of Ministers whose commitment to change is unquestionable and the Vice President has demonstrated his ability to complement this vision of change and his dedication to help midwife it.

On their behalf I accept this Award.

Every Goal scored by a striker is the result of co-ordinated team play, and interchange of passes.

In our team, every Minister has supported the other, and the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing has benefitted from a well planned Budget, well timed cash backing, very massive support and contributions to our Council Memoranda and therefore on behalf of the Federal Executive Council members, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Cabinet Office and the Office of the Chief of Staff, I accept this award.

Of course, a good football team thrives on financing and shareholders support.

We have received a lot of cooperation from those who exercise the power of appropriation in the National Assembly; the Senators, House of Representatives members and all their Committee Chairmen, members and staff are the real owners of this Award.

I accept it on their behalf.

Some of our work will not have progressed without prompt and efficient determination of some court cases. Our progress would have been hindered. This Award also belongs to the Judiciary as members of the team of change. I accept it on their behalf.

No team is complete without the army of backroom staff who we never get to see, but who help the players enormously.

The Ministry of Power, Works and Housing is blessed with an army of hardworking civil servants, led by 2 (Two) Permanent Secretaries, Directors, the Heads of our parastatals, Deputy Directors, Controllers and other staff who have signed up for change and are daily working towards it. I accept this Award on their behalf.

As I said earlier, no individual recognition is worthy of note if the team is not delivering results.

My Brother, the Hon. Minister of State in the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Mustapha Baba Shehuri and I accept this Award on behalf of Government as proof that our team is gaining momentum, and the results of Government policies, programmes and action are beginning to manifest.

Our party, the All Progressive Congress, the architects of Change, know that the work is not done; on the contrary, it is just beginning.

We the team members also know this. We know that it can be a lot better, we commit to do more and to make your lives better.

 

Source: Premium Times

Governor Ambode lauds Fashola’s achievements as Lagos Ex-Governor.

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The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Saturday lauded his predecessor in office and Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola for his achievements during the eight years he spent as Governor of the State.

In a meeting at the governor’s office, Governor Ambode, who spoke when he received Fashola and some top officials of the Ministry on a courtesy visit at the Lagos House, Ikeja, described the visit as historic, adding that it was gratifying to receive the Minister for the first time at the Lagos House, Ikeja since he left office on May 29, 2015.

“We want to say that whatever it is that we have done in the last 22 months is just more or less a fall out of the great achievements the former governor had already put in place.

We have decided that we would carry on with a sense of continuity in all the things that have been done.

I had always said that what we wanted was this continuity of the last 18 years, but continuity with improvement and we are happy that all that has been done in the last 22 months is just a continuation of the template the former Governor left behind.”

“We are happy that the sense of collaboration that we have expressed here is what we believe can carry whatever it is that Lagos stands for, moving forward. As you may be aware, Lagos is celebrating its 50 years of existence this year.

“The last 18 years has been so dramatic and historic in terms of the growth and development that we have seen in Lagos, commencing from 1999 when Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu came into office and the eight good years spent by you and the two years we have done. So, obviously, there is a remarkable change between 1999 and now,” Governor Ambode said.

Minister Fashola who described the visit as home-coming for him, said he had come with his team to Lagos as part of a nationwide project monitoring exercise to inspect the job done so far on Federal Government projects.

He assured that the Ministry had made representations to the Federal Executive Council on modalities to pay debts owed State Governments including Lagos State for rehabilitation of federal roads over the years, saying that the debts would be paid through bond instrument.

The Minister also expressed readiness to assist Lagos State power initiative, especially in the rural areas.

Governor Obaseki commends Fashola for Edo roads, housing.

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Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state, yesterday, commended the Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) for the progress of work at the Benin-Ehor axis of the Benin-Ehor-Lokoja roads.

This was as the minister inspected ongoing works at the Aduwawa axis of the Benin-Ehor-Lokoja road.

While inspecting the road, Fashola (SAN) briefed the Edo State governor of his inspection tour on roads leading into and out of the state.

He said that plans were also in the making to rehabilitate the bad portions at the Ekpoma axis of the same road.

Speaking further, the minister noted that full reconstruction of the bad portion would carried out to ensure durability of the road.

“I have gotten recommendations about the fail portions of the Ekpoma axis of the road. I have asked them to get money for the contractor to do full reconstruction of the bad portions, instead of patching it up, which will wear away soon. As soon as we get money, the contractor will come back to site”, he said.

Meanwhile, the governor, represented by his deputy, Hon Philip Shaibu commended the Minister for the inspection tour, saying that it would ensure good quality and speedy completion of the road project.

He however called for prompt action to be taken at the bad portions of the road around the Auchi junction at Jatto, Ekpoma axis and Ramat Park in order to prevent total collapse of the road.

Moreover, he also commended the ministry over its housing programme in the state.

For his part, Fashola (SAN) additionally briefed the governor about the on-going projects being executed by the ministry; he said that the major challenge facing the power sector was shortage of gas to power gas turbines.

He however said that the power generation in the country had stepped up to 4000mw for two weeks now and could be increased to 7000mw if vandalism of gas pipelines was stopped.

“3000mw of power is not available because of vandalism of gas pipelines, which is not helpful to the country. If we can recover the 3000mw lost to vandalism and add to the 4000mw, we will have 7000mw. We cannot continue to destroy something and say it is unavailable to us, all of us most begin to speak to each other and sensitise against vandalism”, he said.

In addition, the Federal controller of works, Eng Okey Oweh, speaking about the Benin-Ehor-Lokoja road said that the road’s contract was awarded in 2012 and divided into three phases.

He said that a 12 km carriage way had been constructed along the Auchi axis of the road and that the accident-prone section at Ewu -axis of the road had been improved upon.

He said that the contractor handling the road would complete the Benin-Ehor axis of the road by May ending and work on the Ewu-Agbor-Sapele road had started.

He also said that 445 staff drawn from within and outside the state were currently working with the contractors on the road Project.

Meanwhile, the Controller of Housing in the state, Mr Andrew Ikechucku said that the national housing programme for the ministry had commenced in the state.

He said that the state government had provided a land around the Benin-Auchi road and that clearing of the land was on-going.

Fashola Is My ‘Greatest Achievement’ – Tinubu

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Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State and All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, said that choosing a worthy successor was his greatest achievement.

 

Fashola, now Minister in charge of Power, Works and Housing in the present dispensation, took over the governorship of Lagos State from Tinubu in 2007. Before then, Fashola was Tinubu’s chief of staff.

 

In “Asiwaju, Untold story of the Leader,” a special publication of TheNEWS, Tinubu reacted to a question of what he would consider his best legacy after spending eight years in office. His reply was that apart from the financial engineering of Lagos, especially to bring financial autonomy to the state and eliminate wastage and mismanagement, “my greatest legacy is Babatunde Fashola.”

 

He added: “I identified and endorsed him. That was when my corporate background as a recruiter for Deloitte came to play. Part of the training when you go on operational audit is that the first things you evaluate are the personnel and the questionnaire given to them and how they answer it. You look at the ability of individuals to really take and develop others. There is nothing unique about any leadership. Everybody can come up with different ideas. You can take different routes and arrive at the same answer.”

 

Tinubu went further that no matter how much steel and metal you put together, “the greatest achievement and legacy is the ability to develop other leaders who can succeed you, otherwise your legacy will be in shambles.” He added that though it was a very difficult and challenging period for him, “I thank God I stuck to my guns.”

 

He revealed another model his government set up in Lagos: to separate politics from governance, a situation that gave Fashola ample time and concentration to perform.

 

As he put: “The model we set up is working well and I will recommend it for Nigeria. Let the governor take care of the administration and its nitty gritty, if he is scholarly enough and sharp, while other political leaders take the political pressures off him. I don’t have files to sign. Let them go and sign the files and deal with the routine of governance so that he can focus on the developmental goals of the state.”

 

Credit: TheNEWS

Former Gov Fashola pictured at NBA conference

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Former governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) pictured in a group photograph with the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Augustine Alegeh, SAN (5th right) during the NBA Showcase Session with the theme, “Contribution of Lawyers in Public Office to National Development”, at the 55th Annual General Conference 2015 of the Association in Abuja on Tuesday, August 25, 2015.

fashola-at-NBA-conference

 

Also present was the Head of Service, Federal Government of Nigeria, Danladi Kifasi (left), Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong (2nd left), Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal (3rd left), Governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar (4th left), former Governor of Akwa Ibom and Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio (left behind), Hon Linda Ikpeazu (2nd left behind) and others.