The noble and urgent quest to reclaim the lost glory of Lagos State and also recover its mortgaged future is on track with Labour Party Governorship Candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour leading the charge. It is a movement of an idea whose time has come, of a real change long overdue, to rescue an excellently endowed state from the years that the ravenous, pillaging locusts have eaten. Indeed, it is not by accident that Gbadebo is the man rightly positioned for a critical moment like this: he is living up to his name to 'recover the crown' (of responsible leadership) and return power to the people.
It is a now-or-never collective fight for the future of Lagos and the good of Lagosians. That is why the Labour Party campaign team has recently taken the reclamation mission message to the people of Badagry in a massive rally held in the area. With a promise that no area of Lagos State will be left untouched, the Labour Party Candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and his Deputy, Princess Abiodun Oyefusi, are fervently canvassing for the support of all well-meaning Lagos people to vote the Labour Party in the fast approaching 2023 elections, so that the desired change can become a reality.
As a true son of the state and concerned stakeholder, it infinitely bothers the youthful, zestful and dynamic Labour Party Candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour that Lagos continues to languish in the throes of mediocrity and retrogression while its kleptocratic ruling rapists keep lying that they have built a mega city!
But Gbadebo believes that while the ruling locusts can fool some of the people some of the time, they can't fool all of us all the time. He expatiates that as the wealth of Lagos State is directly tied to the productivity and sweat equity of its citizens, more than 80 per cent of the state's revenue comes from income tax, consumption tax and several other forms of taxation. The question begging for answers is this: is the humongous revenue accruing from multiple taxations and levies in Lagos State actually commensurate with the rate of its development? Why are there still endemic poverty and gross socioeconomic inequality in the state despite its vast wealth?
It is Gbadebo's candid assessment that the massive revenue and resources available in Lagos do not reflect on the quality of life in the state because successive administrations have spectacularly failed to keep faith with the social contract despite bragging about increasing internally-generated revenue. For instance, the Labour Party Candidate confirms that close to N10 trillion has been spent during a period of 21 years under the APC government.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Yet, Lagos ranks as one of the worst cities in the world to live in, according to international ratings of cities.
Still, despite the enviable mammoth wealth at the disposal of Lagos State, Gbadebo is beyond confounded that the government keeps taking and accumulating loans that run into trillions. If the state's loan profile is about 1.2 trillion as being mentioned in some quarters, the implication is that the state requires at least 120 billion naira annually to service the interest alone. Well, it is not bad in itself to take loans. All states and nations take loans. The question arises as to what and how the loans being accumulated in Lagos are used for. Do the developmental projects in the state truly match its level of trillion revenue and loans?
The numbers and realities on ground do not add up, and Gbadebo is deeply worried that the future of the state has been mortgaged by the reckless and selfish APC government. The current ruling elite and their cronies have not only mismanaged Lagos' commonwealth, but are also now dehumanising Lagosians in scandalous proportions! All these grim and scary realities of life and governance in contemporary Lagos State now call for urgent redemption. Is there hope of a change for the better? Of course, yes! That is what the Labour Party dynamic duo, Candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and his Deputy Princess Abiodun Oyefusi, are offering Lagosians today. A new dawn beckons. Hope rises. And a real change for the better is on the way! Gbadebo will, by the grace of God and the significance of his name, reclaim the lost Lagos' crown of glory and restore democratic power with economic prosperity to the people.
