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•Says metro line a must for Lagos

Lateef Kayode Jakande, former governor of Lagos State, said on Wednesday that he has no regrets serving in Sanni Abacha’s military government, even as he said the metro line project of his time which was scuttled by the military disruption of the second republic is a must for Lagos if the mega city is to overcome its traffic problems.

The elder statesman, who described his acceptance to serve in the infamous regime of late Sanni Abacha as “divine call to service”, said that within the 14 months he held sway as minister of works and housing, he completed and delivered 38 housing units across the country from the 123 units projected by that regime.
Jakande disclosed that MKO Abiola himself and the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, were among those who persuaded him to accept Abacha’s invitation to serve in that regime, saying in view of his achievements within the 14 months, “I have no regrets serving under Abacha”.  
Specifically, he blamed the failure to actualise the metro line dream on Mohammadu Buhari, leader of the military junta that ousted the civilian administration of Shehu Shagari in 1983, as Gbolahan Mudashiru, who succeeded as military administrator of Lagos State following the coup had shown interest in carrying on with the project which was designed to move no fewer than one million passengers across the state daily.
The former governor, who addressed a press conference in his Ilupeju residence as part of activities to mark his 80th birthday, said the botched metro line was to take off with 19 trains and would have cost a total of N700 million out of which the state government was to contribute N70 million leaving the balance of N630 million to the French consortium who were to run it for 15 years.
He said looking at the traffic menace in Lagos today, he is pained that the laudable project was “killed by Buhari”, stressing that there is no way the situation can be effectively tackled or addressed without going back to resuscitate the idea and make it work effectively.
“What I know is that this metro line is a must in Lagos. Whether it is going to take another 15 or 20 years, it must come. There is no way you can expand the roads enough to accommodate the level of traffic in Lagos. It is unfortunate that this time the project is going to trillions. But whether trillions or billions, it must come,” the elder statesman said.
Jakande also provided an insight into his massive housing and school building projects, saying they were embarked upon specifically to address the needs of the poor who could not afford luxury houses in highbrow areas.
He said although he faced a lot of criticism from the rich, who described the low-cost housing as not fit for human habitation, he is satisfied today that over 780 thousands Nigerians benefited from the housing programme. “And I ask myself today where would these people have been if we did not build those housing units?”
The former governor, who urged the present leadership in the country to make service to the people their priority, also pointed to education as the bedrock of every development, saying “free and compulsory education in Nigeria given the resources at the nation’s disposal is not only realistic but imperative”.