A Rejoinder To Governor Babajide Sanwoolu Set To Buy More Than A Decade Second Hand Used Trains From Milwaukee, Wisconsin In United States.
The ingenuity of Babajide Sanwo-Olu in solving the problem of transportation in Lagos state by re-introducing the metro line, is a welcome development. However, there are questions, begging for answers?
One, what is the cost benefit analysis of these set of used and old trains? Cost benefit analysis is defined as a process of comparing the projected or estimated costs and benefits or opportunities associated with a project decision to determine whether it makes sense from a business perspective. Yes, we cannot completely run a government like a private company because of the strong consideration for human values.
In light of the above consideration for human values, I heard Governor Jide Sanwo-Olu saying it loud and clear; JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! In other words, the metro line will create a lot of jobs and reduce the unemployment rate in our society.
In addition, for the city of Milwaukee in United States to abandon the set of trains for more than ten years, one would have thought the trains are not cost effective and Lagos state will now be their dumping ground. Are we wise in Africa at all? Hmmm, what is wrong with African leaders?
However, will the benefits outweigh the costs of the project? This is because, the history of almost twenty four years of Tinubu dynasty in Lagos state, is saying otherwise.
A classic example is the controversial N4.5 billion naira Sunborn Yacht Hotel, ferried from London to Lagos waters by Army Officers’ Mess at Marina under the leadership of Babatunde Raji Fasola. It should be recalled that Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi, the then Commissioner for Inter-Governmental Relations and Tourism facilitated the deal on behalf of the Lagos state government. The Custom-built yacht, with 102 suites, arrived the Lagos waters in November, 2008 and was abandoned, and rusted in the waters for four years. The contract was enmashed in controversy and, only for Lagosians to wake up one morning and discovered that the once cynosure of all eyes, has vanished into thin air. This was the last we heard about Sunborn Yacht Hotel and the rest is history.
Hmmmm, only God knows the huge amount of money that the Lagos State Government must have wasted on this project?
Again, what is the cost benefit analysis of the used and old trains?
Also, will this not be another bad experience like the Sunborn Yacht Hotel that hit the rocks after wasting taxpayers money?
Lagosians, please ask questions.
Two, what is the capital depreciation of these set of trains? In most cases, however, the value of the asset decreases as it is used up, and we call the phenomenon depreciation. In other words, the value of the capital assets decreases by an equal amount each year of its working life. Methinks, a set of used trains that have been abandoned for more than ten years, may not be too good for a state that prides herself as the second largest and fastest growing economy in Africa.
Three, do we have the technical expertise on the ground to maintain and refurbish these second hand set of trains or, are we bringing in foreign experts to maintain these set of trains? In Nigeria, we lack the inbuilt mechanism to maintain our infrastructures and equipments.
Suffice to say it, inculcating a maintenance culture is an inbuilt mechanism that ought to start from the beginning of a project. This is also part of the process of cost benefit analysis. Our local engineers did not build these set of trains and they may not have the technical knowledge of many components that constitute these set of trains and, relying on foreign experts to maintain these set of trains may be too costly. Again, what is the cost benefit analysis?
Lagosians, please ask questions.
Four, will the procurement department make available the details of all the payment transactions from requisition order to Bill of lading? The Freedom Of Information Act that was signed into law by President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan on May 28th, 2011 has given citizens the right to ask government to give account of their stewardship with few exceptions. Yes, gone are the days when government contracts were shrewded in secrecy.
Lagosians, please ask questions.
Moreover, is this not another way of looting the treasury through procurement? In 2010 during the first term of Governor Babatunde Raji Fasola, Dr. Nurudeen Olowopopo of blessed memory, an obstetrician and gynaecologist in Cook County Hospital in Chicago for many years, returned home to add great value to Lagos state medical system. He was appointed as the Chairman, Board of Management of the Lagos state University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH). He facilitated the donation of large second hand medical equipments from Cook County Hospitals in Chicago to Lagos state.
One, did Tinubu and his cabal not change the deal from donation to buying the medical equipments?
Two, did they not sell all the medical equipments to Lagos state and pocketed the money?
Three, did Tinubu’s bosom friend, Dr. Nurudeen Olowopopo not query the shady deal?
The last we heard of Dr. Nurudeen Olowopopo, we were told he was drowned inside his own swimming pool in day light.
Hmmm, “àjẹ́ ké lánàá, ọmọ kú lónìí, ṣe kìí ṣe àjẹ́ ànọ́ ló pa ọmọ jẹ?” (“the witch cried yesterday and the child died today, was it not the witch that cried yesterday killed the child?”).
Yes, the mystery behind Dr. Nurudeen Olowopopo’s death has compelled many like me to ask, WHO KILLED DR. NURUDEEN OLOWOPOPO???
Yes, this is an unresolved death and the list is endless in this current dispensation.
In the final analysis, when we take into cognizance the history of shady deals in the life of Tinubu dynasty, are we not smelling another rat with Governor Babajide Sanwoolu buying used trains that had been abandoned for more than a decade from Milwaukee, Wisconsin in United States?
LAGOSIANS, PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS BECAUSE IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
AGAIN, WHO KILLED THE ILUSTRIOUS SON OF LAGOS STATE, DR. NURUDEEN OLOWOPOPO???
ONLY TIME WILL TELL.
Source: By David Adenekan