Former governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has advised Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State to shun the temptation of initiating new projects unless they are very critical to the well-being of the people, but should rather concentrate on completing ongoing ones before the end of his tenure in November 2016.
Speaking as Guest Speaker at a three-day retreat for members of Edo State Executive Council and Permanent Secretaries, holding in Abuja, to brainstorm and re-strategise on raising the bar on governance in the state, with the theme, “Finishing Well”, Fashola said: “This gathering is auspicious because for me, it demonstrates the focus of your government. You are clearly mindful that the time is up. Let me emphasise that time is up, time is not running out, it is up, the government’s tenure is at an end. What you have now is the process to walk out. It is easy to say you have not finished the job. So in that sense, there is work to do, you must accept that and you must also be honest with yourself that you can’t finish the work. The reason is that, it is the work of the people, work of human beings and as long as the human civilization remains, work will never end because it is a continuous undertaking.Fashola told the governor that he could not completely rebuild Edo State within eight years, as it is practically impossible for any administration to initiate and execute all the projects needed by people in the state.
“If the work could be finished, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia would have finished it. He had more time than you have and if it could not be finished at that time, the late Ambrose Alli would have finished it and probably John Odigie-Oyegun. So, in that sense, it won’t be finished. In the last few days, there would be a lot of talk about what you did not do, and there will be people asking you, before you go, come and do this, but you must be honest with yourself and be honest with them, having regards to the realities of your resources. The pressure can be enormous, but don’t see that it as negative, it is not. See it as positive because they are asking you to do it only because they trust in your ability to do it that is why they are asking you.”
