One of the most cheering news today is about Governor Akinwunmi Ambode. He is celebrating his 53rd birthday today.
Ambode’s 53rd birthday will not be complete without mentioning his achievements.
He took over the reigns of power from Babatunde Raji Fashola on May 29th, 2015. He has since then not disappointed Lagosians based on opinion polls and general sentiments.
As a sign that is competence is not in doubt, Ambode has started and executed major projects that is changing the face of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.
The first litmus test of his seriousness was the financials of the state. The state’s Q1 2016 result came as a surprise to the business community. In the result, Lagos’ Q1 2016 total revenue rose to NGN101.6 billion compared to NGN 97.28 billion the state made in Q1 2015 . This is an impressive percentage growth of 4.4% growth year on year.
Another landmark project he dusted from oblivion is the 4th Mainland Bridge project. The government made good his promise to sign the MoU that will mark the beginning of the project. The 38km bridge and expressway will become the longest bridge and expressway anywhere when completed’. The cost of the bridge has been estimated to cost about NGN 844 billion. This approximately 13% of Nigeria’s 2016 annual budget. However, African Finance Corporation and Access Bank, a tier 2 bank in Nigeria, are the major financiers of the project.
Fashola during his eight year reign tried to revamp Lagos, a city that used to be a massive slum to a fledging modern city. Ambode is taking this task to the next level with the light up Lagos project that has positively-changed nightlife in Lagos.
Ambode has his job cut out for him. We can only wish him well. Happy birthday to Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode.
