Fashola, N78.3m website and Lagos tax payers By AZUH AMATUS

Fashola

When will the absurd stop happening in Nigeria?

Sincerely, I still cannot believe it that the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola (BRF) spent the whopping sum of N78.3 million to construct and host his personal website, www.tundefashola.com

Please, I need to know, was this website built in Pluto or Mars?

Did Bill Gates or the late Steve Jobs resurrect from his grave to personally build this website?

I’m sure this site will be listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s most expensive website.

Fashola and his team should tell Nigerians and the world the components that were used in building this most expensive website that is making Hollywood stars go green with envy and jealousy.

Sincerely, the personal website of Bill Gates, the globe’s richest man is not as expensive as Fashola’s own.

Even Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote can’t boast of constructing his personal or even company’s websites with N78.3 million.

What a way to waste and squander public funds.

 I’m hugely and grossly disappointed with Fashola for justifying and having the audacity to tell us that his website cost such an outrageous amount.

Even gold or diamond plaited websites owned by oil sheikhs cannot cost that much.

Painfully, the Civil Society Organizations, lawyers and anti corruption crusaders are keeping quiet and maintaining annoying silence on this very disturbing issue.

With the exception of Debo Adeniran’s CACOL, the rest have suddenly gone deaf and dump, maintaining suspicious silence in the face of this mind boggling scam.

Even respected columnists in leading dailies and known social commentators are all treating this anomaly with kid gloves.

How can a governor who for eight years while in office harassed and hounded innocent citizens over non payment of taxes be bold to waste N78.3 million on a website, which adds little or no value to the life of an average Lagosian?

I want to join CACOL in calling for a thorough probe of this financial recklessness and misuse of public funds by an enlightened ex governor.

Assuming Fashola is a business man; can he cough out such outrageous sum to build a personal website?

Websites are no longer new or strange to Nigerians; we all know the cost of building and hosting quality websites.

Therefore, it is a huge insult on Lagosians and indeed, Nigerians for Fashola and his handlers to audaciously tell us they built a website with N78.3m.

Common my SAN, we are not fools!

Even my illiterate grand ma in the village won’t and cannot believe such cock and bull story coming from a lawyer governor.

I think what is proper is for Fashola to apologise to Nigerians, especially the millions of suffering Lagosians who suffered under his harsh tax regime for eight years and refund the money used in building the website into the coffers of Lagos State.

Anything short of this will not be accepted from him.

In fact, the company that built that website, Info Access Plus Limited should be probed and if found guilty, prosecuted for laundering Lagos State funds through such a project.

Another sad point to note is that the EFCC, which has suddenly started barking and biting under Buhari, has remained silent on this issue.

I’m sure if Fashola were to be an opposition governor, they would have since arrested and invited him for questioning like they are currently doing to many opposition governors and politicians.

For accepting that such an amount was squandered on his personal website, Fashola should by now be a special guest of the anti graft agency, but surprisingly, he is busy gallivanting, launching books and unapologetically justifying his un-governor like reasons for emptying Lagos accounts and putting the centre of excellence into a state of perpetual debts.

Again, why is CACOL the only one shouting and calling for Fashola’s probe.

Where are the Falanas and Keyamos of this world?

This is the time for them to stand up and speak out with one voice against this misappropriation of public funds by their colleague - Fashola.

Sadly, they are not talking, thereby disappointing Nigerians, especially those who look up to them as the voice of the voiceless. Their continued silence is annoying and reeks of patronage.

I do not have any personal grudge against Fashola, but what I cannot comprehend is his justification of spending N78.3m on a personal website with tax payers money.

Such amount can build over five health centres in some Lagos State slums, where maternal and child mortality rates are daily increasing.

Who says such huge amount of money can’t build five modern class room blocks in some Lagos communities where pupils still sit on the ground and open spaces all in the name of education.

If truth must be told, that huge amount squandered on Fashola’s record breaking personal website, if judiciously used would have gone a long way in turning the very poor fortunes of most parts of Lagos State around for good in the areas of infrastructure.

If not that we live in a country where some animals are more equal than others, Fashola by now should be somewhere explaining to law enforcement agencies, how and why he wasted such an amount of money on ordinary website, when 98% of public schools in Lagos cannot boast of ICT labs.

Such can only happen in Nigeria, where certain people are visibly above the laws of the land.

I concur with those calling for a thorough probe of the Fashola administration, because if they can waste N78.3 million on a personal website, it is only God that knows how much they must have squandered on the other elephant projects they claimed to have completed while in office for eight years.

The controversial issues of the Lekki express way, Ikoyi-Lekki Bridge and other major road projects are still fresh in our minds.

I’m of the opinion that we must come to equity with clean hands, anything short of that should be seen as an aberration and those found culpable punished.

I repeat it that Fashola must return the funds wasted on the website into Lagos State account and immediately tender a public apology to Nigerians and indeed, Lagosians for letting them down while in office.

It is now very clear that the governor whom many saw as a role model and beacon of hope while in office, grossly let us down by admitting that the sum of N78.3 was expended on his personal website.

Well such financial recklessness can only happen in Fashola’s tax and ticket regime. What a shame!

 I totally agree with the submissions of the former deputy national chairman of the PDP, chief Bode George, while condemning the executive mismanagement of Lagos funds by Fashola. 
In fact, George captures it succinctly, when he described Fashola’s behaviour as “reckless misappropriation.”
Below are the exact words of the very bitter and disappointed top politician, while lampooning Fashola.
“What is most disgusting and annoying in all these is the arrogant and the befuddled attempt of Mr Fashola to justify the apparent reckless misappropriation of Lagos State tax payers money to set up a personal web site. Fashola shows no remorse, no semblance of regret, no guilty nudging of conscience. Instead, he still attempts to ride a high horse, puffing and stomping in feigned seraphic innocence. We are not fooled.”
George while still seething with anger over what Fashola did, added: “We knew all along that the emperor had no clothes. Using N78 million  tax payers money to build a web site is reckless misappropriation.

The phony over N25 billion used to build a mere kilometre long link bridge is outrageous venality. The spurious N1.5 billion allegedly spent on phantom pedestrian bridges is another con game.” And there are so many of these screaming illegalities observable in the record of our poster boy of yesterday.”

Also lending his voice to the reckless misappropriation, very galled and incensed Chairman of CACOL, Debo Adeniran described the ex governor’s administration as draconian and anti people.

 “A government that causes so much hardship to the largest stratum of the socio-economic ladder, whereas it engages in obscene affluence all in the name of white elephant projects that have no direct bearing on the suffering Lagosians, is nothing but a pig.”

Seriously speaking, the argument of Adeniran and millions of other exasperated Nigerians, including yours sincerely, is of what use was a N78.3m-website when several other developmental needs of people in Lagos were and are still begging for attention.

Azuh Amatus is a journalist, member, Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and publisher Daylight.ng Newspaper and wrote via azuhamtus@yahoo.com