Babatunde Raji Fashola CON SAN born 28 June 1963 is a Nigerian lawyer and politician who served as federal minister of Works and Housing of Nigeria from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as the minister of Power, Works and Housing from 2015 to 2019. He also served two terms as the governor of Lagos State from 29 May 2007 to 29 May 2015.
He is a Patron of the Law Students Association of the University of Benin and the second law graduate from the university to become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He has also held various positions in the Lagos State government, including Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, when the latter was the governor of Lagos State. Fashola has received several honours, including being inducted as a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators and being conferred with the Commander of the Order of the Niger national award.
During his tenure, Fashola focused on improving the city’s infrastructure, which had been neglected for years. He introduced air-conditioned city buses and initiated the construction of the Lagos Light Rail. Fashola also oversaw major reconstruction and redesign of highways, resulting in a transformed and modernized Lagos. His zeal for Lagos to reflect a mega city status earned him the moniker of “The Actualizer”, a reflection of his predecessor. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s perception as the founder of modern Lagos.
The Fashola government in Lagos state, Nigeria prioritized education by improving classrooms learning, distributing free textbooks, and providing transportation for teachers and students. He also implemented an improved salary scale for teachers and introduced the Adopt a School Initiative. In addition, his government completed over 110 rural development projects, including providing clean water and constructing abattoirs, access roads, and completed 165 rural electrification projects.
During his time as governor, Babatunde Fashola worked on land reclamation projects to enable urban planning in Lagos, notably in Banana Island and Eko Atlantic City, which is expected to accommodate millions of residents in the future. Unlike the rest of the city, Eko Atlantic City has modern amenities like sewers and its own electricity supply. His government transformed former hideouts of criminals into appealing environments and established the Lagos State Security Trust Fund to fund security needs and implemented the compulsory use of life jackets on Lagos waterways after a tragic accident in 2012.
Perhaps, Babatunde Raji Fashola’s greatest achievement as governor would be his proactive curtail of the deadly Ebola virus in Nigeria. Any sloppy or weakness in the command chain would have spelled doom for Nigeria because Lagos, with a population of more than 20m people, has daily traffic to and from every part of Nigeria. He personally led efforts to track down and isolate potentially infected individuals, setting up an Ebola Emergency Operations Centre and training a team of 2,000 officials. Fashola emphasized the importance of not panicking and visited the country’s Ebola treatment center to reassure the public of their safety.
As the Minister of Power, Works, and Housing in Nigeria, Fashola has made significant progress in infrastructure development. Under his leadership, the long-delayed Second Niger Bridge was completed. Additionally, the renovation of the Lagos-Ibadan road, known for its potholes, is nearly completed. Other achievements include the completion of the Lagos-Oworonshoki motorway, repair of the Lagos Third Mainland Bridge, and completion of the Abuja-Kano motorway. Despite a reduced budget, Fashola’s ministry has signed 800 road contracts, rehabilitated 13,000km of roads, and built 37 bridges. Notable also was the construction of the first road link to Bonny Island in a highly challenging environment and soil conditions, a project that had remained on paper for more than 40 years
Babatunde Raji Fashola is a highly experienced and dedicated public servant in Nigerian politics. With over two decades of public service, he has become an Akikanju figure that continues to make significant contributions to the nation’s growth.
It was Babatunde Fashola’s 60th birthday few days ago.
DAWN Commission celebrates the prominent former governor and two-time Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
You are an Akikanju!
References:
https://www.yourstru.ly/people/babatunde-fashola/
https://www.nigeriagalleria.com/Nigeria/Personality-Profiles/Politicians/Babatunde-Raji-Fashola.html