Fashola stresses need for data in national development

Success Damian:

Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, has stressed the need for data in national development.

He maintained that most of the data that are available in the country were largely unverified and called on Nigerian universities and other institutions of learning to embark on research which result would be applied for the enhancement of national development.

The Minister took the position as the Guest Speaker at the maiden edition of Lagos State University Research Fair which has the theme “Driving National Development through Research and Innovation” at the university main campus in Lagos on Tuesday.

Among what he called unverified data include the reports about Nigeria having 10 million out of school children, 17million housing deficit and a population of 200 million people.

While laying emphasis on verifiable and published data that will enhance decision and stimulate policies, he said, the All Progressives Congress (APC) emerged victorious in the 2015 election when everyone thought it was impossible. He decried the inability of any university in Nigeria to delve into research that would unravel the reason behind the feat.

In his words “I will tell you how it happened. APC chose to innovate; the party conducted a research, an opinion poll to ask Nigerians what they wanted. We collected millions of data which guided our direction. Nigerians wanted security, fighting corruption and perception of the government.

“What I am driving at is that when we study things (research), they produce results and in turn improve our lives. Today, we talk about increase in kidnapping? Does it correlate with reduction in armed robbery?” Fashola queried while also encouraging organizations and academic institutions to research on trends of crime in Nigeria.

Fashola also used activities of his then administration in Lagos to buttress the importance of research. He added that his government made a mistake of not choosing to do a research on people’s perception before charging tolls for the use of the Lagos-Lekki-Epe road which resulted in vehement resistance from the citizens, admitting that his administration erred in not doing the necessary pre-establishment research before imposing the tolls on motorists.

“So we went back to our drawing board and embarked on a street-to-street opinion sampling at Lekki and Epe to ask people how much they would be ready to pay for the use of the road.

“The response we got showed that majority were ready to pay between N200.00 N250.00 and we pegged it at that and the rest today,” he said.

He recalled how Lagos State, based on its own unbiased meticulous data gathering, rejected the federal government figure of 2006 National Census which had put Lagos State population at nine million whereas the state-parallel -conducted census along with the federal enumerators came up with eighteen million; meaning that if the state had relied on the figure declared for Lagos State by the then Federal Government, the state citizens would have been suffering untold hardship in terms of provision of amenities.

Fashola, also appealed to Lagosians to show patience and bear the little discomfort occasioned by gridlocks resulting from road construction works going on in many parts of the state. He maintained that the people will be the ultimate beneficiaries.

 “The road and some others were built in the ‘70s during the period of oil boom. We have been complaining that nothing was done on the roads “I can confirm to you now that on the Lagos -Badagry Expressway, sections have been awarded and works are ongoing. The problematic section has been the one from Agbara to Ojo, but now, we have also awarded that section and work is being done. So three different contractors are working on that road,” he said. 

Fashola warned that markets are springing up on the highways, adding that since what Lagosians want is highways, they must take responsibility for the menace of markets on the highways.

“Construction works are also ongoing on the roads connecting Lagos. Therefore, we must be patient to see the results in a few months. These constructions will naturally bring some discomfort and inconveniences. I ask you to please bear the discomfort for now and in a matter of time, we will reap the benefits,” Fashola stated.