By MONSUR OLOWOOPEJO
IKEJA— Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, yesterday, justified why the Federal Government must accord the state a special status in the revenue allocation formula, stressing that “Lagos is to Nigeria what the neck is to the body.”

Fashola spoke at a state banquet to mark the 45th anniversary of the creation of the state in Victoria Island, which was attended by former governors Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Brigadier-General Mobolaji Johnson, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and others.

The governor said despite the relocation of the seat of power from the state in 1991, Lagos State had remained the focal point for economic and financial activities.

He recalled that “in 1976, 10 days before the demise of General Murtala Muhammed, in his speech to announce the relocation of the federal capital from Lagos, he said there was need for the Federal Government to maintain a special status for the state.”

Fashola noted that despite the statement by the late head of the state, the Federal Government had failed to accord the state the require preference.

He said: “In other countries where the seat of power was relocated, the government does not abdicate its responsibilities to its former host because often time, the former capital still holds some historical, cultural and socio-economic relevance.

“Despite our important status, the Federal Government has left the state out of any attempt to increase its revenue allocation from the federal coffers by conferring it with the promised special status. We have grown in population without corresponding increase in infrastructure because funds are just not available and the Federal Government has refused to support the state with the wherewithal to do more.”

-Vanguard

Posted by admin on May 28 2012. Filed under Headlines, Lagos, State News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry