by Michael Orodare

Political differences aside, I have always been a fan of Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state, whose style of  governance has been a benchmark in the country as has set a new standard of excellent performance in the south-west region, leaving those who came behind him with a choice  to either surpass the already raised bar of performance or strive to get close to it.

However, I have also disagreed with him on some of his policies especially the elitist, capitalist and undemocratic decision in respect of tertiary institutions management in the state.

At the inception of his 2nd term in office, the Fashola government increased the tuition fee of LASU by 985% from N25,000 to between over N100,000 and over N300,000 and could not give any reasonable justification for its anti-people hike of the fees, a move that frustrated many children of the poor out of school, including the son of a septuagenarian tricycle  operator who withdrew his son from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) as reported by the National Mirror in 2012.

This action denied many of these poor lads access to affordable and qualitative tertiary education in a public institution.

It is thus interesting to note that it took the landslide loss of the APC in the Ekiti guber poll and the commendable votes polled by the PDP in Osun to set the APC government in the south-west on the run giving them a chase for their money and media propaganda leading to its dwindling popularity in a region presumed and touted to be their stronghold. 

The message sent with that hike was simply, ‘if you can’t afford it, go and learn a trade’ as aptly stated by Fashola himself that education is not for the second class citizens of the society.

Rather than listen to pleas from elder-statesman, labour unions, opinion and religious leaders, traditional rulers, and civil society groups to reverse the draconian hike, the Fashola-led ‘progressive’ government went on a braggadocio mission of “we are in charge”, claiming it will “not make LASU a school for the poor”, the same “poor” who gave him the massive support in 2007 and 2011.

In what could be described as fear of electoral backlash for the APC led governments in the 2015 general elections, as evident with the Ekiti governorship poll where a sitting APC governor, Kayode Fayemi lost woefully, governor Fashola hurriedly reversed the  fee  to the initial N25,000, the state assembly has also been reported to be reviewing the law which ban motorcycle operators on major highways in Lagos, sparking fears that another APC Governor (if elected) will definitely increase the fee beyond what it was between 2011 and 2014.

While Fashola’s counterparts in Ogun and Oyo must have hinged their campaigns on the reduction of tuition fees been paid at their states’ tertiary institutions if voted into office, that also didn’t happen until 7-months to their next election. Ogun has gone the way of Lagos, by reducing the tuition fee of its tertiary institutions, though the students insist on total reduction, it has also reportedly paid the outstanding benefits of political appointees who served under the previous government, while Oyo is yet to thread the path of tuition fees reduction.

It is thus interesting to note that it took the landslide loss of the APC in the Ekiti guber poll and the commendable votes polled by the PDP in Osun to set the APC government in the south-west on the run giving them a chase for their money and media propaganda leading to its dwindling popularity in a region presumed and touted to be their stronghold.

What would have happened if the results of Osun and Ekiti had not gone that way?  It would have been business as usual, government centred around the minority elites in the society, most of whom hardly come out to vote during elections.

They APC-led government in the south-west has suddenly turned their listening ears to the yearning of the people. No more bragging, because there is a renewed and a more formidable opposition behind the door waiting to snatch power. They can now see the handwriting on the wall. The people are yearning earnestly for CHANGE beyond the COSMETIC Broom CHANGE insignia Paparazzi.

The people believe they will not be asking for too much by simply requesting that the wind of CHANGE that started in Ekiti, also blows across other south-west states currently under the watch of the arrogant APC governments.

With Ekiti already secured under the umbrella and Ondo too now gravitating fully into the umbrella, the APC seems to have woken up from its slumber and its political arrogance, that it can not continue to be business as usual.

This shows how healthy opposition, constructive criticisms, issue based campaigns and not opposition of distractions, condemnation and accusations, can help in setting those in power on the right track. This is what we are looking forward to in the 2015 campaigns.

At such a time as this when we will be going to the polls in less than 6-months, I can only congratulate the students of LASU and other tertiary institutions in Ogun state, and urge them to shine their eyes and not fall victim another time. Their once bitten, should be more than twice shy.

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Michael Olanrewaju Orodare has worked in the Office of the Chief Press Secretary to the Ondo State Governor as a Media Assistant. He has garnered experience writing in the The Nation Newspaper working with the paper’s Sunday Desk. He leans towards the Labour Party. He blogs at www.michaelorodare.blogspot.com and tweets from @MichaelOrodare

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.