Fashola to Jonathan: You are the one that failed, not my generation

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, yesterday, publicly disagreed with President Goodluck Jonathan over the statement that his generation has failed Nigeria, saying, “You (Jonathan) failed Nigeria because my generation did not fail this country.”

President  Jonathan made the statement last Thursday while addressing youths at the flag-off of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP campaign held at the Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS Lagos.
Fashola however reacted at the 2015,  First Quarter of the Town Hall meeting with stakeholders in the transportation sector held in Agidingbi, Ikeja, which also had in attendance Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and others.


The governor urged Jonathan to accept responsibility over his failure to address the challenges confronting the nation over the last six years of his administration rather than point accusing fingers to past leaders, “late President Musa Yar ‘Adua’s short tenure was better than that of this administration.”

Fashola said; “He (Jonathan) said his generation has failed, he should account for himself because I refuse to join the generation the President was referring to.

According to him, “He is in his 50s, I am also in my 50s, and we appear to be, because I don’t even want to join that generation because my own generation has not failed, I have done well on my job and I am proud to say so. If he has failed, let him account for himself, he should not join us”.

Fashola described the present administration as “A failed government that has lost total focus. Seven years ago, they started with Vision 2020 but later they said that they are transforming. And all these have yielded no result. And that was why they have stopped working.

On Boko Haram
He lamented that the situation in the North-East region of the country was pathetic because citizens have become refugees in their father land due to the inability of the present administration to tame the Boko Haram insurgency.

“And rather than the President using the recent campaign in Lagos to gain the support of the citizens the president was busy telling you they tried to kill him four years ago and we did not know. That is a serious national security issue because nobody wants our Commander in Chief dead. If anybody tries to kill him, we should have known. And if I was Commander in Chief, and the person who tries to kill me is in a South African jail, I will ask that he should be repatriated to Nigeria to come and face punishment.

“He (Jonathan) also claimed that General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) didn’t buy arms in 1985. And after Buhari left office, the Nigeria army got recognition for their role in protecting West Africa and was the guns bought 30 years ago be effective to fight today’s insurgency.”

Fashola added that President Jonathan made the statements to gain the sympathy of the electorate and woo them ahead of the presidential election.

He said: “In 2011, it was no shoes, now he is saying they tried to kill him, it won’t work this time. This time it is the job record, the promise that you must look at”.