Lagos

Lagos always has a way of reinventing itself. There is never any "dulling" in the mega city. While other cities sleep, the city never sleeps. And it is not by happenstance. 

Of all the states in Nigeria only Lagos has a short, medium and long term plan. While other state governors are preoccupied with what they can get while in office , Lagos State Governors, from Jakande to Ambode, think ahead. The state always seems to attract the best of brains to its leadership – even during the military era. 

Only Lagos can tell you what its plans are for the next 20 years. Only in Lagos do you find a vision of how the city state would look like in 20 to 30 years. 

Only Lagos State continuously plans to reinvent itself. Ask any former governor of Lagos State, or even the present, and he can tell you specifically what he did, or is doing, to advance the Lagos master plan, grow its revenue and make the city state better than he met it.  

Yet Lagos has neither oil (well, until recently) nor arable land. 

And the amazing thing is that the commitment of every Lagos State governor to a better Lagos transcends their personal or political differences. It is not that they don't have differences. It is just that there seems to exit a pact between them to make the interest of Lagos come first. One governor after another always continues the projects left behind by their predecessor regardless of their personal or political differences. 

One strand that runs  through Lagos public policy articulation is Thought Leadership. 

Raji Fashola had the Mega City project plan, the framework of which was put together by the Bola Tinubu administration. We saw Fashola's efforts manifest in massive infrastructural development, turning hitherto notorious spots into amazingly beautiful parks, roads and new towns.

One strand that runs through Lagos public policy articulation is Thought Leadership.

One of Fashiola's main plans was to turn Lagos into the Hong Kong of Africa. To achieve that he kickstarted the Eko Atlantic City project – a project that saw to the reclaiming of land from the Atlantic Ocean. Breathtaking skyscrapers are now springing up in hitherto notorious Bar Beach extending far into what used to be an ocean of violent waves. Even Bill Clinton was  awed by the audacity, the technology and the thinking that went into the project. 

Now Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is continuing the renewal of Lagos with his pet project of a Smart Lagos. His idea is that Lagos should not just be the Hong Kong of Africa but should be smart and cute about it. Check out below Governor Ambode's vision of Lagos shorelines in 20 years to come. Amazing isn't it? Trust me, the governor coming after Ambode will continue this project even if he is of the opposition party. That is Lagos! 

And before anyone starts to insinuate, let me confess that yes I cannot say there is no corruption in Lagos, but you cannot take away the commitment of Lagos governor's to making the state better. 

How many state governors in Nigeria has even  a 5-year plan for their states? Lagos is it! Little wonder everybody wants to be in Lagos.