Minister for Works and Housing Babatunde Raji Fashola has opened up on the joker that earned the All Progressives Congress (APC) resounding victory during the 2015 general elections.
According to him, the party embarked on research and innovation that were people- oriented, which the then young party considered a panacea for democratic growth.
Fashola was the keynote speaker at the maiden Lagos State University Research fair with the theme: ‘Driving national development through research and innovation.”
Going down memory lane, the former governor of Lagos State, said considering the varying ideologies and the harmonisation of splinter political parties that birthed APC, many cynics were of the view that the partly would collapse in no time.
Nonetheless, Fashola said as soon as the party was registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), its first assignment was to carry out a research because of the masses’ disenchantment with the then ruling party.
He said: “APC was formed at a period many thought the country was at the brink of collapse.
“So what we did ahead of the general elections was carry out a research on what Nigerians wanted.
“We set up different committees one of which I was a member. We then conducted opinion study for about 20,000 Nigerians nationwide.
“This also included a face- to- face interactions with some Nigerians. In the end, we had data upon which we drew our conclusions.
“I remember security was top on the list, followed by corruption, education and then economic growth in that order.
“The result was a landslide victory for APC during the election,” Fashola said.
On the importance of research to national development, he added: “When APC was formed, many pundits described it as ‘a marriage of strange bedfellows’.
“Many even said it would not be registered by the Independent National Electpral Commission. Ironically, this is the same party that went on to win election against the incumbent.
“This is very rare in the nation’s political history, and therefore calls for research.”
Lagos governor, Fashola also recalled how he embarked on research towards decongesting human and vehicular movement within the Oshodi axis.
He said he equally conducted a research on the construction of Lekki/Epe expressway and Lekki Link Bridge respectively. However, while the former encountered hiccups owing to poor consultation with the people, the latter was very successful as his administration made wider consultations, which helped as no protest or confrontation was recorded after the bridge was opened till date.