From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos
Lagos state governor, Babatunde Fashola, yesterday said the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) can not be trusted even as he berated the party for holding its rally at the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota.
Fashola, who spoke at 2014 Tree Planting campaign themed ‘Better life is with trees,’ held in Sangotedo, Eti-Osa Local Government, said that the party which criticized the creation of parks and the tree planting initiative of the government now turned the park to campaign ground.
The state chapter of the PDP held a ‘Thank you’ rally for the Governor-elect of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose last Friday at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota.
Fashola while delivering his last tree planting speech noted that in 2008 when the state commenced planting of trees and creation of parks, the opposition party described the initiative as cosmetic and not for the downtrodden but the elitist in the state.
“You will recall that the Gani Fawehinmi Park is one of the products of this Greening and Tree Planting initiative. There was no park there before 2008.
“But our opponents have no shame. In their unthinking inconsistency, it was at the same Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota that they now chose to hold their party’s rally last week.
“They lie, they forget what they say, what they complain about, I urge residents of Lagos, not to believe them.
“Ask them, have they forgotten that the Park was cosmetic; have they now forgotten that the Park is elitist, or indeed are they the true elites? For me, they have shown themselves up for who they are: a party that is unworthy of trust and lacking in consistency.
“Also, in 2012, when people rallied at that park in Ojota to protest the anti-people policy of the subsidy removal by our opponents, early in the New Year; that was their New Year gift to Nigerians in 2012, people who went there to protest against this policy were repelled by heavily armed security personnel,” he added.
Their attitude, the governor said, was to “turn security personnel against the people they are supposed to protect instead of against those who threaten the people.”
He stated that through the initiative, 31, 274 jobs were created between 2008 and June 2014, adding “artisans and welders and all of you are the economic beneficiary of this policy.”
Speaking earlier, the commissioner for environment, Mr. Tunji Bello said the government had planted 5.3 million trees and landscaped 297 sites across the state in the last seven years.
Bello noted that the state government has introduced new trees to help fight flood and erosion in the state.
