Spirit of Lagos mobilizes support against attitudinall decadency
By: Jamiu Osoba
The mention of City of Excellence, State of Aquatic Splendor, the Economic hub of Nigeria brings only one locale to fore on people’s mind – Lagos State. Lagos is known to be home to all Nigerians and foreigners alike.
A quick run down memory lane would reveal that in yester years, Lagos pride herself in been a place where everyone lived for one another and social justice and civic responsibility reign supreme but this is no longer the case. In light of recent events in Lagos, love and selflessness has given way to selfish, egoistic, indifferent, irresponsible, wicked and destroying attitudes.
In view of the underlying negative effects of these attitudes on the residents of Lagos State and even the development of physical infrastructures through the efforts of the All Peoples’ Congress led government in the state; some concerned group of individuals under banner of ‘’Spirit of Lagos’’ are prime ready to shoulder the responsibility of effecting a positive attitudinal change amongst residents and bringing back the lost glory of the State. This much was revealed by the ‘’Spirit of Lagos’’ during a group interactive session with select media platforms in Lagos recently.
The Spirit of Lagos is the life of Lagos. It is the embodiment of all things good about Lagos and the very lifeline that connects its glorious past with the desired future that we dream of.
According to the group, the only reason the desired future we have for Lagos State has remained just a dream is because although Lagosians love the once vibrant, courageous, neighborly, law abiding, enterprising yet responsible, fun loving, mole breaking and accommodating spirit which characterized yester years and has now been challenged and diluted by a combination of ill-factors, yet, they remain unlearned about how to cause this transformation and they lack the grace, energy, resilience and excellence that is required to triumph over this decadence and sustained the victory.
The group believes that ‘’there is a need to revisit the fundamentals of Lagos, restore them, share them and protect them. For this dream to become a reality, there is no doubt about the need for the residents of Lagos to start thinking in the line of change in behavior which is necessary to compliment and sustain the extraordinary physical infrastructural and economic development going on in the state.
While addressing newsmen at the interactive session, the Project Coordinator, Olaniyi Omotosho who showed uncommon passion for the re-birth of a safe Lagos said, “We can talk from today till next year, but it is meaningless unless we all understand that there is a responsibility which lies within us to make our world a better place. We should also take cognizance of the fact that government cannot do everything for us so we should make it a point of duty to contribute our own quota to bringing back the lost glory of Lagos. This includes neighborliness living a life worthy of emulation. We should all volunteer to do something good and positive for our society. We are tired of telling our children how beautiful Lagos was and restore everything for them. The journey of a thousand miles begins with the right step, we all should take the right step and bring back the lost glory of this land”.
Furthermore, unearthing the Spirit of Lagos, Omotosho highlighted four cardinal dimension of human endeavours; social justice, civic responsibility, neighborliness and citizenship through which these objectives could be achieved.
“Nowhere is the true spirit of Lagos better demonstrated than the way we relate with and care for one another especially the vulnerable. It is an indication of the closeness of larger human family demonstrated by ‘all for one, one for all’. Lagos personified this bond of humanity and this sprit should be restored to challenge the pervading self-interest inclination that society is gradually slipping into. Messaging this campaign will clearly demonstrate that the good of all is the true spirit of Lagos,” Omotosho enthused.
Making use of pedestrian bridge where available, obeying state laws as it concern every individuals, proper disposal of waste, obeying traffic rules, are some of the many ways lovers and residents of Lagos can help restore the lost glory. For Lagos to truly take its place in the league of cities, its residence must embrace the citizenship spirit as manifested in all aspects of living including, traffic, sanitation, safety and patriotism.
Omotosho appealed to Lagosians to show The Spirits of “responsible freedom, communal individuality, commitment to law and order, give and take and global excellence for which our Lagos has been known”.
“Together with all who live and love this unique city, we celebrate The Spirit of Lagos”, he said.
