Fifty years of Lagos State

By Cosmas Odoemena

Fifty is a symbolic number in numerology and spirituality, it is called the “golden” number. It is considered as “the holiest and the most natural of numbers,” and “the point of arrival.” According to René Félix Allendy, a French psychoanalyst and homeopath, “it is a favorable number marking a grace, a kindness, a regeneration.”  According to Karl von Eckartshausen, a German Catholic mystic, author, and philosopher, it is the number of “the spiritual ascension to the intuition, the number of the illumination.” The feast of the Pentecost was celebrated by the Jews, fifty days after the Passover. Moses received the commandments fifty days after the exit of Egypt.
The number of chapters of the book of the Genesis of the Old Testament is fifty. According to visions of Mary Agreda, the trip of the Holy Family to run to Egypt took approximately fifty days. According to writings of Maria Valtorta, fifty soldiers were on  guard around the topmost part of the Golgotha, during the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Similarly, according to an Islamic legend, when Mohammed was received by Allah, he received the order to prescribe to the converts the daily recitation of fifty prayers. The United States of America, perhaps the greatest nation on earth at present, has fifty states. Those are only a few examples to stress the significance of fifty.  That’s why the fiftieth year anniversary of Lagos is symbolic, both temporal and spiritual. It is a year of revelation, fruition and fullness.
Equally important is that person who leads it at such a time. Blessed is that leader who is in charge at the golden celebration of what they lead. That one is highly favoured. That’s why Akinwunmi Ambode’s appointment as the fourteenth governor of Lagos state is a work of destiny. Many have come before Ambode, many will still come after him, but his will remain forever exceptional. A leader at such a watershed in history carries even more responsibilites than those before and even those after, because that leader is a fulcrum for others, and the government a potent intervention between the trajectory of the past and of the future.
But wait! Did Nigeria as a country not celebrate fifty years as a nation? It was to be during the reign of a certain man called Goodluck Jonathan who took oath of office as the fourteenth President of Nigeria. Yes, like Ambode, fourteenth! Today, Nigeria is on the edge of a precipice with threats of secession from one corner to the other. Tension here and there. A leader was at a momentous time and held a National Conference that for many years was clamoured for, and many before him could not convene.
That Conference addressed all the myriads of national problems and proffered solutions in unison. That report is gathering dust. And we are at a loss as to what to do today. Are we running away from our destiny? Can we not discern the signs? We must go back to the stream where we had our bath to retrieve our cloth.
Back to the state level where this intervention contends, and this includes all the states created when Lagos came to be; a governor in charge at the fiftieth year celebration of the state he is in charge has been chosen by destiny for a special mission.
However, that destiny has appointed such people does not automatically place halos around their heads. The choice is theirs on path of leadership, to make or to mar; for better or for worse—until another fifty years when another destined one will arise!
But Ambode has left no one in doubt as to which path he is following. He is on a special mission in Lagos. What Nigeria as a country in its entirety failed to realise, Lagos state can, and will lead the way for national redemption. Let every state imitate Lagos and Nigeria will be great. No excuses are tenable after all Lagos is no longer the capital of Nigeria. Its success is borne out of good leadership in succession. Ambode is here to up the ante. And indeed, Ambode has shown that he is equal to that task. From world class infrastructure, to better health, and many more, the people of Lagos state have not felt more better. The day Governor Ambode commissioned the Abule-Egba flyover, an elderly woman was in tears of joy, saying she was thankful to God to be alive to witness this.
For years, the federal road leading to the international airport in Lagos has stuck out like a sore thumb, to our collective shame. Successive governors before Ambode could not agree with the federal government on how to go about it. Only Ambode has been able to do that. And that road will soon be renovated. Again, it will be world class.
Before now, Lagos State doctors were always on strike to the detriment of the health sector in Lagos. Today, no Lagos State doctor can even contemplate it because Ambode has resolved all outstanding issues, making the health sector the darling of his achievements. He commissioned the first state-owned emergency helicopter service for quick response to medical emergencies in any part of Lagos. Ambode delivers good governance par excellence with a surfeit of compassion for Lagosians.
It is an opportunity for me to wish the fourteenth Governor of Lagos State a glorious birthday celebration as he marks his fifty fourth birthday on the fourteenth of June. No birthday present can be greater than being favoured by destiny to be the one who leads his state in its golden anniversary. It’s solid fact that can never be shared, and never be repeated. Dear Governor, destiny is kind to you. Even so, may God, man and history be ever kind to you.

Dr. Odoemena writes from Lagos via Terafema.blogspot.com

 

from The Sun News http://ift.tt/2rjqEGD
via IFTTT