THE FOURTH QUARTERLY TOWN HALL MEETING, 4TH IN THE SERIES
PROTOCOLS
I am delighted to be in the historic town of Badagry today. We continue to move the train of our community engagement and rendition of our account of stewardship round the three Senatorial Zones. It is again the turn of the West Senatorial Zone.
Today’s town Hall meeting, the fourth in the series gives us the opportunity to meet with the people of Lagos State to hear directly from you about your needs and suggestions on how we can serve you better.
Since the last quarter, we have undertaken and executed a number of social impact projects, cutting across all sectors despite the current global harsh economic realities.
A comprehensive list of our modest achievements in the last quarter are enumerated in the programme brochure. However, for emphasis, I will just mention a few.
Security
Our government procured and donated additional equipment to our security
agencies in the last quarter. The Nigeria Police, Customs, Immigration
Services, the Army, Airforce, Navy, DSS, AIG Zone 2, Civil Defence Corps,
Federal Road Safety Corps, LASTMA, NDLEA, Lagos State Task Force and the
Nigeria Prison Services were all beneficiaries.
We also commissioned the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority
(LASEMA) Rescue Unit facility with a specially designed dispatch centre to
respond to emergency cases across the State, the first of its kind in
Nigeria. An outpost of the Emergency Response Unit will be situated between
Ojo and Badagry in this quarter with two other outposts in Fadeyi and Lekki
axis also.
INFRASTRUCTURE
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of the 38km,
Fourth Mainland Bridge, was signed in the last quarter. This bridge which
will connect Ikorodu to Ajah will be executed through a Public Private
Partnership (PPP) arrangement and is expected to be delivered within the
next three years.
The Iyana-Oworo Bus park project embarked upon by our administration to
decongest traffic on the Third Mainland Bridge is nearing completion and is
already yielding fruitful results.
Work has commenced on the Ultra-Modern Oshodi Interchange in line with our
vision to transform Oshodi into a world class transport hub.
Several road projects were completed in the last quarter while others are
at various stages of completion. Some of the most significant include:
– Ajara/Agelasho/Poka/Erekiti road in Badagry Local Government Area.
– Construction of Aradagun-IworoAjido Phase I Bridge in Badagry Local
Government Area.
– The construction of Flyover at Ajah roundabout along the Lekki
Expressway and Abule-Egba junction along Lagos-Abeokuta expressway.
– The construction of Pedestrian bridge at Ojodu
-Berger
In the period under review, the Oko-Oba Housing Scheme, comprising a total
of 108 Units located on a land area of 15,785.632 sq.m has been completed
and offered for sale. We have commenced the process of completing the
Ibereko Housing project in Badagry.
JOB CREATION
We signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Lagos Smart City with
the operators of the Dubai Smart City. This agreement is expected to bring
multi-billion dollar investments to the State, create employment
opportunities and transform the Ibeju-Lekki axis and the entire Lagos
State.
We have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the Lagos State
Medical Park. This initiative will bring more investment which will create
jobs and make Lagos a destination for medical tourism.
The Employment Trust Fund would commence disbursement of funds in this
quarter to our various artisans, entrepreneurs and unemployed youths to
make life better for all.
LAGOS AT 50
We officially launched the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the
creation of our State in the last quarter. The events calendar for this
celebration will be unveiled soon and we expect all Lagosians to be part of
this.
ANALYSIS OF THE BUDGET AT HALF YEAR
The overall Budget performance as at Half Year was 70% which is an
improvement over the corresponding period in 2015 when the performance
stood at 63%.
Revenue recorded 73% performance for the half year 2016 despite the
challenging economic environment. Your Government spent a total of
N115.624bn on Capital projects during the half year 2016 leading to the
Capital/Recurrent ratio of 50:50 with the plan to improve this ratio to
58:42 provided for in 2016 Appropriation Law in the remaining half of the
year.
SOCIAL WELFARE AND RULE OF LAW
As a government, we are committed to the welfare of all our people without
discrimination, especially our vulnerable ones. In line with provisions of
Section 12, of the Special People’s Law, we launched the Lagos State
Persons Living with Disability Fund with N500million. This fund will be for
the advancement of the cause of persons living with disabilities.
We have also set up a Special Task Force to curb the excesses of “land
grabbers” in the State. The public is expected to send petitions through
the Office of the Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice to Task Force
for prompt remedy.
This administration has a zero tolerance for issues relating to domestic
violence and child abuse and will not relent until the scourge is reduced
to the barest minimum.
OUTLOOK FOR NEXT QUARTER
In the next quarter, amongst other things we will focus on the following
areas:
HEALTH
We have commenced a comprehensive action to rehabilitate and upgrade the
facilities in all our hospitals. Modern equipment will be procured to
facilitate treatment and we will invest in capacity building of our medical
staff. We intend to spend over N10bn on our hospitals across the State
before December this year.
We will recruit and train medical professionals in areas of rare
specialization and special needs.
EDUCATION
This administration will establish a Technical and Vocational School in
Badagry. The ground breaking will be done in September this year. In
addition, we will upgrade the infrastructure in all our schools starting
from this month of July. All our Primary and Secondary schools will be
upgraded to create conducive learning environment for students and
teachers. Another N10bn has been earmarked for this facelift of our
Secondary and Primary schools across the State.
We have recruited a total of 1,300 teachers for our Primary Schools. In the
next two weeks we will start recruiting 1,000 teachers for our Secondary
Schools across the State.
YOUTH AND SPORTS
In this quarter we will embark on the upgrading of sports facilities in the
State. We will support and promote age-grade competitions and sponsor
outstanding athletes to national and international training and
competitions.
THE ELDERLY
This administration will pay greater attention to issues concerning the
elderly. We will sponsor bills to the House of Assembly which will make
specific provisions for the elderly in our society and create a framework
for care for the aged. Our priority is to commence the provision of 3
Elderly Care centres across the Three Senatorial Zones and further urge the
private sector for support and collaboration thereafter.
CONCLUSION
Ladies and Gentlemen, our government remains committed to improve the
economy of Lagos State and the well-being of the citizenry. Our duty is to
protect lives and property and to ensure the welfare of all Lagosians.
As we do that, I implore you to take ownership of all government properties
located in your area because they are our common wealth. Remember to pay
your taxes as and when due in order to enjoy more dividends of democracy.
On our part, we will continue to ensure judicious utilization of the
resources of the state by executing projects that will outlive us and
affirm our position as a Centre of Excellence.
Thank you.
ItesiwajuIpinleEko, lo je walogun.
Mr. AkinwunmiAmbode
Governor of Lagos State
12th July 2016