ADDRESS PRESENTED BY HIS EXCELLENCY, MR. AKINWUNMI AMBODE, GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE, ON THE OCCASION OF THE FIRST QUARTERLY TOWN HALL MEETING IN Y2018 (THE TENTH IN THE SERIES) HELD AT BLUE ROOF  LAGOS TELEVISION (LTV) COMPLEX, LATEEF JAKANDE ROAD, AGIDINGBI, IKEJA ON THURSDAY JANUARY 11^TH 2018.

PROTOCOLS

I welcome you to our 10^th Quarterly Town Hall Meeting. It is very significant that we are gathered here today in the State Capital, Ikeja to listen and interact with residents of Lagos West Senatorial Zone.

Town Hall Meetings practice in Lagos will be 140 years old this month. Holding this particular event in Lagos cannot be more historic.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are entering the New Year with confidence because our State is on a solid prosperity footing and with a lot of interesting prospects for all Lagosians. As we celebrate entering a new year, we thank you all for your support and cooperation last year. It was your backing that enabled us to achieve the modest successes we recorded last year and commence the transformation of the landscape of our State. In the last year, we delivered on our promises to Lagosians despite the harsh economic climate.

Despite the harsh economy, our State budget performed at 82%. Total Revenue Generated was N503.7bn representing a performance of 78%; Total Recurrent Expenditure was N281.33bn, a performance of 92% while Total Capital Expenditure was N387.60bn or 76% performance.

With this we initiated and delivered many high impact projects and critical infrastructure aimed at making life easier for our people. We disbursed funds to small businesses and individuals to stimulate the economy. Some of the key projects we delivered last year include:

·         The New Tafawa Balewa Square Bus terminal

·         The New Ojota Pedestrian bridge

·         The Aboru – Abesan link Bridge, in Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council of Alimosho Local Government Area and adjoining inner roads

·         Ojodu Berger Slip Road and Pedestrian Bridge

·         Jubilee Bridge, Ajah

·         The Abule Egba Jubilee Bridge

·         Freedom and Admiralty Road, Lekki

·         The new Lands Registry

·         The new and upgraded Government VIP Chalet, Epe now known as Jubilee Chalet, Epe

 In addition to these;

·         As at December 2017, the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund had disbursed N4.5billion to 5,500 beneficiaries who also received training on financial literacy and business management.

·         We presented keys to beneficiaries of the first set of allottees of Lagos State Rent-To-Own Housing Scheme

·         The new Neighbourhood Safety Corps was created and activated

·         We embarked on the beautification of the State with the erection of monuments, parks and gardens across the State

LAST QUARTER REPORT (ACTIVITY FOR OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2017)

Our task of actualizing our vision of a prosperous Lagos continued in the last quarter of 2017;

• We commissioned the first-ever DNA Forensic Centre in Nigeria and West Africa
• In fulfilment of our promise to our students in tertiary institutions across the State, this administration disbursed a total sum of N635.5million to 8,419 students across the State.
• Our government acquired healthcare equipment worth N2.5 billion. The equipment will strengthen the capacity of our health facilities to render improved health services and also facilitate smooth take off of the Lagos State Health Scheme which is designed to enable residents enjoy unfettered access to qualitative healthcare.
• Since the last Town Hall meeting, we have continued the renovation and upgrade of our primary healthcare centres and our people at the grassroots have started to witness a revitalized healthcare delivery.
• In order to meet the needs of the youth in the area of technical and vocational development, we have approved the establishment of three

other Technical Colleges bringing the number of Technical colleges in the State to Eight.

• To kick-start our Bus Transport Reform, we commissioned the LAMATA Place, the Ojota BRT Depot, the Intelligent Transport System Centre and our E-ticketing Payment System.
• Construction has started at the Onikan Stadium to transform it to a modern sports arena. The Agege Stadium has been upgraded to prepare it to host CAF Champions League matches.
• We commissioned the JJT (Johnson, Jakande, Tinubu) Park in Alausa. Since the commissioning the park has witnessed patronage in excess of its capacity and confirms our belief that Lagos needs more of such parks.
• In December, we presented a budget proposal of N1.046trillion to the Lagos State House of Assembly. With this budget we intend to complete all ongoing projects and consolidate on infrastructural development in areas of education, transportation/traffic management,

security and health sector. Like I said when the budget was presented, this budget has something for everyone including the people of Ikeja.

OUTLOOK FOR THE FIRST QUARTER – 2018

We have already kicked off for the New Year. Just this week we have commissioned the Safety Arena in Oshodi and performed the ground-breaking ceremony for the new J. K. Randle Centre. We will continue at this pace and vigorously pursue all on-going projects.

As you can observe, we have commenced work on the construction of the 1.4 kilometre Pen Cinema Flyover/Bridge.

Our strategy is to start year 2018 with programmes that will stimulate the economy, accelerate growth and create opportunities for all Lagosians to thrive. We are determined to continue to secure the State, improve the wellbeing of all residents and ensure all taxpayers enjoy the dividends of their contributions to our commonwealth.

CONCLUSION:

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, the task of building the Lagos State of our dream is enormous but we remain focused and committed to this project. There is still a lot of work ahead and our government will not relent in our efforts to give you the best service possible.

I urge all taxpayers to be alive to their responsibility of fulfilling their obligations to the State.  Regular payment of taxes remains the major source of funding the infrastructure being put in place to ease transportation, provide security build new roads and refurbish existing ones.

I now welcome your questions, suggestions and submissions.

Once again, I wish you all joyous, peaceful and prosperous 2018.

Itesiwaju Ipinle Eko, lo je wa logun.

Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode

Governor of Lagos State

January 11^th, 2018