Oziegbe Okoeki
LAGOS State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Monday assured the United Nations (UN) of his government’s willingness to collaborate with and support its agencies in carrying out their functions.
He spoke when he received a delegation of representatives of six agencies of the UN, who visited him at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja.
They were led by the Regional Director of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), Mr. John Bakole.
The other agencies in the team include: World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Aid Agency (UNIAID), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) and International Organisation for Migration.
The governor said the state already had institutions in the ministries for the agencies to take advantage of in discharging their duties, adding that as a mega city, Lagos had many issues to contend with, most of which were in the areas of focus of the UN agencies in the state.
The issues, Sanwo-Olu said, ranged from drugs to migration, HIV/AIDS, health, economic development, etc.
He said the state is doing so much in advocacy and funding.
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The governor told the agencies that if they get it right with Lagos, they will surely get it right with sub-Saharan Africa, saying: “We want to make sure that Lagos is a resilient city you will always want to work with.”
The leader of the team, Bakole, had said that the agencies were ready to support the government in all sectors covered by the agencies, especially in lifting many people out of poverty.
He said the THEMES agenda of the Sanwo-Olu administration aligned with the programmes of the UN.
“Your THEMES agenda is related to what we are doing,” Bakole added.
The agencies, he said, would work together in collaboration with Lagos, which is one of the pilot states for the scheme, to coordinate issues related to health, migration, agriculture, HIV/Aids, environment, family planning, SMEs and private sector development.
“We want to coordinate, in an efficient manner, our activities in the state. The objective is to address issues of where government is doing a wonderful job and to look for ways to support you in the economic sector,” Bakole said.
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