By Tajudeen Adebanjo
Lagos State Head of Service Hakeem Muri-Okunola yesterday affirmed the importance of the state to the economic survival of the country and West African.
He spoke at the opening of the 4th Quarterly General Meeting of the Southwest Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries (SWARHOSPS) at Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja.
According to Muri-Okunola, who was represented by Mr. Samson Ajibade, it is well-established that Lagos State accounts for approximately 32 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as its economic and social “nucleus”.
He added that Lagos being the commercial nerve centre of the West African sub-region, was also one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.
This, he said, made the United Nations (UN) ranks Lagos as the world’s third-largest city by population density.
Rapid population growth, he said, had thus required reform processes aimed at achieving sustainable urban development.
Hailing SWARHOSPS for holding their meeting in Lagos, Muri-Okunola said the association was positioned to facilitate the faster development of the region through conscious and deliberate linkages and experience sharing, not only with governments in Southwestern Nigeria, but with other relevant entities, including the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission.
SWARHOSPS Regional President Dr. Ebenezer Okebukola hailed governors of states where pensioners are regularly and fully paid.
Okebukola stated that the welfare of pensioners was not an issue to be ignored.
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