The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Commissioner for Information and Strategy

  • Lagos approves restructuring of LCC loan facility 

    Lagos approves restructuring of LCC loan facility 

    • Saves Over N10bn

    The Lagos State Executive Council on Wednesday approved the restructuring of the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) Loan Facility provided by local and international lenders.

    The State Government in a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, said that it has paid a total of N9.8billion in full and final settlement of LCC’s indebtedness to its international lender, which granted a 21.16 per cent haircut (reduction) to the State.

    He said as a result, a sum of N3.15billion was saved.

    The Commissioner said that in addition, local lenders, whose interest rate was 18.5 per cent at the consummation of the facility, offered a 12 per cent haircut and also fully paid with a restructured loan at 13.5 per cent, thereby creating a savings of N8.7billion for the Government.

    Ayorinde also reiterated the State Government’s commitment to continue to deploy appropriate public finance management principles to ensure adequate provision of infrastructure to all Lagosians.

    In a related development, the State’s Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Mustapha Akinkunmi, urged citizens to continue to pay their taxes as at when due, since according to him, more facilities are being provided by government through the tax payers’ obligation to government.

  • Tourism: Lagos to take Centre stage at TIFF

    Tourism: Lagos to take Centre stage at TIFF

    • Eight Nigerians Films to Feature in Festival

    Lagos State Government on Monday said that the State’s tourism and entertainment potentials will take the centre stage at this year’s edition of the City to City Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), saying that eight films produced in the State would be selected to feature at the festival.

    The State’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, his counterpart in Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Folorunsho Folarin-Coker, who briefed journalists alongside the Artistic Director Toronto Film Festival, Mr. Cameron Bailey, at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, said the development would help project tourism potential of Lagos to the teaming audience at the festival.

    Ayorinde said the move was in line with the State Governor, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode’s campaign promises to make the state a hub for tourism.

    He said the eight films to be selected does not necessarily have to be about Lagos, but films produced by directors based in the State.

    According to him, “what is important is that the films that will be selected will be films by film makers that are Lagos based it won’t matter what subject matter you are dealing with, it is about the creativity the talent you are exhibiting as a Lagos based film maker that Toronto is interested in.”

    Ayorinde said the State Government would be fully involved in any collaboration to celebrate the city and market its potentials as well as appreciate the talent of the motion industry.

    “What this government policy implies is that the Government will promote any initiative that will project Lagos as the home of film making not only in Nigeria but before the entire world,” Ayorinde said.

    Folarin-Coker on his part said the move falls in line with government’s policy that entertainment can be used to drive consumption to create employment and improve the revenue generated in the State.

    “This falls clearly in line with Governor Ambode’s mantra of THESE which stands for Tourism, Hospitality, Entertainment, and Sports for Excellence,” Coker said.

    He also revealed that the long term plan of the Government is to take back dead public spaces such as under the bridges across the State and develop it for residents to exhibit and develop their talents.

    The Commissioner also informed that the State is collaborating with the Federal Government to build a car park at the new museum to help drive tourism.

    Explaining the drive behind the Lagos and Toronto spotlight for the Festival, Cameron said much of the films Lagos produces are not being showcased in Toronto, explaining that the idea is to seize the opportunity of this year’s festival to begin a new dawn for Nigerian films.

    “We have had films like Tunde Kelani’s Abeni feature at the festival as well as Half of a Yellow Sun, which is a collaboration between Nigeria and the UK, but I think this is an opportunity to do more and to go bigger. So what we are doing this year is a spotlight on the filmmakers who live and work here in Laos. We have been so impressed with the ingenuity and creativity of individual filmmakers who have made the Nigerian film industry one of the largest on the planet,” Cameron said.

    He said Lagos, like Los Angeles, Paris and Mumbai is one of the biggest capitals of film around the world.

    He said films produced in Nollywood have spread all over the world, saying though the Nigeria Film business has gone global; the next step was to fully integrate it into the international film industry.

    “The films that are bought and sold at our Festival, the films that are written about and reported on by the critics and film journalists, the audiences that embrace the films that go on to win the big prizes like the Oscars, those films should include the films from Nigeria, the films from Lagos; the heart of this industry that has become so large and dominant around the world. This is what really projects the image of Lagos and Nigeria, the stories that are being told resonate with the people whether or not they set foot on this country,” Cameron said.

  • LASG to construct additional pedestrian bridge at Ojota

    LASG to construct additional pedestrian bridge at Ojota

    The Lagos State Government on Thursday said it would construct an additional footbridge at Ojota bus-stop on Ikorodu Road to complement the existing one following the upsurge in its usage.

    The state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde, said in a statement that the decision arose out of the need to reduce the long time pedestrians using the bridge were now spending on queue.

    He said the construction of the additional bridge had become necessary after the newly erected New Jersey Wall on the median of the expressway.

    Ayorinde said that this had effectively curtailed indiscriminate dropping and picking of passengers along the highway as well as dangerous crossing of the road by commuters.

    He reiterated that the need for the construction of the wall, which was similar to the measure taken between Ketu and Mile 12 axis of the road, was meant to reduce fatalities on the part of commuters crossing the highway.

    Ayorinde said it was erected to also reduce the traffic gridlock caused by commercial buses and motorcycles engaging in indiscriminate dropping and picking of passengers.

    He commended the orderly conduct of commuters in the usage of the bridge and  urged them to be patient with government until the new one was constructed.

    Ayorinde said that the project was expected to be delivered within three months and would accommodate the special needs of the physically-challenged for their ease of movement.

  • Gov. Ambode appeals to residents over fuel crisis, power

    Gov. Ambode appeals to residents over fuel crisis, power

    Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Wednesday appealed to residents to bear with government over the lingering fuel crisis and power shortage across the state.
    This is contained in a statement issued by the state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde.
    “Lagos State consumes more than 40 per cent of the fuel and energy needs of the country and therefore appreciates that the impact of the scarcity would be felt more in the state,” Ambode said.
    He urged residents to remain calm, orderly and law abiding, assuring them that government was doing everything possible within its power to find an immediate solution to the crisis.
    “I share the pain and discomfort of Lagosians.
    “I assure them that the Federal Government is deeply touched by the situation and is working round the clock to alleviate the suffering of the people,” Ambode said.

  • Why we demolished Oshodi market – Lagos

    Why we demolished Oshodi market – Lagos

    The Lagos State Government says the demolition of Owonifari Market in Oshodi area of the state was done to further ensure security and bring sanity to the area.

    The state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde, gave the explanation at a news conference on Thursday while clarifying issues involved in the demolition exercise.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the State Government on Tuesday shut the market and ordered relocation of affected traders and shop owners to the newly built Isopakodowo market stalls at Bolade in the area.

    The market was demolished from Tuesday night till the early hours of Wednesday.

    Ayorinde said that the traders were formally served a quit notice on Dec.21 before the demolition exercise, through the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development.

    “It is important to be informed that the issue of that market had been on for nothing less than 10 years.
    “The state government had been engaging with the leadership of the market to say that we could no longer continue with the manner in which that area of the market was being used.

    “So, for 10 years, there has been back and forth engagement between the government and the leadership of the market,” he said.

    Ayorinde said the leadership of the market, in the last three years, had refused to move.
    “Certified that we have provided a befitting alternative, we started another round of engagement with the leadership of the market.
    “The governor appealed to them through the Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs.
    “They met with members of the state executive on Dec. 16, 2015, where the governor reiterated his plans for Oshodi and the need to relocate them.

    “A few of them expressed certain misgivings, but largely, they felt that if their interests were accommodated within the Isopakodowo market that they were willing and ready to move.

    “We advised that discussions should be ongoing, particularly regarding how much they will pay for each stall within the market,” he said.
    Ayorinde said that on Dec. 21, 2015, the governor went on a tour of the market, particularly Isopakodowo Market, where he again met with the leadership of the Owonifari Market.

    According to him, it was eventually agreed that, based on the proposition from the market leaders, what they were willing to pay for each market was N5000 monthly.

    “There is really no market anywhere that you will be paying such an amount in a month for a market.
    “The governor agreed with them and we said we were ready to concede.

    “Along the line, convinced that our New Year project was to relocate them to Isopakodowo Market, we got intelligence reports that as at during the Yuletide, a number of criminal activities were going on there.

    “We also got reports that the place was harbouring criminals and a number of untoward activities.

    “This, of course, necessitated that we should move immediately to safeguard lives, property and to ensure that there was no breech of peace.

    “This was what led to the demolition exercise,” Ayorinde said.

    He said the intention of the government was certainly not to destroy any goods.

    “We believe a good number of the traders, if not all, had moved because they were aware they needed to move.

    “From reports, quite a good chunk of them acknowledged that they were properly served and that they were ready to move; many of them packed their things just before the end of the year.

    “Government, I should say, will not be blackmailed because we have done everything humanly possible.

    “We believe very strongly that Isopakodowo Market is quite ideal, a lot bigger than where they were,” he said.

    Ayorinde said the aim of the government was to ensure that the area of the market conformed with the type of image that it wanted the state to be.

    “It is to return sanity to the place, to beautify the market and construct a world class bus terminus around the place.

    “We also believe the exercise will largely reduce the gridlock that is associated with that area and the criminalities that were rampant in Oshodi.

    “What we have done is in the interest of the generality of residents,” he said.

    Also speaking, the Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Babatunde Adejare, who was present during the demolition exercise, said the Owonifari market had become a den of notorious criminals.

    “I was present during the demolition, the traders had removed their goods; there was only one shop where we met goods and the goods are with us,” he said.

    The Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Mr. Muslim Folami said a bunker was discovered in the market during the demolition.