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Tag: Lagos Speaker

  • Osun Assembly, Lagos Speaker, Ashafa urge love, peace, tolerance

    Osun State House of Assembly under the leadership of the Speaker, Najeem Salam,  Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa and Lagos East Gbenga Ashafa have sent warm greetings to Christians over this year’s Easter celebration.

    The Osun State House assembly, in a statement by its Chairman, House Committee on Information and Strategy, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, said the Assembly acknowledges that Easter season is a sacred one filled with God’s love, blessings and redemptive power.

    It congratulates Christians in the state, urging them to celebrate moderately and never forget the lessons as well as the reasons for the season, which is the sacrificial death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Obasa urged Nigerians to imbibe spirit of love, peace and tolerance as taught and practised by Jesus Christ during his lifetime.

    The Speaker, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Musbau Rasak, said: “Jesus Christ preached and practised love, peace and tolerance during his lifetime and these are the qualities we should imbibe and practise to move this great country forward.”

    Ashafa, in a statement, said: “I join my Christian brothers and sisters in Lagos East Senatorial District and across Nigeria, as they commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

     

     

  • Lagos Speaker hails Nigerian Army on introduction of indigenous language

    The Speaker of the Lagos state House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, has commended the Nigerian Army on its directive to its personnel to learn the country’s three major indigenous languages — Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa.

    Obasa, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Political and Legislative Matters, Mr Mufutau Egberongbe on Saturday, said the directive showed that the army was passionate about ensuring internal peace and unity in the country.

    “Our argument has often been that security officers should operate in areas where they understand the language, cultures and traditions of the people,” he said.

    The speaker said that was one of the reasons why the lawmakers had constantly advocated for state policing.

    “We also recently resolved to have the Yoruba language taught in all schools in Lagos.

    “It is not a personal issue; there is the need to ensure that the language retains its importance in the country.

    “Across the world, people are proud of their languages. They even teach with it in schools and solve major societal issues with it.

    “We know English is our major language here, but we must keep indigenous ones from extinction.

    “With the introduction of the three major languages in the military, we are sure of a positive result in the fight against terrorism and other issues threatening our peace as a nation,” Obasa said.

    The Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Sani Usman, in a statement, had said that the army expected its personnel to learn the languages within the next one year.

    He said the directive was in line with a new language policy of the army.

    According to him, the policy will, among others, foster esprit-de-corps and better communication with the populace to enhance information gathering and civil-military relations.

  • Lagos Speaker dissolves House committees

    Lagos Speaker dissolves House committees

    Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa yesterday dissolved the Assembly’s standing committees.

    Although no reason was given for the action, Obasa said chairmen of the committees should work in acting capacity and report to him before taking any major decision.

    He said: “May I announce to you all that standing committees of the House are dissolved, while chairmen of the committees would be working in acting capacity.

    “This will continue until new committee chairmen and members are constituted.”

    The House committees were dissolved and reconstituted during the fifth and sixth tenures, headed by former Speaker Adeyemi Ikuforiji.

    A source said Ikuforiji dissolved the standing committees after he became Speaker in December 2005, following the impeachment of former Speaker Jokotola Pelumi.

    It was gathered that the committees were not reconstituted then until several months later.

    Standing committees are usually in charge of oversight functions on ministries.

  • Lagos speaker urges youths to address unemployment through innovation

    Lagos speaker urges youths to address unemployment through innovation

    Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, has urged youths to address the pangs of poverty and unemployment in the country through innovations and new ideas.

    Obasa gave the advice when he received an award of Exemplary Leadership from the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) in his office at the Assembly Complex, Alausa, Ikeja.

    He explained that with what the students demonstrated, hope was not lost, saying that Nigerian youths are capable of taking over from the old generation by displaying good leadership qualities.

    The speaker said, “I can say boldly, with what I am seeing, that our youths are ready to take over. We all want good leaders for Nigeria, we don’t want a country where only the rich will have their way and others do not.

    We want people with ideas, you must be innovative, you must have administrative ideas, you have to look inwards and bring out what others would love to embrace, with government’s support, we can eradicate unemployment and poverty,” the speaker said.

    He, however, urged the students to desist from tendencies that were encouraging factionalisation in the students union, saying that was the only way to build institutions.

    Obasa appreciated the association for the award, urging the students to continue to demonstrate sound leadership character at all times.

    The leader of the delegation, Luqman Salahudeen, stated that NAPS decided to honour Lagos Speaker because of his style of leadership.

    Salahudeen, who is the first Nigerian student to head the West African Polytechnic Union, explained that the Speaker has been piloting the affairs of Lagos Assembly without rancour or acrimony.

  • Lagos Speaker disappointed in procurement board

    Lagos Speaker disappointed in procurement board

    Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa has expressed disappointment in the state’s Public Procurement Board.

    Obasa, who spoke during plenary yesterday, said the board not show interest in the amendment of the laws that set it up to catch up with the current trend, despite the lapses noticed in the law.

    The Speaker said while the Assembly was considering the appointment of Mrs. Iyabo Ladipo as a member of the board, it was also planning to amend the board’s law.

    He said: “The board members ought to have come to the House with a proposal for an amendment of the law that set them up. So, I am disappointed in them.

  • Lagos speaker calls for love, peace, tolerance

    Lagos speaker calls for love, peace, tolerance

    As Christians all over the world celebrate Easter, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa has urged Nigerians, particularly Christians not to relent in sharing love,  peace and tolerance across the length and breadth of the country.
    The Speaker’s Easter message was signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Musbau Razak.
    The message read in part, “Jesus Christ, throughout his lifetime, preached peace, love among the people and he was tolerance personified. Indeed if we are to imbibe the teachings of Christ, then we must love one another, live in peace and learn to tolerate each other”, Obasa said.
    He commended Nigerians in general and Lagosians in particular for their support, cooperation and prayers for the All Progressives Congress (APC) administrations at both state and national levels assuring that both the Lagos State Government and the Federal Government will not relent in putting in place measures and programmes that will improve the standard of living of Nigerians as well as enhance their welfare.
    “We will always seek for your understanding and patience as government at all levels strive to make life better for us all,” he said.

  • Lagos speaker pledges commitment to end HIV by 2030

    The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa has pledged the continued support and commitment of the Lagos House of Assembly to making Lagos State free of Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV)and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) by 2030.

    Obasa said this early in the week at the HIV and AIDS Walk to mark 2016 World AIDS Day organised by the Lagos State Aids Control Agency.

    The walk tagged ‘Hands up for HIV prevention,’ had hundreds of people drawn from government agencies, civil society groups, international non-governmental organisation, youth groups, walk from Ikeja Local Government office through Allen Avenue to the Lagos State House of Assembly.

    Obasa said “We believe that the good health of our people come up first in our list of priorities; when there is health, there is wealth. There is no amount of investment or economic emancipation or social infrastructure that we may provide for the people that they will enjoy without good health.”

    While acknowledging the effort of the state government in awareness creation and pragmatic support programmes for HIV in Lagos, Obasa said the government will continue to support efforts to end the scourge in the state.

    “We will be with your continuous and persistent support to end HIV and AIDS in Lagos. An injury to one is an injury to all and we are ready to play our role to make the state free of this disease,” he said.

    He said the House is prepared to work the Governor on his promised to eradicate HIV and AIDS by 2030.

    He appealed to Lagosians to take advantage of the spirited effort of the Lagos State government in ensuring that the hospitals are filled with necessary medication to manage the scourge of AIDS in the state.

    In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Lagos State Aids Control Agency, Dr. Oluseyi Temowo, said that the walk was to raise awareness among Lagosians on the prevention, treatment and load reduction of HIV through its 909090 campaign programnme.

    He said that it is a crime for anyone to die of HIV and AIDS in Lagos because it is no longer a death sentence and Lagos state is making frantic effort to make drugs available and tests free for all persons living with HIV in Lagos.

    He added that the world has agreed that the scourged has remained a scourge for too long a time and it will be an abuse to humanity if it is allowed to continue unabated.

    He therefore called for proper investment, education and enlightenment of the people towards achieving this goal.

  • Lagos speaker commends Ambode over call for special status 

    Lagos speaker commends Ambode over call for special status 

    Speaker of the Lagos state House of Assembly, Hon. Musadhiru Obasa, has commended Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for his determination to see that the state is accorded a special status by the federal government. According to the speaker, Ambode demonstrated this zeal during a recent visit of a senate committee led by Ahmed Yerima to the governor.

    The governor had during the visit reiterated the need for the Senate to reconsider the motion sponsored by Senator Oluremi Tinubu for Lagos to be granted a special status. The motion was, however thrown out by the senator’s colleagues when it was brought to the chamber at plenary. After listening to Ambode, Yerima  promised that the motion would be re-considered by the Senate.

    The speaker said Governor Ambode’s complaint to the senators would complement the motion passed by the state Assembly for a letter to be written to the Senate on the need to reconsider the motion to grant Lagos a special status. Obasa argued that the mega city status of Lagos state with about 26 million people  comes with many challenges including those of environmental pollution and emission of dangerous substances, housing and transportation.

    “People must move using mass transit, the railways must be opened and there must be effective water transportation and these are some of the basic needs of a mega city with a special status. Moreover, it is already known that Lagos is the commercial city of Nigeria and a former capital of the country. A chunk of the country’s GDP is got from Lagos.

    “The revenue from value added tax majorly comes from Lagos and the state is a mini-Nigeria with representatives of all ethnic. groups. Most of the federal structures in the state are still being maintained by the state government. These alone are enough reasons why Lagos should be granted a special status,” the Speaker said.

     

  • Lagos Speaker seeks true federalism, regional integration

    Lagos Speaker seeks true federalism, regional integration

    Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa has said only a holistic restructuring of the polity will entrench true federalism in Nigeria.

    According to him, those opposing the call for restructuring were not in sync with principles of the founding fathers of the nation.

    Obasa, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Political and Legislative Matters, Mufutau Egberongbe, noted that the belief and ideology of the country’s founding fathers like the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa, Sir Ahmadu Bello and Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, was that only “true federalism” with regional autonomy in which every region will be in control of its resources, can make the nation great.

    The Speaker said: “I still recall that some northern leaders, who are late today, made it clear in the series of constitutional conferences that heralded Nigeria’s independence that true federalism with regional autonomy was the only condition under which they would exist within a Nigerian nation.

    “One thing we should be mindful of is that the call for restructuring is a demand for true federalism”, he said.

    The Speaker added that “it is inconsistent with the interest of the North or the South for the current pseudo-federal structure to persist”.

    “The leadership of the country must find courage to restructure and reconcile aggrieved sections within the nation. We must set machinery in motion to restructure the country.

    “States must be strengthened for the country to develop, because the country in the ‘50s and ‘60s developed faster when the government ran on a confederation, with the regions running their affairs almost autonomously.

    “I see no reason why states can’t come together in the name of integration. There is nothing stopping Osun State planting cocoa and sending the harvest to Lagos to be processed into chocolate. Also, Ogun State can make lands available for Lagos for housing projects. This would be some of the regional integration we are talking about.

    “Of note”, the statement went further,  “is the fact that even the United States of America that creates states, they still support fiscal federalism. For me, I believe that true federalism is the only way to go,” the statement read in part.@

  • Lagos Speaker vows to address controversy in water sector

    Lagos Speaker vows to address controversy in water sector

    The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon Mudashiru Obasa, has promised to look into the petition filed by members of the labour union and civil societies against the plan to privatize the water sector in the state.

    The Speaker gave the assurance when members of the labour union and civil societies thronged the legislative house at Alausa, Ikeja, to protest against the plan to privatize the water sector in the state.

    The petitioners, led by Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth International,

     Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi said: “We urge the Speaker and the entire members of the House to be on the side of  the people rather than being with promoters of privatization who put profit before the right to water which is upheld as a human right by the United Nations. We reject all forms of water privatization and commodification. We want  all water sector laws that promote PPP revised and want adequate budgetary allocations to the water sector.

     Speaking through his representive, Hon Segun Olalude who was accompanied by the Minority Leader, Hon Akeem Bello, the Speaker  said: “We have received your petition, though, we are on recess, I am assuring you that this petition will receive urgent and positive attention.

    “I also want to assure you that the House will forever stand with the people as you pain is our pain. Every matter raised in this petition will be looked into. You have elected democrats and you have no fear on any of our positions because they will always be your position.”