The Nation Newspaper

Tag: lagos

  • Ambode inaugurates 114 roads in local govt areas

    Ambode inaugurates 114 roads in local govt areas

    •Ambode to residents: take care of projects

    Lagos State has injected N19.4 billion into the construction of 114 inner roads, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said yesterday.

    The roads are spread across the 20 local governments and the 37 local council development areas (LCDAs).

    Ambode, who spoke at the inauguration of the roads held simultaneously in 10 local governments, said residents must guard the infrastructure provided by his administration jealously.

    The governor was represented by his commissioners, monarchs and All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders at the inauguration of the projects.

    He assured the people that more projects would follow those already completed.

    At the inauguration of Etal Memunat and Omolanke roads in Onigbongbo Local Council Development Area yesterday, Ambode was represented by the Head of Service, Mrs. Olabowale Ademola and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Central Business District, Mr. Agbola Dabiri.

    He said the projects provided direct employment for over 5,000 construction professionals and artisans and indirectly to over 10,000 others.

    The governor said the road projects were completed to fulfil his electoral promise to the people.

    He added that the administration remain committed to the concept of inclusive governance, where government policies, projects and programmes would be driven by the needs of the community.”

    He said the roads span across 56.1 kilometres with 112 kilometres walkways and drainages and 56 kilometres of independently powered street lights that would help enhance the security and elevate the state mega city status.

    “We started this journey by asking our Community Development Associations (CDAs) to identify the roads in need of improvement in their areas. We received hundreds of requests and picked two per each local government to make 114 roads across the state.”

    The governor explained that to ensure transparency and accountability, the government established a bidding process in line with international best practices that produced 89 indigenous contractors that handled the construction.

    He hailed the contractors for living up to expectations and delivering the project on time.

    “I want to thank our local contractors for delivering on this project and demonstrating the capacity of the construction industry in Lagos. I thanked the community leaders and officers, who monitored the project and the CDA members that persuaded their members to shift fences to allow roads to be expanded and resolve issues that might have stalled the projects.”

    The Sole Administrators of the LDA, Mr. Shamsideen Oloyede, said the construction of the roads would ease the challenges of gridlock and help improve the security in the area.

    Oloyode appealed to residents to take advantage of the opportunity by maintaining the infrastructure so as to attract other projects.

    “We should let our maintenance culture be rife to preserve the highly capital intensive projects being commissioned statewide,” he said.

    A member of the residents association, Mr. Ibukunoluwa, thanked the governor for ending what he described as eight years of pain.

    He said the deplorable state of the road has been a big challenge to residents, adding that what they could not achieve within the last eight years had been fixed by the governor in just six months.

    He assured the governor that the infrastructure would be protected, pledging support for the administration.

    Twenty roads from 10 local governments were inaugurated yesterday.

    They include Temidire and Molade Streets in Ajeromi, Erejuwa and Omitogun/Igbosere Street, Yaba; Matthew and Famuyiwa Street, Agege; Ademola Abiola and Bioyin Street, Ojokoro; Adeniji Oluwakemi and Bolaji Benson, Ikorodu central among others.

     

     

  • Lagos to name entrepreneurship grant winners

    Lagos to name entrepreneurship grant winners

    LAGOS State government will name winners of a business-pitch competition organised to lower the curtain on the state’s Ready, Set, Work (RSW) programme for 500 final year students of its tertiary institutions next week.

    The 13-week programme for students of the Lagos State University (LASU), Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) and the Lagos State College of Health Technology exposed the students to entrepreneurship and employability training that would culminate in grants for the best ideas and internships for the best performers.

    Last Saturday, the top 25 participants in the entrepreneurship stream pitched their business ideas before a panel of judges comprising two commissioners, Mr Olawale Oluwo (Energy and Mineral Resources), Mr Steve Ayorinde (Information and Strategy), and the Special Adviser on Education, Mr Obafela Bank-Olemoh.

    Also on the panel were the LASU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun; the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Education, Mrs. Seriki Ayeni; the Director of Entrepreneurship Programme, Ministry of Wealth Creation, Mrs. Abiose, and other investors.

    Bank-Olemoh, the brain behind the scheme, noted that the student with the best business idea and pitch would receive N1million.  The second place would get N500,000; while the third place gets N250,000.  In addition, he said, the trio would get N100,000 monthly for six months for upkeep to prevent the temptation of spending their capital, which could lead to the death of the business.

    The grant would be drawn from N15.5million approved as entrepreneurship grants by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for the project.

    Bank-Olemoh noted that through the scheme, the government hopes to improve the quality of graduates being churned into the industry.

    He said: “We are trying to raise the standards and create an enabling environment for the youths. I prefer partnering with the private sector on this because it reduces interference. These students must believe that it is not what they have learned that will improve their lives but what they do with what they have learned.”

    Mr Bank-Olemoh said the scheme would expand to include other sectors such as entertainment and art, agriculture, among others in its next edition.

    Human Resources representatives from partnering companies, such as PricewaterCoopers (PwC), SystemSpecs, Guarantee Trust Bank, Access Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Total Oil and Jobberman, interviewed the employability stream participants for six-month paid internships.

    Deputy General Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility, Total, Dr Nkoyo Attah, was impressed by the performance of the students, noting areas of improvement.

    She said: “Generally, I think they are doing well – although there is a lot to be done to broaden their global knowledge. Some of them don’t know basic things happening around the country and the world. Some don’t even know the two major presidential candidates of the United States upcoming election. But they are ok in the area of soft skills.

    “But government is doing a good job. This scheme is so impressive – the fact that you identified a problem and you are making efforts to solve it. We would always like to be part of the development of the country. One person cannot do it alone; that is why we partnered the government on this initiative. We want to limit ourselves to 10 candidates for this first edition.”

     

  • Daystar gives out school materials to students

     

    Last Saturday, Daystar Christian center, Ikosi Lagos, gave out school materials to indigent students from Ikosi and its environs.

     

    The project which was tagged ‘Back to school’ was a benevolence initiative and an expression of love by the church to equip less privileged students with educational materials.

     

    As students prepare to resume after a long vacation across the country, the church gave out free educational materials ranging from books, school bags, sandals and other writing materials.

     

    The purpose of this project which is an annual initiative is to equip the students and help them maximize their academic potentials.

     

    Several people trooped in and were catered for in batches as the materials went out to over 5000 students.

     

    Speaking for Daystar Benevolence unit, Akinwande Ade said: “This is annual initiative for us. We do not just talk giving, we do it. We strongly believe investing in these students amounts to investing into Nigeria’s.

     

    “As the students resume in the coming week, we are sure they will have materials to settle down for academic excellence. We will do more as God empowers us.”

     

  • Lagos and Nigeria

    Lagos and Nigeria

    Recently, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and now Emir of, Kano, Alhaji Lamido Sanusi, came down hard on the federal government’s economic policies. He specifically asked the central government to learn from Lagos. It is in this context that I represent this piece.

    For close to one hour July 3rd, the Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, was on his feet as he spoke to invited journalists about his last one year in office as well as his plans for the state in the immediate future. The venue was the banquet hall of the Government House, Ikeja. Mr Ambode exuded confidence and optimism. He recalled the achievements of his administration towards actualizing his promised ‘continuity with improvement’ in diverse sectors ranging from security, education, health; law, order and justice to massive electrification of the metropolis and roads rehabilitation/reconstruction among others.

    The governor is confident that Lagosians will, in the next one year, witness more of the development dividends they voted for when they opted for him and the APC at the last polls. He promises that there will be even more massive investment in security with the ultimate objective of ensuring that every street in Lagos is effectively policed and safe. This he says will be complemented by an increased aggressiveness in the ‘Operation Light up Lagos’ project and other policies deliberately targeted at making Lagos a 24 hour economy befitting a model Mega city.

    His administration’s Employment Trust Fund, he avers, will also take off fully offering entrepreneurial opportunities to large numbers of jobless youth. He assures that Lagosians will witness even more massive investment in education and health particularly with the creation of a medical park in Ikoyi that will take optimum advantage of the country’s bounteous medical specialists abroad, boost medical tourism and save scarce foreign exchange.

    Governor Ambode’s vision of Lagos transcends the borders of Nigeria. He envisages Lagos as a model African Mega city. He enjoins the support of the media and the generality of Lagosians in ensuring that Lagos plays her destined leadership role in Africa. This mood of confidence and optimism in Lagos contrasts sharply with that of dejection, despair and helplessness in the majority of other states in the country. At least 27 states owe their workers arrears of salaries of several months. A recent study indicates that no less than 15 states are technically insolvent as they will be unable to survive without monthly allocation from the Federation Account. Yet, not only is Lagos State paying workers’  salaries as well as allowances, pensions and subventions as and at when due, the state is also systematically increasing its Internally Generated Revenue to the extent that she is practically able to subsist independent of federal allocation.

    Mr Ambode gives an insight into his administration’s philosophy of public finance. There is absolutely nothing like government money he insists. What is popularly tagged government money in Nigeria is in fact tax payers’ money rightly belonging to the people. The key to the financial buoyancy of Lagos he explains lies in the sense of responsibility and accountability of government in utilizing public resources to deliver identifiable and verifiable services. The consequence is the steady and systematic widening of the tax net as an ever increasing number of citizens voluntarily pay their taxes.

    It is all too easy to attribute the prosperity of Lagos in a vast wasteland of national poverty and stagnation to a favorable geographical location, huge population or other fortuitous factors. The truth, however, is that there is nothing inevitable about the commercial nerve centre’s current financial solidity that contrasts sharply with the national narrative of impoverishment and deepening underdevelopment. Today’s Lagos is the product of deliberate leadership and policy choices right from the democratic restoration of 1999 through to the incumbent Ambode administration.

    Apart from the solid fiscal foundation laid for the state by the Tinubu administration, there has been a positive philosophical and ideological continuity that has seen Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) and now governor Ambode building constructively on the legacy they inherited. This type of continuity has been absent at the national level in the last 16 years. We will recollect that President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration had the National Economic and Employment Development Strategy (NEEDS).

    Rather than build on this, the late President Umaru Yar’ Adua launched his 7-point Agenda. President Goodluck Jonathan in turn initiated his Transformation Agenda, which had little or nothing to do with the policy initiatives of his predecessors. Governance at the centre has thus been characterized by radical discontinuities with negative consequences for incremental and steady development. This is unlike Lagos which has been carefully and systematically implementing a carefully thought out 10-Point Agenda over the last one and a half decades.

    Lagos State was to all intents and purposes practically insolvent as at 1999. The state’s monthly Internally Generated Revenue was approximately 600 million Naira barely sufficient to pay its workers and grossly inadequate to fund qualitative social services and critical infrastructure. The City-state was widely depicted and perceived as a veritable jungle with decrepit roads, decayed public schools, chronic water shortage, traffic chaos and mountains of refuse on major highways among others.

    The poverty and disorderliness fuelled several bloody inter ethnic and communal conflicts at Mile 12, Mile 2, Agege and Ajegunle. Eight years later, thanks to bold, courageous and imaginative reforms, Lagos State’s Internally Generated Revenue had increased to at least 6 billion Naira monthly and the foundation had been laid for the environmental transformation and radical modernization of infrastructure in the state.

    A man of details and methods, former governor Fashola built impressively on this legacy while his first year in office shows that Mr. Ambode is taking the vision to greater heights to the glory of Lagos. But this story of success in Lagos awaits a replication at the national level. Nigeria awaits a pathfinder that can lay a foundation for developmental democracy which others can build on. Restructuring and decentralization as being vociferously advocated in some quarters may indeed be a necessary condition for liberating the developmental potentials of Nigeria. The Lagos example, however, shows that they do not constitute a sufficient condition for national transformation. Equally critical are visionary and competent leaders capable of navigating the ship of state from turbulent waters of stagnation and lack to more steady weather of ever increasing prosperity, stability and development.

  • ‘Edo can become another Lagos’

    ‘Edo can become another Lagos’

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has urged the people of Edo State to troop out and vote for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Godwin Obaseki on Saturday for the continuity of the people-friendly policies and programmes.

    Speaking at the grand rally of the APC  at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin, Ambode said Edo, being the heartbeat of the South-south region, has all it takes to become another Lagos, but the people must play their part by voting for Obaseki to build on the successes recorded in the last seven and half years by Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

    Ambode who is the Chairman of APC National Campaign Council for the Edo governorship election, said without any controversy, Edo State under Governor Oshiomhole had witnessed the best developmental progress more than any other period in the last 17 years, saying that a vote for APC in the coming election would be another sure way to greater progress.

    He said: “Governor Oshiomhole has laid the right foundation for progressive governance. He has been responsive, progressive and totally committed to the needs of the people. We in the APC have shown through our actions and campaigns that the only way forward is to vote for continuity of the successes. It is very clear that the continuity of APC government is the sure way to greater progress.”

    Speaking on the secret of the success story of Lagos, Governor Ambode said since 1999, Lagosians have been voting for continuity and the results were evident for everyone to see, adding that people of Edo should take a cue from the development and vote Obaseki to use his financial expertise to turn around the State for good.

    He said: “Lagosians voted for continuity last year and we are all witnesses to the progress we are recording in Lagos. We have been voting for continuity since 1999 in Lagos and the results are very clear for everyone to see. Edo State can be another Lagos. The State has all the potentials to be great. It is in the heart of commerce and economic greatness.

    “You all need Godwin Obaseki now. He will bring his financial expertise to turn Edo State around for the better. People ask me what is the secret of our progressive governance in Lagos and I tell them it is very simple, in the last 16 years till May 2015, we were in opposition, whereby we had PDP at the centre and Lagos in APC.

    “Ever since May 2015, that we aligned with our great party the APC at the centre, President Muhammadu Buhari has been going out of his way to support our dreams and aspirations for Lagos. Edo State cannot and should not throw away this key success secret. You must vote APC come Saturday.

    “I know Godwin Obaseki, he is people-friendly, he is reliable, he is trustworthy, above all, he has the fear of God,”Ambode said.

    The rally, which attracted thousands of party faithful, was attended by President Buhari, governors of APC, members of the Federal Executive Council, political bigwigs in the APC across the federation, market men and women, artisans, youths, among many others.

  • Lagos tackles ‘one chance’ with training of bus conductors

    •Bus conductors to get uniform soon

    The Lagos State Ministry of Transportation and the Lagos State Drivers’ Institute (LASDRI) have stepped up the fight against bus robbers popularly known as ‘one chance’ with a training and identification programme for bus conductors in the city.

    LASDRI Chief Executive Officer Mr Philip Ogunlade said the training would ensure bus conductors are able to identify the vehicle used by the criminals.

    He said: “This is the first time conductors will have the opportunity to be trained formally in an academic environment and they will be presented a certificate to have undergone the training. It is just for us to be able to identify who they are, the vehicle they work with and have their data captured to invariably curb the danger of one chance through proper identification of their commercial buses and their conductors.”

    Ogunlade enjoined the bus conductors to be civil in discharging their duties, adding that their job is as important as any other profession.

    He said: ”We believe there is no profession that is not important. We are meant to complement each other. Your job as a bus conductor is a profession you have to protect jealously. Therefore, you also have a role to play in the society. With this training, we will teach you how to relate with passengers, motorists and your drivers. We know all these will be possible through interactive trainings like this.

    “We have noticed that drivers rely on the directives given to them by the conductors which are most times wrong. It leads to all sorts of acts of indiscipline on the road and it is not right. Accidents are caused by the negligence of some conductors. We equally want to educate you on how to become better people in the society. “Conductors will later become drivers in future, so with this development, it will enable you to become better drivers with experience.”

    Association of Bus Conductors (ABC) National President Comrade Israel Adeshola, said the training is a new dawn for bus conductors.

    According to him, it will add value to the transportation sector in the state.

    He said:  “We are planning to unveil our uniforms soon. Conductors will be dressed in corporate uniforms too like other profession.”

    It will enable conductors to relate well with passengers, drivers and the public. They will be able to provide any crime information when they sense it because identification is key. With proper identification, conductors will know who is who.

     

  • Lagos pilgrims visit historical sites in Makkah

    Pilgrims from Lagos State have commenced rounds of visitation to different historic sites in the Saudi Arabia.

    The visits, the Commissioner for Home Affairs, who doubles as the state’s Amirul Hajj, Dr AbdulHakeem AbdulLateef, said, was aimed at exposing the pilgrims to sites they have read in the Quran and other Islamic literatures.

    He listed such sites as Mount Arafat, Jabali- Tur, Muna, Musdalifa, Jabal Nur and Cave Hira among others.

    Pilgrims all over the world are expected converge on the Mount Arafat for their hajj to be valid.

    The mount Arafat was historical in the lives of Muslim faithful as it was a place where Adam met his wife, Hawau (Eve) after they have missed each other when they flouted directives of Allah from eating the forbidden fruits.

    Explaining the government’s decision, AbdulLateef said: “It is important to expose our pilgrims to these sites. The idea was to create an opportunity for them to have first-hand information about the places they have heard about. With this visits, the pilgrims have seen by themselves places where some Prophets spent their lives.

    “The visitations also become imperative with a view to acquitting the pilgrims with the historical sites where hajj activities will take place.”

  • Lagos empowers over 2000 with skills

    Lagos empowers over 2000 with skills

    In its quest to eradicate poverty among its citizens in the state, Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation at the weekend distributed various empowerment equipments such as grinding, sewing/whipping and hairdressing machines to over 2000 widows, vulnerable and unemployed citizens.

    Speaking at the event, the Deputy Governor, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule said the programme was a dividend of democracy in fulfillment of the promises made by the present administration. She however enjoined the beneficiaries to continue to support the administration for them to get more dividends.

    In her own remarks, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Hon. Lola Akande said adequate care for this group is in line with this administration total commitment to eradicating poverty in all its forms among the citizens of the state and its major thrust of all inclusive governance.

    According to her, the state government has provided the enablement materials for at the 20 local government and 37 local council development areas in the state to meet the challenges and demands of labour market and reduce the rate of unemployment.

    Speaking further, Akande explained that the Survival Aid Kit which was included in the equipments being given away was added to enable members of the families to take care of themselves in the event of minor injuries resulting from domestic or minor accidents in homes.

    She however commended Dangote Foundation for supporting the Ministry with 100 food items each of Dangote Sugar, Salt, Spaghetti, Danvita and Wheatmeal.

    In an interview with some of the beneficiaries, Fausat Hassan of Surulere Local government who went home with a grinding machine appreciated the present administration for their kind gestures. “They have not only given us fishes but have also taught us how to fish, this no doubt will totally eradicate poverty in our lives and in the state as a whole,” she said.

  • ‘Lagos’ll remain Nigeria’s commercial hub’

    ‘Lagos’ll remain Nigeria’s commercial hub’

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has re-assured investors and residents his administration’s commitment to ensure that the state remains the nation’s commercial hub.

    The governor, represented by the Commissioner for Commerce, Industries and Co-operative, Prince Rotimi Ogunleye, gave this re-assurance while inaugurating a two-storey shopping mall constructed by Ikeja Club on Obafemi Awolowo Road, Ikeja. The mall sits on over 1, 000 square metres of space.

    He said his administration’s commitment to commerce being reinforced by the government’s actions in terms of legislations, institutional reforms and protection of lives and property.

    This commitment, Ambode said, led to the recent signing into law of two legislations that were aimed at preventing the incidence of land grabbing that have for long been a major hindrance to consummation of land and property transaction, while the other law establishes the Lagos State Neighbourhood Watch as a veritable tool for security within communities.

    The mall, Ambode added, will not only increase the stocks of the city malls across the landscape of the state, but will also assist in employment and wealth creation for Lagosians.

    “All of these and many more of our decisive intervention will ultimately create the desired conducive environment for commerce and investment to thrive in our state,” the governor enthused.

    Earlier in a welcome address, the President, Ikeja Club, Prince Ademola Adunola, commended the state government for been a reliable partner in the discharge of its various social responsibilities as a corp[orate citizen.

    Adunola explained that the mall was not constructed for commercial gains but to enable the club to adequately perform its numerous charity services to the less privileged of the society.

  • Lagos conducts free goitre surgery for residents

    Lagos conducts free goitre surgery for residents

    Expression of joy and relief were on the faces of the beneficiaries of the Lagos State Government free goitre mission, as they lay on their beds having undergone goitre operation. Their joy and relief were infectious as their family members were around to wish them well and attend to their needs.

    Narrating her experience, a business woman, Mrs Temitayo Abiola, whose seven-year-old daughter, Inioluwa Abiola, was one of the beneficiaries, said she could not explain how her daughter had  the goitre. Her girl was the youngest beneficiary of the gesture. According to her,  the goitre had been appearing and disappearing in the last two years, adding that she got to know about the free mission programme through a friend. She expressed her satisfaction with the state government’s initiative.

    A staff member of Lagos State and mother of five children, Mrs Archibong Ekaete had her goitre of 17 years operated. The 42-year-old Archibong told The Nation  that a colleague informed her of the free mission during Governor Fashola’s administration and how people were registering their names for the surgery at the state Ministry of Health. “I went to register. I have even forgotten about it. Last week, I received a call that they have started the free surgery and that I should report at LASUTH, and I did. I am satisfied with everything. It is absolutely free of charge. Kudos to the health family and the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Anmode,” she enthused.

    Another beneficiary, Mrs Oluwakemi Aiyegbusi, a civil servant, who works with Ministry of Information and Strategy, said she has had goitre for 13 years before she eventually benefitted from the free surgery. “I have been hearing about Free Medical Mission of the Ministry of Health, but this is the first time I will be participating in same. It is a wonderful programme, especially for those who could not afford same or did not understand what goitre surgery was. I had done goitre surgery before, but it was partial. This time, it was total and never to grow again. It is absolutely free. Everybody was nice-the surgical team, LASUTH staffers and management and the Health Ministry.”

    Explaining how the 19 recipients came about the programme, the officer-in-charge of the mission, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr (Mrs) Dolapo Fasawe, said the service was free for sufferers, who could not afford the N250,000 to N500,000 for the surgery, depending on how big the goiter is and if done in a private or public facility.

    “Goitre is a swelling of the thyroid gland that causes a lump to form in the front of the neck. The lump will move up and down when you swallow. The thyroid gland is a small butterfly-shaped gland in the neck, just in front of the windpipe (trachea).

    “This particular medical mission is a continuation of the initiative by the state government, as a result of people of Badagry that were discovered with high incidence of goiter. Then a lot of them had gone to seek traditional help. On further investigation, we discovered that it was caused by environmental factors. So, the State stepped in and here we are today. We started with the screening of patients, investigations and surgery, which was the last stage. After the surgery, we do counseling and lifestyle modification.”

    Dr Fasawe explained that Goitre can be caused by diet, salt usage, or lack of it. “Goite is common in areas with fresh water. Governor Ambode is committed to helping the people of Lagos, especially those that cannot afford the cost of quality healthcare. He is offering accessible and affordable quality healthcare. He is encouraging the people of Lagos to live healthy and embrace lifestyle modification.

    “He has committed billions of naira to the Ministry of Health for infrastructural development and free medical services, including this goitre surgery. At the screening programme, we had 22 patients, 19 were done, and three had other diseases that would be treated before they could go for the goitre surgery. It is an on-going programme. We have a register at the Ministry of Health to collect prospective recipients’ names and their contacts.”

    She said the surgeons and the team were staffers of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), comprising over 75 personnel, four consultant surgeons, four consultant anesthetics, senior registrars, nurses and nurses assistants. The lead surgeons are Dr Modele and Dr Oludara and the Lead anesthetics is Dr Odubiyi.

    The Commissioner of Health, Dr Jide Idris said it all started as a result of the discovery of goitre in Badagry some months ago. “We looked into why a lot of people were having goitre in that environment. We resolved to assist the people with goitre that time. And this is a continuation. The patients were extensively screened and now everyone of them has been successfully operated upon. Histology was done to ensure none had cancer because that region is highly susceptible to cancer. Other routine screenings were done to ensure they were fit for surgery. I am encouraging more people to come on-board NHIS,” he said.

    Dr Modele said the experience was exciting, having to perform operation on 19 cases, and that his team could do a lot more with more funds, machines and equipment. “So, we do more and improve on what we are doing,” he said.

    Giving insight into the whole exercise, consultant surgeon, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), Dr Funsho Omodele said: “The patients went through three stages- pre-operation to determine if the patients were fit for the surgery, two patients developed track infection and were exempted and would be operated on later. For elective cases, we don’t want to lose any patient. And the third part, the operation itself, where we put in expertise as a team and now post-operation. We will further examine the tissues brought out, so we can counsel them on what to take and the drugs required, based on the results of the histology. As we had 19 patients, all of them could not come up with the same results. So, that is where individualistic counseling comes in. Counseling is important after operation because it is common with Nigerians to always run away after surgical operation and then come in again, because they did not avoid what to be avoided. Patients must not be lost post operation, especially where tissue removal is required, reason being that all the tissue might not have been removed, and what is operated may grow again.”