The Nation Newspaper

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  • Nothing to cheer about

    It was nothing to cheer about, but the police sounded excited.  A statement by the Deputy Force Spokesman, SP Aremu Adeniran,  said: “Sequel to the invasion of the Senate Chambers of the National Assembly, Federal Republic of Nigeria on the 18th April, 2018 by some suspected thugs who disrupted the Senate Plenary Session and carted away the Mace of the Red Chambers, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim Idris, immediately instituted a high-powered Police Investigation and Intelligence Team coordinated by the IGP Monitoring Unit of the Force and further directed a total lock-down of the Federal Capital Territory with intense surveillance patrol and thorough Stop and Search operations at various Police check-points with a view to arresting perpetrators and possible recovery of the stolen mace.”

    It was like medicine after death. The invasion of the Senate, the seizure of the mace and the escape of the invaders shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Something worse could have happened. What if the invaders had been suicide bombers, for instance? What if they had been kidnappers?

    The noise about who was responsible for the invasion is nonsensical. The focus should be on whose irresponsibility made the invasion possible. In other words, if those responsible for security at the Senate had been effective, the story would have been different.

    On how the mace was recovered, Adeniran boasted: “The Police teams engaged in massive raids of identified criminal spots/flashpoints, stop and search operations, visibility and confidence building patrols, intelligence gathering which forced the suspected miscreants to abandon the Mace at a point under the flyover before the City Gate, where a patriotic passer-by saw it and alerted the Police.” The police want credit. But do they deserve credit? Credit will be given where credit is due when the so-called discreet police investigation leads to the arrest of the invaders and their prosecution.

    This incident has exposed ineffective security at the Senate, and may encourage others to exploit the weakness. This is not the time to get overenthusiastic about security at the National Assembly. This is not the time to introduce anti-people measures to protect elected representatives of the people.

    What is needed at this time is a sober evaluation of the security arrangement at the National Assembly and a rearrangement that would make it impossible to have a recurrence of the unbelievable drama that happened on the floor of the Senate on April 18.

  • Nothing will make Nigeria collapse, says Obasanjo

    nothing can make Nigeria collapse, former President Olusegun Obasanjo said at the weekend.

    According to him, if the country could go through a civil war and a ruthless military dictatorship, it cannot collapse under any other situation.

    Online newspaper Premium Times quoted the former President as speakingfrom Azerbaijan where he was attending a meeting of the Inter Action Council of Former Heads of State and Government.

    He was responding to reports quoting him as saying Nigeria would collapse should President Muhammadu Buhari be reelected.

    The reports claimed that the former president made the comment in a speech at the Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University, on Friday.

    But Mr. Obasanjo denied making the comment, saying he had not visited London since January.

    “I won’t and can’t say that (that Nigeria will collapse if Buhari is reelected),” the former president said. “There will be nothing that will make Nigeria collapse. When Nigeria did not collapse under a civil war, it won’t collapse now.

    “My faith and conviction about Nigeria is so strong that I don’t see the country either being dismembered or collapsing.

    “The worst has passed on Nigeria. Once we were able to survive the civil war, once we are able to survive (Sani) Abacha, nothing can be worst than those two. And our democracy is waxing strong. Although there are a few things we need to get right.

    “As far I am concerned, the worst is over. What remains is for all of us and for our leadership to show good faith and commitment to do what is right. Then Nigeria will grow from strength to strength.”

    “I regard those as aberrations and they will pass away,” the former President said. “Such aberrations will pass away with the regime that bring them.

    “Don’t forget that Abacha did more than that. Of course Abacha’s regime was not a democracy, it was a military dictatorship. If we survived that, then we will survive any shenanigan against democracy. That’s the greatest advantage of democracy.”

     

  • Much ado about nothing

    IT IS NOT a matter to lose sleep over, but to the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC), it is a big deal. The order in which the 2019 elections should be held is assuming a life and death dimension among the party’s stalwarts. Ordinarily, the party caucus should have ironed out the matter, but from the look of things, the falcon can no longer hear the falconer. The party leadership and its members who dominate the National Assembly have been working at cross purposes since 2015.

    In all honesty, a simple matter like this should not cause a rift between the executive and the legislature considering that APC is the party in power. As the majority in the National Assembly, the party should be using its number to get its way. Unfortunately, it is not doing that. Rather than work as a team, the executive and the legislature have been at each other’s throat. Since the party came to power in 2015, it has been one problem or the other between both arms of government.

    No one can really pinpoint the cause of the problem, but some suggest that it has its root in those who emerged as principal officers of the National Assembly contrary to the wish of the party. It has been about three years since then. So, isn’t that enough time for the party to forget the past and move forward? President Muhammadu Buhari was so concerned with the problem that he raised a panel headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to see how the relationship between the two arms of government could become smooth. One year after the panel came into being, nothing seems to have changed.

    Did the panel achieve results? It didn’t. If it did, the President won’t have complained last month that the frosty relationship between the executive and the legislature was slowing down government. If care is not taking, it may affect next year’s elections. In the not too distant past, the order of elections was nothing to worry about. Until a few years ago, the presidential election had always been held last, without anybody raising an eyebrow. Constitutionally, the electoral umpire fixes the dates of the elections and decides in which order they would come.

    But because of the cold relationship between  the National Assembly and the Presidency, the lawmakers have changed the order of elections by amending Section 25 (i) of the Electoral Act. Under the amendment, the National Assembly poll is billed to come first in the new sequence. Before the amendment, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had fixed dates for the 2019 polls, with the Presidential and National Assembly coming up on February 16 and  the Governorship and Houses of Assembly,  March 2.

    Is the National Assembly right to have altered the order of elections? Has it not overreached itself in taking this action? The National Assembly, without doubt, can amend the electoral law, but it cannot fix dates for, nor organise,  elections. These are jobs within the purview of INEC. Having said this, then why the noise over the amendment of Section 25 (i) of the electoral law? It is all because of fear and suspicion that some people may want to stop some National Assembly members  from contesting the 2019 elections. And where those who are not favoured manage to get their party’s ticket, it is believed, everything will be done to make them lose the election. Who loses in that situation? The party or the contestant?

    Ever before the amended bill got to the President, some had said he would not assent to it. Truly, he has vetoed the bill. Giving the reasons for his action in a letter to Senate President Bukola Saraki and House Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Buhari said the lawmakers might have infringed on the “constitutionally guaranteed discretion of INEC to organise, undertake and supervise all elections provided for in Section 15 (a) of the Third Schedule to the Constitution’’. ‘’The amendment to Section 138 of the principal act to delete two crucial grounds upon which an election may be challenged by candidates unduly limits the rights of candidates in elections to a free and fair electoral review process’’, the President added.

    He went on : ‘’The amendments to Section 152 (3 – 5) of the principal act may raise constitutional issue over the competence of the National Assembly to legislate over local government elections’’. The National Assembly has not formally reacted to the President’s veto, but it is certain that it will pay him back in kind. The President took his action under Section 58 (4) of the Constitution,which states: Where a bill is presented to the President for assent, he shall within 30 days thereof signify that he assents or he withholds assent. The lawmakers have shown that they feel strongly about this matter, with the way the Senate, especially, has dealt with those against the bill.  It is therefore as sure as daylight that they will not allow this matter to end like this. I see them overriding the President’s veto, coming under Section 58 (5) of the Constitution, which stipulates :

    Where the President withholds his assent and the bill is again passed by each House by two-third majority, the bill shall become law and the assent of the President shall not be required. It is just a matter of time before the National Assembly uses its power under the Constitution to get its way on this matter. At a time like this, we do not need this kind of feud. There are many governance issues contending for the attention of the executive and the legislature. The nation does not need this fight over the order of elections, which is borne out of the fear that there are plans to stop some people from returning to the National Assembly in 2019.

    Is their personal interest more important than the national interest? They should put themselves in the position of the people they say they represent. How will they feel if the shoe was on the other foot? Governance is not about one’s self but the ability to do the people’s will. If it is true they represent us,  they should show it in their deed.

  • Nothing can stop us from accommodating herdsmen, Kogi gov vows

    Nothing can stop us from accommodating herdsmen, Kogi gov vows

    • ACF chieftain warns governor over cattle colony
    • ‘We adopted ranching in place of cattle colony
    and nothing can stop the project’ – KDSG

    The Kogi State government has declared that it has no intention of backing off its generous accommodation of herdsmen and development of agriculture in the state, despite criticism from certain quarters.

    Some prominent citizens of Kogi are opposed to Governor Yahaya Bello’s allocation of 15,000 hectares to the federal government for use as cattle ranches.

    One of such is Alhaji Mohammed Baba Abdulrahman, a chieftain of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and of Ebirra stock as Bello.

    He branded Bello’s action as a coup against the Ebirra and a threat to peace.

    Reacting to Abdulrahman’s statement, Governor Bello’s Chief Press Secretary, Petra Akinti Onyegbule said people like the ACF chief are behind the news.

    Government, according to her, decided to support the establishment of ranches, after listening to the views of the generality of the people of the state.

    She said the ranches will go a long way in   developing the cattle value chain.

    According to her, “One suspects that Mr. Abdulrahman’s grouse goes beyond the use of the word ‘colony’ to the whole idea of supporting herdsmen while promoting peaceful co-existence and ensuring security of lives and property.

    “On Wednesday, February 28, the Northern Governors’ Forum met in Kaduna; following that meeting, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State issued a communiqué on behalf of all the 19 governors stating their stand to support cattle ranches and the event was well covered and widely reported.

    “Alhaji Mohammed may have spoken a little too soon; it is either that, or he is unaware that the train has already left the station, in which case he might want to expand the scope of his criticism given this recent development if it indeed is his considered position that government should not venture into cattle ranching.

    “We appreciate the fact that cattle herding is age old in this country, and that the herders have become accustomed to the practice and the nomadic way of life it entails but a time comes when it is imperative for people to alter their usual ways of doing things, especially given the incalculable cost this particular matter comes at in terms of loss of human lives, possessions, not to mention the inter-ethnic tensions generated as a result that are capable of destabilizing the country.

    “We cannot keep doing the same things and honestly expect different outcomes; for us to break out of this vicious cycle of cattle herding, cattle rustling, attacks and reprisal attacks, and in keeping with what works in other climes, cattle ranching needs to be looked into and pursued vigorously.”

    Akingbule  said  critics of the cattle ranching initiative  appear to favour the continued practise of cattle herding while holding on to incorrect assumptions and a wrong notion that government may have to cede public land to individuals for what is essentially private business.

    “It is no different from the current practice where government land is freely given out to crop farmers from time to time and they would also get seedlings, fertilizers and other farm inputs,” she said.

     

     

  • Make something out of nothing

    ANYONE can do anything with a million dollars. But it takes more than money to make something out of nothing.” This quote naturally tells us that we can do so much and execute lots of ideas when we have money. Dreams and ideas naturally translate to reality when we have money and resources to carry them out.

    Money, companionship, opportunities are usually possible when the mega bucks abound. Without this, then we are talking about a life being compared to that of the rag. Poor, ragged, empty and worthless condition. But in the midst of physical and emotional poverty you can metamorphose to another state.

    From experience, many would tell you that nothing good comes easy. You really need to put great effort into the love nest to make it work. This brings to mind the rags-to-riches phrase and it takes you from obscurity and emptiness to your heart’s desire.

    Yes, we all agree that money is indeed a mean to certain ends but there are so many other factors that must blend together to achieve a successful outcome. If this is not done, then the resources that should matter would obviously go down the drain.

    The crux of the matter here is that money on its own cannot move mountains, whether for physical, emotional and other ends.

    In Dolly Parton’s song, ‘Coat of many colours’, the lyrics talks about a box rags in the season of her youth. A box of rags naturally suggests a collection of something useless, old, garbage; something awful and obviously something many would love to dissociate with.

    Instead of looking at the odds, the young girl and her mother decided to make the best out of nothing. Parton’s mother put the rags of many colours to use. Even though every piece was small, her mother sewed the rags together with passion and love. There was no money and her little girl needed something to keep her warm. This naturally would be a time when issues of love and romance would be at the peak.

    This led to the creation of a coat of many colours. Of course, a coat is for comfort, protection and warmth. These, basically, are the things required in a relationship which can make or mar the relationship.

    Even though the material used was weak and worthless, the maker of the coat reproduced something worthwhile with love. To support this show of motherly love, her mother related this to the biblical Joseph’s coat of many colours. Her dream was for the coat to bring her daughter good luck and happiness and she blessed it with a kiss. On her part, little Dolly just couldn’t wait to wear it.

    Even though her friends laughed at her rags, she wore it with great pride.

    “Although we had no money

    I was rich as I could be

    In my coat of many colours

    So with patches on my britches

    Holes in both my shoes

    In my coat of many colours

    I hurried off to school

    Just to find the others laughing

    I couldn’t understand it

    For I felt I was rich

    And I told them of the love

    My momma sewed in every stitch

    But they didn’t understand it

    And I tried to make them see

    That one is only poor

    Only if they choose to be”

    Interestingly, this applies to our emotions too. Most times, what we are left with are emotional rags. Things that make us cry each time we look back from here we are coming from and where we finally find ourselves. Instead of having our emotions lined with rich fabrics like lace, silk, cotton, velvet or linen that is sweet to behold, you are overwhelmed with rags that are no longer attractive. Interestingly, the most important thing you need to forge ahead is not the rags or the lace of emotions. The crucial thing that is going to see you through the affectionate lane is your attitude. You have to develop the right attitude all the time, it would be the only tonic required to make it a successful emotional journey.

    There are different steps to take in order to make your relationship wax stronger no matter the odds that come your way. First, you have to be sure that the feeling you are experiencing is love and that these feelings are mutual. Once this is ascertained, then you can move on to the next stage which entails showing love to each other.

    This will help to maintain and increase the loving feelings that you have for each other. Unfortunately, it is not everyone who knows how to express such feelings properly. Sometimes, what you think is going to help project your love may just turn out to be a turn off for the person that you are desperately trying to impress.

    Conversely, not expressing love can also hurt the bond you share with your partner in a terrible way. So if you are trying to work out a successful relationship, then you must be committed to your partner’s emotional well-being, even when it isn’t easy. This means sharing affection with your partner, through good times and bad, when it’s most needed and when it’s least expected.

    This task is usually easy when you are the romantic type. Romance is essential to have at least some of the time. Candles, candlelight, compliments, romantic bubble baths, and romantic dinners are good ideas. So it is wise to try to inject romance into some of the things you do and how you relate with the one you love.

  • Labour to Akeredolu: full pay or nothing

    Labour to Akeredolu: full pay or nothing

    Organised labour unions in Ondo State have accused the government of “suspiciously and forcefully” introducing percentage and fractional salary payment.

    They vowed not to accept  the 80 per cent the government offered for last September’s arrears from the second tranche of the Paris Club refund.

    Rising from an emergency meeting at the weekend at the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Office in Akure, the state capital, the Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) said despite an earlier letter to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) advising his administration against percentage salary payment, the government still directed its accountant-general to pay 80 per cent of last September salary.

    At the meeting, presided over by NLC State Chairman, Mrs Bosede Daramola, and her TUC counterpart, Soladoye Ekundayo, the labour leaders recalled that earlier meetings with Akeredolu and some government’s representatives only agreed on how best to use the second tranche of the 75 per cent Paris Club refund for workers on grade levels 1 to 14.

    According to them, most workers viewed the 80 per cent, paid last Friday, as a gift and not a salary, until government made full payment of last September’s arrears.

    They said: “If Governor Akeredolu’s administration can spend money left in the account by his predecessor, he should also pay in full the debt and salaries owed by Olusegun Mimiko’s government whenever funds are available, instead of using his aides to attack labour unions.

    “We will do everything to reject the introduction of percentage salary in Ondo State, no matter government’s propaganda to blackmail us.”

    The organised labour expressed disappointment at the attitude of Head of Service (HoS) Toyin Akinkuotu, who failed to protect interest of workers.

    They berated the governor’s Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Special Duties and Strategy, Dr Doyin Odebowale, for allegedly using unprinted names and unguarded statements on indigenes and labour leaders.

  • Is this much ado about nothing?

    Among the legacies of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its 16 inglorious years as the country’s ruling party, there is this curious matter of the profile of Professor Wale Oladipo who emerged as the party’s national secretary at some point.

    A high-profile columnist on June 21 focused on this curiosity in a piece titled “A nuclear scientist at the crossroads”.  It was a curious piece about a curious issue.

    The columnist asked: “Who is he, really, and where is he coming from?  What positions has he held in the nuclear science establishment?  What books or scientific papers has he published?  Does he by any chance hold a patent?  If so, for what product or process?”

    He went on to say: “His formal designation is professor of Nuclear Analytical Techniques, and his last known workplace address is the Centre for Energy Research and Development (CERD), at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife. CERD would therefore seem to be the appropriate starting point for learning more about Professor Oladipo.”

    It is interesting that this columnist’s efforts to learn more about the man resulted in further unclarity. He said: “At this writing, he does not figure on CERD’s web site.  I sent an email to CERD asking for information about him.  No luck.  I followed up with a phone call; no luck.  Perhaps it is CERD’s policy not to give out any information about their faculty and staff, for security reasons.  And CERD is nothing if not a national security facility.”

    The search continued: “My Internet search turned out more information about Oladipo as PDP national secretary than about his scholarship in the arcane field of particle physics.  It also yielded more information about his time in prison custody with Iyiola Omisore in the investigation of the murder of the former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, than about his scientific work.”

    The curious columnist went further: “Even his home page, such as it is, says nothing about his education and the universities he attended.  There is no picture showing him at a nuclear facility, or at his study surrounded by books and scientific papers; no picture showing him with colleagues at a conference; none showing him in any scientific context whatsoever.”

    This cannot be a dead end. Could this be a failure of research or the failure of a researcher? Curious observers want more information, and more information should be made available, considering the public’s high impression of the man’s impressive designation. Or is this much ado about nothing?

  • Show about nothing

    Show about nothing

    •The budget furore should not have arisen if the executive and legislative branches considered the larger Nigerian interest

    From the row that has racked Abuja in the past few days, many would think our political elite have been bolted away with. They have lost their perspective as role models and exemplars of good conduct. They have turned acrimony into the directive principle of governance.

    News reports triggered unease in the country to the effect that the National Assembly had flushed cardinal aspects of the 2016 appropriation bill, and that the exalted vision of the Muhammadu Buhari administration was inevitably heading for the rocks. They included the Calabar- Lagos railway and huge chunks from allocations for road projects in major parts of the country. They also reportedly turned a blind eye to the proposals for the purchase of essential drugs for major health campaigns like Polio and AIDS, as well as diversion of funds to rural health facilities and boreholes for which provisions had been made earlier.

    The furore erupted over the inclusion or otherwise of the bill on the Calabar-Lagos railway. It began with a querulous tone from the presidency over the National Assembly’s deliberate removal of the all-important Calabar –Lagos project.

    The culpability of the lawmakers was taken for granted by the average citizen until the prominent National Assembly players roared back in defence of their work. It was not true, they asserted, and it must be on record that the budget office of the executive branch failed to present the project. It was not a case of malice on the part of the lawmakers but negligence by the presidency.

    The exchange of brickbats and inflammatory rhetoric reflected the sort of sloppiness our leaders have demonstrated for too long. No party is ready to admit to doing any wrong. Yet it is clear there is enough blame to  go round. The presidency triggered this and the National Assembly fumed in vengeance.

    The drama has unfurled in irony. While the nation bustled in a quarrel over the bill, the President and his team were on a plane to China, the Asian tiger that has provided part funding for the project. The president travelled to the country to etch signatures to kick off the project. For irony, we can recall that the same project was reportedly paralysed by the profligate Jonathan administration because it would not provide counterpart funding for the rail projects. We have a government that has decided to do it but seems to have lapsed in paying attention to details.

    Also interesting is that before Senator Gbenga Ashafa, who heads the committee on land transportation in the senate, noted that his committee looked at the Calabar – Lagos bill, some Nigerians dressed the row in potential ethno-regional combat. Some thought the northern lawmakers retained the Lagos–Kano and spurned the Lagos – Calabar segment. Some others had started to pan the south-south and southeast legislators as sellouts.

    This row about nothing has brought out still latent regions of suspicions not only in partisan ways but also in primordial calculations.

    But some points are clear in this matter. If the National Assembly failed or even rejected the bill as the executive branch posited, it did not mean a death sentence on the project. The budgetary process is often an exercise in the give-and-take of decorum while a few anaemic tantrums are allowed.

    The fact that it exploded into fractious and potential ethnic dimensions reflects our lack of maturity as a nation. The Calabar – Lagos project has been in the news for months and many Nigerians have been waiting to see it take off with that of the Lagos – Kano route as major projects for this generation.

    Even if the bill did not come with the package from the presidency, although the budget office claims otherwise, the Ashafa committee sent it to the appropriation committee. It amounted to institutional hubris and lack of patriotism to have spurned it on the technicality that they did not see it in the presidential package.

    It all reinforces fears by well-meaning Nigerians that our politicians have not yet learned to distinguish politics and statesmanship.

    There was too much grandstanding from both sides. On the side of the presidency, there was an urgency to tar the lawmakers as obstructionist. We hope it is not a revanchist spirit owing to the bad image it suffered when its first presentation was marred by discrepancies and fairy-tale projects that it had to withdraw.

    On the part of the lawmakers, they spew out rhetoric of institutional umbrage as though some of its mavens had been baying for blood.

    It was a show about nothing. But they have seen it as opportunity for vacuous grandstanding. It was also a pettifogging contest among adults. It is the sort of standoff required of the immature, and they made us into a laughing stock as though as a people we have not imbued the world with enough of our inanity.

    The fixation on the Lagos –Calabar project has diverted attention from other important doings, especially on the part of the National Assembly.

    Why did they slash with prejudice the allocations for infrastructure, especially roads that have either been begun or about to be begun or have gone far? Rather, they approved road projects for which feasibility studies have not been assigned. This action reveals a sense of mischief. Some analysts see it as a way of asserting institutional hubris and a sneaky way to assert their claim to the so-called constituency projects. Lawmakers are not supposed to execute projects. Their jobs are clear in the constitution. They do not govern, they make laws.

    They also rejected proposals for the purchase of essential drugs for major health campaigns like polio and AIDS. These are important issues and they will do well to revisit this issue. Polio has been a Nigerian scourge for years. We seem to have reduced it substantially and it will be tragic if it resurrects because of the ignorance of our lawmakers who are out of touch.

    Again, the lawmakers also diverted funds to rural health facilities and boreholes for which provisions have already been made. This is what is called pork. It is another assertion of their yearnings for constituency projects.

    These issues did not generate bad blood in the polity. But they should, even if they are not as far-reaching as the Lagos – Calabar project.

  • ‘Nothing must happen to Buhari’

    ‘Nothing must happen to Buhari’

    The Arewa Community United Foundation has warned those threatening violence against the country that nothing must happen to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    It said although it was normal for the opposition party to demand unrealisable targets and express its opinions, the President should not be impeded from performing his duties.

    The foundation Secretary, Alhaji Musa Saleh, who spoke in Lagos at the national prayer and 50th remembrance of the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, said although they gathered to pray and remember the legacies left by the deceased and other northern leaders, “we have to say that we don’t want such an incident to happen to our leaders anymore.

    “Today, we have Buhari as President. For those threatening violence against the nation, we warn that nothing must happen to Buhari. He’s there, he has been elected by the majority and he’s working to rebuild this country.

    “So we warn that nothing must happen to him. Nigerians should support him to achieve the goal for the country.”

     

     

  • ‘I expect nothing but excellence’

    Text of the speech delivered by Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode at the swearing-in of 19 permanent secretaries at the State House, Alausa, Ikeja

    Today is an important day in the careers of the officers who have just been elevated to the prestigious position of Permanent Secretaries in the Lagos State Civil Service.

    Your appointments, from a pool of equally competent and qualified substantive directors, are as a result of a careful selection based on merit, professionalism and proven track record of service to the State.

    You will all recall my promise at the Inaugural address on the need to carry out public sector reforms. This phase has seen the merging and realignment of ministries and agencies as well as the creation of new ones. We have established the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment, the Office of Overseas Affairs and Investment and the Office of Civic Engagement. These are in line with our campaign promises to run an inclusive government and create better opportunities for our people.

    This phase has also witnessed the realignment of Parastatals/Agencies reporting through their superintending Ministries to the Governor.  In all, we must be committed to the principles of good governance; probity, transparency and accountability.

    I expect you to apply the best tenets of the Civil Service in your roles as Permanent Secretaries, making Service and the Common Good of all Lagosians your watchwords.

    Your primary allegiance is to the people of Lagos, irrespective of creed or colour. This is the banner of this administration.  You must today rededicate yourselves to the service of Lagos State.

    The quality of service delivered by this government will be measured on daily basis. Any ministry where the quality of service is compromised, the Permanent Secretary, as Accounting Officer, should be held liable. I expect nothing but excellence in this centre of excellence.

    The next phase of our administrative agenda will be the constitution of the executive council as we consolidate on the foundation we have laid in the last Sixty days.

    I congratulate all of you on your appointment and charge you to immediately get to work, prove yourselves and justify this responsibility that has been placed on you.

    I look forward to working with you to deliver a cleaner, safer and more prosperous Lagos State.