Tag: Sanwo-Olu

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has urged those entrusted with the responsibility to implement the social safety net programme of the Federal Government to undertake the assignment in a way that must reflect the sincerity of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to protect vulnerable families and households from the impact of the current economic shocks shaking the country.

Sanwo-Olu said the social security programme was a well-thought-out initiative of the President to engender inclusive governance by providing means of livelihood for people living below the poverty line. The Governor said bureaucracy must not come in the way of the intervention, stressing that the target population must be identified and get the benefits of the intervention.

This was Sanwo-Olu’s remark when he received the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, and management team of the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) in a courtesy visit yesterday at the State House, Marina.

Read Also: Lagos committed to promoting health practices, says Sanwo-Olu

Edu’s visit to the Governor followed the verification exercise carried out by the ministry to validate Lagos data in the National Social Register.

The verification is part of the conditions to be fulfilled before the Federal Government commences its conditional cash transfer programme aimed at providing succor to Nigerians affected by humanitarian crises and multi-dimensional poverty.

Sanwo-Olu said the Ministry remained vital to the success of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, reiterating Lagos State Government’s readiness to work in synergy with the Federal Government’s steering committee to effectively implement the social safety net programme in the State.

The Governor pointed out that Lagos had generated verifiable data that would be useful in rolling out the intervention, noting that the State had captured almost three million residents living below the poverty line in almost one million households.

He said: “Data is key to effectively implementing the President’s social safety net programme. We have generated a transparent list that both teams can look into. We have captured close to a million households, which gave us almost three million people. We can work out a plan to compare the data we have and create a unified data structure that will make the implementation of the intervention possible and impactful.

Sanwo-Olu gave a commitment that the State’s Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget would work with the Federal Government’s steering committee on data, while the Ministries of Wealth Creation, Women Affairs, and Poverty Alleviation would support the effort with actions in the area of reimbursement.

• Agency meets medical directors on procurement

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has reiterated the commitment of his administration to promote high standard environmental health practices.

He said this is in line with its priority on environment and health, according to the second pillar of its THEMES Agenda.

The governor spoke at the World Environmental Health Day 2023, organised by the Directorate of Environmental/Occupational, Health and Safety, Ministry of Health.

The event with the theme: ‘Standing up to protect everyone’s health each and everyday’, was held at the Directorate Conference Hall, Alausa, Ikeja.

Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said the THEMES agenda would be pursued through government’s organs covering environmental monitoring, food safety policies, robust climate mitigation and adaptation plan, including One Health Initiatives.

He said the government was serious about the agenda because environmental pollutant could cause health problems such as respiratory diseases, heart diseases and cancer.

“According to World Health Organisation (2016), global environmental issues account for more than 12.6 million deaths each year.

“Among the challenges we face are climate changes, deforestation, pollution and biodiversity loss” he said.

He listed a few of the environment challenges posing threat to include pollution through obnoxious chemicals, food safety, poor sanitation and traffic congestion.

Lagos State Public Procurement Agency has held a roundtable discussion with stakeholders in the hospital sector.

This is to ensure understanding and due process in public procurement in the health sector. 

Speaking at the event yesterday, the Director General of the agency, Mr. Fatai Onafowote, told medical directors of the 28 general hospitals and Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja that as accounting officers, they have a responsibility to ensure compliance with due process in the public procurement process of their facilities.

Read Also: Sanwo-Olu opens Ogombo High School

He urged the medical directors to constitute functional procurement planning committees comprising heads of departments and units in their facilities.

According to him, needs assessment is crucial in procurement.

Onafowote said in recognition of the peculiarities of the operating environment of the health facilities where health emergencies involving human lives occurred frequently, the Lagos State Public Procurement Law had provision for emergency procurement to take care of such emergency situation.

He said public procurement law did not permit a situation where procurements made by health facilities were treated as emergency; adding that the health facilities must have their procurement plans and adhere to such plans “as much as this is practically possible.”

He said the agency had secured the approval of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to onboard the procurement process of the 28 general hospitals and LASUTH on the e-procurement platform of the state, adding that the integration of the procurement process of the health facilities on the e-procurement platform would facilitate transparency, accountability and enhance the ease of doing business with the health facilities.

The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Health Service Commission, Dr. Ademuyiwa Eniayewun, enjoined the medical directors to feel free to consult with the director general of the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency and director of procurement in the commission, to resolve public procurement issues.

The event was also attended by accountants, procurement officers, pharmacists and representatives of the state Treasury Office, Office of Internal Audit, Office of State Auditor-General, among others.