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Tag: Sanwo-Olu

  • Oke-Osanyintolu, Bolowotan get Sanwo-Olu’s appointments

    Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has appointed Dr Oluwafemi Oke-Osanyintolu as the General Manager of the State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA).

    A statement signed by the Lagos State Head of Service, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola, on Thursday, said the appointment was with immediate effect.

    Muri-Okunola said Oke-Osanyintolu’s vast experience in emergency management services at the state and federal level would serve as an advantage to enhance the performance of the agency.

    Read Also: Back Sanwo-Olu to succeed, Razak tells Lagosians

    According to him, Osanyintolu has served at the Presidency as Senior Technical Adviser on Disaster Risk Management since 2017.

    The governor also approved the disengagement of Mr Babatunde Bank-Anthony as the Director General of the State Sports Commission and appointed Oluwatoyin Gafar Bolowotan as the Director-General of the commission.

    Muri-Okunola said the appointment is in line with the ongoing reorganisation of the State Public Service for efficient service delivery.

  • Osinbajo, Sanwo-Olu, Ovia make case for smart technology adoption

    The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Chairman of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, Regional Senior Partner, PwC West Africa, Uyi Akpata and others, yesterday, urged the corporate community to embrace  smart technology to transform the economy and boost performances.

    They spoke at the unveiling of PwC’s new Experience Centre in Lagos. The centre joins the expanding eco-system of over 30 such facilities owned by the leading global professional services worldwide.

    Represented by the Director-General, Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, the vice president said the centre is in line with the administration’s plan to improve the ease of doing business,  transform the economy and boost technology adoption.

    He said the country’s economic breakthrough would be driven by technology/innovation and not oil and gas.

    “The PwC Experience Centre is in line with the smart technology initiative of the government. As an administration, we recognise that Nigeria’s future does not lie in oil and gas but more in technology and innovation. This is anchored on moving the economy away from a resource-based to a people-based model. We must take this seriously going forward,” Osinbajo said.

    Read Also: Osibanjo unveils code of corporate governance

    Also, Sanwo-Olu, who took out time to experiment with the virtual reality solution of the centre, said the centre reflects the state government’s plan to transform the city’s economy with smart solutions. He urged other corporate entities to take a cue from PwC and take advantage of the government’s technology agenda.

    Sanwo-Olu said: “I think the PwC initiative is the way to go. It is in line with what Lagos State government is doing to boost the economy. I encourage other companies to see it as a challenge and begin to tap into the opportunities the government is creating”

    Ovia, who chaired the event, said businesses stand a chance to triple growth rate and earnings through innovation and technology. The options are to “innovate and transform or die”, he said. He said the Centre is a product of new thinking, ading that the  firm has again demonstrated its leadership role through the initiative.

    Through the centre, the firm is expanding its digital services and innovative solution offerings across West Africa.

    Speaking on the initiative,  Akpata said: “The Centre, the first of its kind by a professional services firm in West Africa combines creativity, research, existing knowledge and strategic insight with a new structured way of solving problems. This unique, modular, flexible concept supports PwC’s clients’ teams in exploring, designing and building user-centric solutions, ranging from re-imagining customer experiences to fully transforming business models and creating new eco-systems.”

    The use of emerging technologies is pivotal to this designing process.

    “The Experience Centre is an important part of our broader drive to transform how we engage with our clients, our people and our community to re-imagine the possible in a fast changing and competitive market. This Centre will drive our thinking around disruption and the emerging technologies. It will also provide us a platform to support clients, working with them to co-create solutions that meet today and future business challenges. It will also allow us experiment from prototypes, simulate scenarios, see how it’s going to work, test it and see that they meet the needs of the client and the market.”

    Also, Femi Osinubi, Partner and Experience Centre Leader, PwC West Africa, noted: “At the PwC Experience Centre, we balance business understanding with technology innovation and human insights. Simply put, we are harnessing the power of intelligent digital and we will be asking the tough questions. We will not just be solving client problems; we will actually be building entirely new businesses, whole new platforms that have not been considered before. We shall draw out value within the market in areas where we can combine Business, Technology and Experience but underpinned by deep customer insights.”

  • Little things Sanwo-Olu cannot afford to ignore

    Babajide Sanwo-Olu is taking over the mantle of leadership probably at the most trying period in contemporary history of Lagos State. He is assuming office at a time when the state, more than before, is experiencing unusual population explosion on one hand, collapsed infrastructure and weak institution/agencies on another hand.

    An unscheduled visit to many Lagos suburbs like Ikotun, Oworosoki, Iba, Ajah, Ajangbadi, Igando, Okokomaiko, Ayobo and many others, one is bound to see thousands of restless human beings at every bus stop on daily basis. Among them are unemployed tertiary institutions’ graduates, tertiary institutions’ drop-outs, secondary school leavers and drops-out as well as un-skilled labour and stark illiterates. Also among them are bandits in the name of commercial motor-cycle operators displaced by the current ban on commercial motor-cycle operators in the northwest part of the country.

    The alarming increase in the state’s population is no doubt the root of increasing criminal activities undermining peace, security and stability in the state today. Be it kidnappings, cultism, armed robbery, money rituals, cyber-crime etc, they all have their roots in the un-checked and unregulated population of the state where all manners of people troop to the state on hourly basis with little or no hope for means of livelihood. Credit must be given to former Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola who recognised the danger that unrestricted influx of people pose to the state, even though he applied un-constitutional measure of returning some of them to their states of origin. It is a time bomb Sanwo-Olu cannot afford to ignore.

    Also Read: Sanwo-Olu is a proactive governor, says lawmaker

    Societies all over the world, especially mega-cities like Lagos, can only be made functional and efficiently serve the people through efficient institutions, laws and other forms of productive regulations. This was well understood by the visionary and foresighted Bola Tinubu when he created agencies and institutions like the state Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA), the Waste Management Agency (LAWMA), the Citizen Mediation Centres and so many others, which help in no small measure in the delivery of good governance in the state till today. It should just be imagined how Lagos would be if these agencies and institutions were not established by Tinubu.

    Today’s Lagos needs new laws, new agencies and institutions to handle new and emerging challenges in the state. For instance rising youth-associated crimes like cultism, gang supremacy fight, kidnappings, ritual killings cyber-crime, rape, increasing school drop-out, drug addiction etc.

    The Sanwo-Olu administration should pay serious attention to the inner roads across the state. They are of serious significance to the vast majority of the several thousands that defied the early morning rain and the afternoon sun to cast their votes for him in the last governorship election.

    It was because they felt that he could reach them faster than candidate Muhammadu Buhari when they gave him more votes than they gave Buhari. These inner roads have more direct impact on the business, economic social and education life of the vast rural dwellers. These are the roads where you find most of the commercial motor-cycle operators in the state; they are the roads children of the poor take to school.

    It should no longer be government (made) by the masses for the elites, but for all.

    No doubt the state government may be overwhelmed by the large number of inner roads to rehabilitate. This is why the governor may consider the establishment of an agency to handle direct rehabilitation of some of these roads using the services of experts, technicians and artisans in some of the ministries. Some states have recorded some measures of success story using this model.

    The new Lagos helmsman should take steps without delay to revive and strengthen the Department of Public Works in all the local government and local council development areas in the state. They should live up to their name as local council development areas. New tractors and other related equipments should be procured by these councils while the moribund ones should be refurbished. The councils should be made to return to the glorious past when PWD was PWD.

    One very disturbing thing that I have observed is the fact that when some of these roads were at the level of minor damage, when they could be fixed with a small amount of money, it is either they were not brought to the notice of government or government failed to act on such notices. This is certainly where the direct labour agency and the PWD should be very useful. They should be mobilised to fix some of these roads before they completely go bad and require huge resources to fix them.

    In order to make the above work, the new governor should appoint all senior government workers from grade level 13 and above as honorary ambassadors or representatives in their areas of domicile with a mandate to submit bi-monthly reports of state of government facilities, especially roads in their areas.

    This government must strive to rid the state of criminalities and criminal gangs and one of the best approaches is to develop strategies capable of nipping crimes in the bud when they are at the level of conception, not when they are ripe or ready for execution. This is where the institution of the traditional rulers and leaders must be maximally taxed. Criminals, including armed robbers are not spirits, they are human beings who have landlords/landladies; they have co-tenants and neighbours. In this regard, all traditional rulers in the state must be compelled to hold regular village-square meetings with all residents in their domain, where it would be compulsory for every house to be represented by at least a resident if the landlord is not resident there. Apart from this, each Kabiyesi must be compelled to hold a general meeting twice with all house owners in their domain, including those who are not resident there who must be summoned via letters.

    It is not enough for traditional rulers to hold meetings with their chiefs because these chief don’t even met with people living around; they don’t even know them. Is it not curious and worrisome for instance to know that notorious kidnap suspect, Evans and his gang-members were using and living among the people in an apartment in Jakande Estate around Isolo for years? This community has a traditional ruler and chiefs co-existing with these notorious suspects. Government may also consider sanctioning any traditional ruler in whose domain gang and cult wars are recurrent. The government may also consider introducing whistle blowing as part of measures to check gang/cult banditry and kidnappings in the state, where the blower would be protected and also handsomely rewarded.

    Most criminal activities are often planned around hotels and guest houses. There is the urgent need to carry out more intensive surveillance on these facilities with the use of plain-clothed detectives as using uniform security personnel will immediately give them out.

    To complement the work of security personnel, each traditional ruler should be compelled to hold periodic security meetings with owners/operators of hotels/guest houses in his or her domain.

    There is urgent need by the new administration to redefine the mission and operational schedule of the recently re-branded Lagos State Security and Neighbourhood Corps with a view to making the personnel more of crime detectives in local areas as against their current job of guarding offices and serving as guards to traditional rulers. Government should consider decentralizing the outfit to have their offices or locations in say a group of four or six CDAs (Community Development Associations) as the case may be.

    A special unit of this outfit could be created to serve as community secret detectives that will go out in twos or threes in the evening to neighbourhood beer parlors and joints for the purpose of bursting crimes.

    The governor must hear this: In Lagos the law only functions and operates during the day, usually between the hours of seven in the morning and seven in the night. In some areas especially in the suburbs, it goes to sleep as early as 4p.m, once public servants closed for the day. Law enforcement agents that may be found beyond 5p.m, apart from the police, are LASTMA personnel and may not operate beyond 7p.m and such operation is usually around the city centres. Sanwo-Olu must give to Lagosians a Lagos where critical agencies work for 24 hours as done in other mega-cities all over the world.  There is urgent need for a Lagos where the law works 24/7.

     

    • Fanoro, a journalist lives in Lagos.

  • Sanitise Computer Village, CAPDAN chief urges Sanwo-Olu

    The Ikeja Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association (CAPDAN) President, Mr Ojikutu Adeniyi, has called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to rid the market of street trading and illegal activities.

    In an  interview, Adeniyi said the problems had affected the market’s reputation and its profit generation as patronage was decreasing.

    Known as a hub for Information Communication and Technology (ICT) accessories, Adeniyi is worried that the illegal businesses have gone beyond control and if not tamed, will continue to have an adverse effect not only on Lagos, but the whole country.

    “We cannot fight this without the aid of the government. We want the government to take proactive measures to tame this. We need an enabling environment in the market. Street trading is a menace to the growth of the market. The market is so overcrowded you cannot trace some people to any address. They just hang around and execute illegal businesses.

    ‘‘People will not want to come to the market because they are afraid they would fall into wrong hands.  We cannot tackle the situation alone. We urge the government of Lagos State and its enforcement agencies to assist us so that anybody who wants to do business in the market will know that there is a place where they can lodge their complaints,  if the need arises.”

    He also urged the government to establish an ICT hub, where its members would be trained, adding that the government should provide soft loans for marketers to boost their businesses.

    On the April protest by the dealers against the installation of leaders (Iyaloja and Babaloja) in the market, by the President-General of the commodity Market Women and Men of Nigeria, Mrs Folashade Tinubu-Ojo,  Adeniyi said such leaders did not befit the market as the biggest technology hub in West Africa.

    Adeniyi said the marketers would hold a meeting with Mrs Tinubu-Ojo on the issue soon.

    “At present, the Iyaloja-general has promised to have a meeting with us.  We are holding on for that meeting. Before now, we had written to the government, so they are aware of the situation. To the best of our  knowledge,  Iyaloja and Babaloja  are chieftaincy titles  which do not have anything to do with the day-to- day running of the market.

    ‘‘The bottom line is: ‘we do not want it in the market’. Virtually all the marketers are against it.  For instance, how do you use an Iyaloja to regulate professional and registered bodies, technicians, programmers and others in the market, or Chinese investors who want to do business with us? These are questions that need answers. The crisis is going to linger. So, everybody should sheathe his swords until the meeting holds,” he said.

  • Install CCTV and make traffic offenders pay, Alibaba advises Sanwo-Olu

    As a means of ameliorating the traffic situation of Lagos, comedian Alibaba has advised Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to invest in CCTVs at busy junctions, repair the roads and link motorists’ registration numbers to the their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) and make traffic violators pay for their offence.

    He said this on Tuesday via his Instagram account. According to Alibaba, he was leaving an event, The Dance Workshop and Conference at the Landmark Event Centre, Oniru, Lagos when he encountered traffic which should have been needless when the thought hit him.

    “Spent 3 hours today… and came to the conclusion again, that we are the cause of our problems,” he began in the post which he tagged Governor Sanwo Olu.

    “After the #tdwcafrica2019 at Landmark, I was on the road linking Ligali, going back to my office and noticed there was a gridlock.

    “My driver said it will soon clear. When soon turned to 35 minutes, I came down and walked through the vehicles to see the cause of the HOLD UP was.

    “4 lanes coming from Ligali towards Landmark and 5 lanes filtering onto the end of Ligali. Plus traffic from 3 streets pouring into the same road. The little spaces inbetween cars were all taken over by okada riders. While the spaces wider than those okadas could squeeze through had been pegged close by keke Napep.

    “Managed to merge 4 lanes to 2 and 3 lanes in the opposite direction, to form 1 lane, just to decongest the gridlock. Worked. And after 2 hours, decorum had resumed.  Hmmm.

    “A thought hit me. If @jidesanwoolu wants to make extra N200b to develop Lagos, he should just invest in CCTVs at major and busy junctions. With STOP signs to boot. Borrow money fix the roads and drainages. Then set up a system that will get drivers and vehicles to be linked together. When you are caught on tape, beating the traffic lights or breaking traffic laws, you will just get the alert that the payment has been deducted from your account.

    “To make this work, each car will have its registration number linked to the BVN of the owner. No need to set up any other means of collecting the money. And if you sell the car, you must go to the licensing office to change the BVN. Failure to do that means whoever drives the car and commits an offence, will not be debited. The original owner pays.

    “If it’s a military vehicle, the debit comes from the military account. Same with corporate bodies. Individuals too. You can imagine Oga is sitting at home, in Ikoyi, and he gets a debit alert for traffic infractions in Lekki PHASE 1, N45,000. How? He will call the driver or whoever is with the car. Kilode? “I beat red lights sir”. Just sack yourself.

    “And it doesn’t matter whether you have money in the account. The account will be on debit. Any day money comes in it will be deducted with interest.

    No traffic.”

    Traffic congestion in Lagos has been a perennial problem which many state administrations have yet to conquer.

  • Sanwo-Olu, ise ya (2)

    The new governor has to hit the ground running

    Indeed, what I would expect the new government to do is to look at the areas where the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, for example, needs reworking. One is talking of places like the Ikeja Bus Stop, Iyana Ipaja Bus Stop, Pleasure Bus Stop and Ile-Epo axis which are too narrow and motorists therefore experience hold-ups there on a daily basis. This should not be happening on what is supposed to be an expressway. So, the Sanwo-Olu government may have to invite experts to advise it on what should be done to make traffic flow in these areas. It must be ready to do the needful, no matter what it would take. Even if some buildings may still have to give way; so be it. What I would plead with the state government to do is to generously compensate the owners of such structures so that they would not regret releasing their inheritance for the public good.  Definitely, the road cannot remain as it is now if the money spent on it is to yield fruits, and to make the road an expressway properly so-called.

    Indeed, those uncompleted projects: Airport Road, the Pen Cinema flyover and the BRT corridor on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway should be completed before the government starts any new projects, to worm its way into the hearts of Lagosians living in that axis and those who may have cause to pass through those roads; and they are quite many. As I said before, there was no reason why those roads could not have been done in phases. Even if the government was in a haste to lift that axis; it should have been gradual; first complete one and then flag off the next, possibly the same day. There are no escape routes for the multitude living in that axis, with the simultaneous construction in those three places. Once you are stranded, you have no choice but stay put where you are as the alternatives routes you might want to use are also under construction. Matters are worsened whenever it rains, leaving commuters stranded at bus stops and transport fares skyrocketing, in some cases by as much as 300%. Cash-strapped Lagosians (like other rational human beings) who have to part with so much for transportation when their income is fixed cannot understand the ‘parable of the tribal marks’ by Lagos Traffic Radio in this situation.

    One needs to be this explicit on roads so as to guard the incoming administration so it does not repeat the same mistake. A government might have the best of intentions, but execution and even timing may end up messing up the otherwise good idea.

    Still on the roads, the traffic lights in many places are no longer working. Again, let me use the ones on Fatai Atere Way as example. The ones at the Cappa end are so faint that motorists may not even notice whether they are working or not. Yet, there are many traffic wardens, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) personnel, etc. at the junction, waiting to pounce on motorists who ignore the traffic lights or could not see whether they have passed them to go or stay. The traffic lights at the Alfa Nla end of Old Ipaja Road in Agege have almost the same problem. There are many all over the place. The police and other state government officials should be able to pass appropriate messages on the state of these lights and other road infrastructure to the appropriate authorities for immediate action instead of being ever eager to arrest people for disobeying them. The condition of the Old Ipaja Road/Alfa Nla junction is even appalling as only a few motorists can go whenever the traffic lights give the go-ahead because of the bad state of that place. In many places, the amber lights no longer work; with the implication that motorists get trapped between the red and green lights. The Sanwo-Olu government must be able to address these little details that matter. This is one problem with Nigeria, and Lagos, as a mega city should show good example. We have always said that maintenance culture is the bane of public administration in the country; it is sadly so in Lagos as well, particularly in recent times.

    The state government should not forget to fix the inner roads that were damaged in the course of construction, particularly on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway axis. These include Ajiboye Crescent, for instance, where the drainage, particularly towards the Arigbanla Junction, needs total reconstruction. Dit to the culvert in the place which appears to be amateurish the way it is right now; as well as the Solabomi Williams Crescent linking the estate with the expressway. Its other end beside the NNPC petrol station after Pleasure Bus Stop also needs rehabilitation. These roads and others, including even the Old Ota Road were subjected to intense pressure by motorists looking for alternative routes due to the construction works on the expressway. It is by fixing these roads that the residents there can feel well compensated for the troubles they went through in the course of the construction.

    There are many other roads that need urgent attention. Here, one is talking of the major road that links Ten Acres with the main road from Jakande Estate in Isolo. I do not know why successive state governments have not deemed it fit to touch this road, despite the fact that the place, though a new development site, is fast growing, and despite the fact that the government has been tending to various inner roads over the years. May be this is because of the heavy investment the government made on the dual carriageway from Jakande Estate to the Ikotun end which traverses the area. There is also Legacy Road which does not reflect its name because the only legacy there is the fact that it is not motorable. Its residents have abandoned it for other alternative routes in the area, which are only a shade better.

    There is also the security question. Lagos has been relatively safe due to security measures put in place, and heavily supported by the state’s security trust fund, a good initiative of the Fashola administration. This should be well supported by the government, even as the private sector should continue to invest in it as part of their corporate social responsibility. It is in their own interest and in the interest of the larger society because businesses can only thrive in an atmosphere of peace and security. But there is one area of security that should interest the new administration. This is the influx of youths, particularly from a particular part of the country, into the state. The government should be worried because most of these people have no visible means of livelihood. Many of them just jump on commercial motorcycles as soon as they arrive the city. I had argued in my column about two weeks ago that southwest states have to be watchful of the activities of these youths, especially with reports that they are being transported down south in droves. We have our own security challenges that we are battling, so no one should compound them for us in the name of one Nigeria. The kind of trouble that these youths are capable of is beyond our ken in this part of the country. So, governors of the southwest have to work in concert to address this new challenge. They should not delude themselves because even the elite that fertilised the eggs that bred these hapless youths can no longer contain them. It is a case of the chicken coming home to roost.

    Then, about two years ago or so, the state government conceived of the idea of having an independent (?) power scheme (I think) with the  pilot project at Alimosho. What has happened to the project? I was at the forum where the matter was discussed about three years ago and almost everyone present was upbeat about it. The icing on the cake is that there would be power supply 24/7, except that it would be slightly more expensive than what the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) charge. Artisans were well represented at the forum and they all expressed their desire to see the scheme take off despite the higher cost. They know how much they spend to fuel their generators. Those who presented the idea to the forum appeared to know their onions because they broke down their explanations such that even the illiterates among the lot understood what the idea was all about.

    Without prejudice to whatever the DisCos are doing or might say, the point is that we are not yet  there when power supply is the issue and I think we need to break some of these monopolies if we must get there. The idea is not necessarily to kill any DisCo but to let them have competitors that will put them on their toes. If we can achieve this, the better for all, including the DisCos too. Lagos cannot remain a mega city with epileptic power supply. Its place as economic destination of choice cannot be guaranteed without uninterrupted power supply. The Sanwo-Olu administration might have to dust the files on this project and see what the problems are with a view to solving them in the interest of Lagosians.

    Governor Sanwo-Olu should not underestimate what party faithful can do so it does not experience any banana peel. But that is not to say he should throw the state treasury open to the indolent who want to get money without doing anything. But those willing to earn a living should be compensated for their efforts and when given jobs, they must execute them satisfactorily.

    The  Sanwo-Olu government should bear in mind that Lagosians, like many other Nigerians generally, are minimalists. Their expectations from government are not many. Give them good roads; power to run their businesses; let them have access to fairly good life, etc. and they begin to clap for you. Indeed, any government that Nigerians would not clap for cannot be clapped for in any other part of the world.

    Of course one cannot exhaust what needs to be done in Lagos  in any single article.Other people are also going to make their suggestions to help the government chart the way forward.

    May the Sanwo-Olu administration live to the billing of His Excellency’s name. I wish the government a successful tenure.                                                                       (CONCLUDED). 

  • Fix roads, APC chief urges Sanwo-Olu

    AHEAD of his inauguration on Wednesday, Lagos State Governor-elect Babajide Sanwo-Olu seems to have his job cut out for him.

    Former  Commissioner for Public Transportation Chief Lanre Razak yesterday  urged him to repair bad federal and state roads in the metropolis to ease movement.

    Also at the weekend, a group, Igbo Movement, hailed Sanwo-Olu’s decision to run an inclusive government and promised to work with him to bring the plan to fruition.

    In a statement issued in Epe, Razak advised Lagos State Waste Management Authority  (LAWMA) and Private Sector Participation (PSP) operators to redouble their efforts  in keeping the environment clean and averting epidemic outbreak.

    He said the deplorable   roads and heaps of refuse across town required urgent action.

    The statement reads: “I am sure that the incoming governor and his deputy will hit the ground running immediately they are sworn in. I hope they will consolidate on the giant developmental strides the state has recorded since 1999, as well as embark on people-oriented programmes.

    “Fortunately, both of them are products of the leadership school of All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart and former governor of the state, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who wants quality leadership.

    Read also: Sanwo-Olu: I’ll fulfill campaign promises

    “I am convinced that they will not disappoint Lagosians in terms of performance and good governance because they understand the needs of the people and will deliver qualitative service in line with the manifesto of the APC, which is designed towards achieving better living standard for the people.”

    Razak said Deputy Governor-elect Obafemi Hamzat, who was Commissioner of Works and Infrastructure under ex-Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, would bring his experience to bear on road repair.

    He advised the incoming government to address the heavy vehicular traffic experienced daily on most Lagos roads, adding that the Public Works Corporation should be made more proactive in fixing the bad roads.

    The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Razak added,  should be made to step up its game to end traffic nightmares

    “These, I believe, are some of the immediate challenges the incoming administration should tackle headlong in the interest of the masses who voted massively for our great party, the APC. The governor needs to win the hearts of the people, including the civil servants and the electorate, to his side to move Lagos forward.

    “But I want to appeal to the people to pay their rates and taxes regularly to enable the government generate enough revenue to implement its socio-economic programmes for the well-being of citizens’’, he said

    Razak praised Sanwo-Olu for his plan to end the Apapa gridlock within 60 days  of assuming office and advised him to complete projects that he would inherit.

    Speaking with reporters in Ikeja, the Igbo Movement leader, Mr. Chris Onyekachi,  said running an inclusive government would be of immense benefit to the state.

    The  movement, he said,  had confidence in Sanwo-Olu, adding that it campaigned for him at markets and ensured his emergence as governor.

    “We campaigned at Ketu Market, Mile 12 Market, Ladipo Spare Parts Market and other places to ensure his victory. Now that God has made him the father of Lagosians, he should carry everybody along. He should remember the Igbo who campaigned for him,” Onyekachi said.

    He said the incoming government should not act based on sentiment

    “I appeal to him to ensure that everybody is carried along. We, the Igbo, are business people. He should make our environment conducive, as we pay our taxes’’, Onyekachi said.

    He said the Igbo were law-abiding, urging the incoming government to work with their leaders if there was need to get across to them.

    Onyekachi implored the incoming governor to ensure religious harmony and tolerance so that the people could live in peace.

  • Sanwo-Olu: I’ll fulfill campaign promises

    LAGOS State Governor-elect Babajide Sanwo-Olu has assured Lagosians that he will implement his campaign promises and break new grounds in good governance.

    He promised to hit the ground running, following his inauguration on Wednesday at Tafawa Balewa Squares, Onikan.

    Thanking Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, his campaign team, led by Tayo Ayinde, the party officers led by Chairman Tunde Balogun, and supporters, including Muslim members who are fasting, he noted that the governorship election went well.

    Noting that party members looked forward to the inauguration with excitement, Sanwo-Olu said as from Thursday, the new administration will begin to deliver dividends of democracy to Lagosians.

    The governor-elect spoke in English and Yoruba at the Lagos APC victory rally held at the Police College, Ikeja at the weekend. Party elders, chieftains and followers were in one accord at the event where the ace Fuji musician, Alhaji Wasiu Ayinde, entertained the crowd.

    At the ceremony, party leaders and campaign directors received certificates of service from Sanwo-Olu in recognition of their commitment to the party.

    The party officers include Balogun, Ayinde, Cardinal James Odumbaku, Alhaji Ganiyu Badmus, House of Representatives member Jimi Benson, Bolanle Akinyemi-Obe, Ashipa Kaoli Olusanya, Sesan Daini, and other elected local government chairmen.

    Sanwo-Olu, who stormed the venue around 11.48 am, gave a hint on the direction of his administration, saying that policies, programmes and projects would be dictated by the needs of the people.

    He promised to immediately tackle the challenges of flooding, traffic management, schools and hospitals, job creation and empowerment for artisans.

    He said his administration would not condone laziness, urging intended beneficiaries to develop their talents, interests and abilities.

    Turning to local government chairmen, Sanwo-Olu said they should strive to replicate at the grassroots the expected growth strides of the administration.

    Acknowledging refuse disposal as a major challenge, he said disposal bags would be evenly distributed to get the heap of refuse off the environment.

    He said the government would enlighten and mobilise churches and mosques to play a role in the dissemination of vital information on environmental sanitation and cleanliness.

    Ayinde, who thanked the party faithful, spoke on the efficacy of prayers, which worked well for him as the campaign manager because his team approached the assignment with determination and spiritual prayers.

    Noting that the campaigns were Herculean tasks, he said Sanwo-Olu lived to expectation as a sellable candidate.

    He said the flagbearer’s youthfulness and dynamism were captivating to the electorate.

    Ayinde thanked the campaign team members for their loyalty, saying the directors approached the tasks with dedication.

    He noted that Sanwo-Olu was appreciative of their individual and collective efforts.

  • Ambode’s wife urges Sanwo-Olu to move COWLSO to greater height

    Wife of the Lagos State governor and Chairman of the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO), Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, has handed over to the wife of the governor-elect, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwoolu.

    She urged her to take COWLSO to a greater height.

    At a brief ceremony at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja, at the weekend, Mrs. Ambode hailed the vision of the founding mothers of the committee, which is to complement the efforts of the government in critical areas that are women and children-friendly.

    She said the committee, under successive chairmen, had continued to walk in that great vision, leading to remarkable improvement in the lives of women, girls and children, in vital areas of health, empowerment, education and others.

    Mrs Ambode recalled some of the achievements made under her chairmanship in the last four years: “My lovely women, with all sense of modesty, we happily recall some of our collective achievements in the health sector, by way of interventions in maternal and child health, year after year.

    ‘The phases of intervention led to the sponsorship of goiter surgery for 30 women, free hearing aids for 15 children, three  women and two men; as well as the upgrading of the ENT Department of the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos. We also purchased and installed state-of-the-art audiology equipment, including Otoread OAE capable of detecting hearing defects in newborns.”

    She went on: “Other phases of intervention saw the procurement and donation of two Transport Incubator Ambulance to the Gbagada General Hospital and Island Maternity Hospital, coupled with the donation of 32 neo-natal incubators to 13 General Hospitals and six fully fitted Birthing Suites for Amuw-Odofin Maternal and Child Centre, Epe General Hospital and Island Maternity Hospital, Lagos, among others.”

    She thanked members of the committee for their support for her and the Ambode administration over the past four years and appreciated her predecessors for their advice and words of wisdom.

    Mrs. Sanwo-Olu praised her predecessor for taking COWLSO to an enviable height, promising that she would not deviate from the founding ideals of the committee.

    She said: “I thank my big sister, Her Excellency, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, for the great steps she has taken to move the committee to its current level. I thank her for the words of encouragement that I should not be scared about the challenges of that office. I will do my best, God helping me, to move COWLSO to the next level.’

    Mrs. Sanwoolu, who also commended Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for his attention to the committee, noted that governance was a continuum.

    She said the incoming government would work hard to move the state to the next level.

    A major highlight of the event was the presentation of charity grants to 29 orphanage homes and those for the less privileged.

  • How I’ll pick my commissioners, special advisers, by Sanwo-Olu

    Only tested politicians and technocrats stand the chance of making the cabinet of Lagos State Governor-elect Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

    Such politicians and technocrats, he stated, must share the same vision with him and his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, Sanwo-Olu said on Thursday.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain said Lagosians should expect a cabinet of “intelligent and smart,” people, particularly tested politicians, technocrats and professionals, adding that “they will be round peg in a round hole”.

    Sanwo-Olu, who maintained that the basic criteria are the “shared vision and common purpose,” stressing that the team should be on the same page with him and the deputy governor.

    The governor-elect emphasised that the outlook of the State Executive Council should reflect its loyalty to the state, instead of posing as representatives of a sect, jurisdiction and clan.

    He added: “We have been on this journey for eight or nine months. We will appoint those who share the commonality of vision and purpose.”

    Sanwo-Olu spoke with reporters in Lagos on the vision of his government, the on-going projects he will inherit from the Ambode administration, infrastructural growth, security, investment drive, integrated transport management, social welfare, land use charge, Southwest economic integration and future budgeting.

    The governor-elect, who spoke on the imperative of governance branding, gave insight into his style of governance, saying that he would be humble, open, transparent, accessible and engaging governor.

    However, Sanwo-Olu said he would not condone indolence, adding that if an official fails in the discharge of his responsibilities, he would face the consequence.

    He said Lagosians have been fortunate to be governed by progressive administrations in the last 20 years, which have built critical institutions, schools, health care facilities, a mega city status and boosted internally generated revenues.

    Sanwo-Olu said while it had been suggested that the increased IGR meant financial progress, he noted that it was not enough because of the enormous challenges confronting the state.

    He promised to build on the feats of his illustrious predecessors by presiding over a strategic and focus administrations that would continually make use of the vast human talents to develop the Centre of Excellence.

    The governor-elect said he would hit the ground running after his inauguration by setting up a cabinet of talents, making serious appointments, resolving the traffic challenge and reinvigorate the waste disposal management in the first quarter.

    He promised that serious infrastructure battle, particularly road construction and rehabilitation, would begin after the raining season.

    Sanwo-Olu said: “We will look at the civil service and focus on capacity development and skill acquisition, skill and competency development. We will focus on health and infrastructure. We will roll out more detail plans to ensure growth in our education. For health, we will collaborate with the private sector so that we can foster more accessibility and affordability, which is more challenging. We will evolve a clear cut policy on power with DISCO and GENCO ensure regular power supply.”

    Sanwo-Olu said he would embark on a quarterly review of budgetary performance to ensure transparency and accountability.

    He said although he was yet to know the details of on-going projects, which his administration would inherit, he assured that they would not be abandoned.

    The governor-elect said he would revisit the Land Use Charge, based on the raging complaints, assuring that the solution would emerge through collaborative efforts.

    Sanwo-Olu said he would attract investment to the state by promoting ease of doing business, making the civil servants to respond swiftly to the urgency of business registration, and fostering security.

    He said tourism would be rebranded, adding that professionals would manage the critical sector.

    On Southwest economic integration, he said Lagos would collaborate with states, which have abundant land in the region on agricultural development by providing finance for crop production.

    Sanwo-Olu also said Lagos State would press on with the agitation for special economic assistance.

    He added: “We are happy that the next Speaker of House of Representatives will come from Lagos State. We will engage the House. They will see reason with us. Lagos is home for us all .”