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Examining Governor Sanwo-Olu’s 600 Days of Making Lagos Greater

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SANWO-OLU CONGRATULATES LAGOS HOS, MURI-OKUNOLA AT 50

 

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It is about 600 days that Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu took over the reins of affairs as Governor of Lagos State. Between then and now, the governor has been confronted by several debilitating storms like the corona virus pandemic and the ENDSARS protests  yet, he has not derailed from his developmental agenda christened T.H.E.M.E.S (Traffic Management and Transportation; Health and Environment; Education and Technology; Making Lagos a 21st Century State; Security and Governance). In this article, we examine how he has fared in each area of T.H.E.M.E.S.

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By Femi Titus

 

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TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT AND TRANSPORTATION

To aggressively address the challenge of bad roads and ease traffic congestions across the state, the first thing Governor Sanwo-Olu did on assumption of office was to introduce the ‘Zero Tolerance for Potholes Initiative’ by directing the Public Works Corporation to commence the patching and rehabilitation of the roads and the clearing and cleaning of all secondary and tertiary drainage systems to ensure the free flow of rainwater during the rainy season across the state. He also directed the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) to operate a minimum of two shifts by managing traffic until 11:00 pm daily.

The ubiquitous okada motorcycles and tricycles were also banned across 15 local councils as a stop-gap solution to the endless traffic jams. To ameliorate the attendant inconvenience of the ban, the state government rolled out 65 high-capacity buses in addition to the existing buses in the fleet of the Lagos Bus Services Limited. 550 medium-capacity vehicles are expected anytime soon.

To further strengthen the drive for a multi-modal transport system, Governor Sanwo-Olu launched the Uber Boat water transportation service, a partnership between the global ride-hailing company and the Lagos State Waterways Authority, LASWA, which is exploring the state’s abundant waterways and, thereby, reducing the pressure on roads.

Similarly, the Lagos Ferry Services (LAGFERRY) launched its commercial operations in February. In its fleet are 14 boats with a capacity of between 30 and 60 passengers. Apart from the Badore Ferry Terminal in Ajah, other modern jetties are being built in Ijegun, Badagry, Lekki, and Ajegunle.

Significantly, to improve traffic management and transportation, the Blue Line Mass Transit Rail project, which started in 2009, has been revived with the completion of the sea-crossing track. The five-kilometre elevated sea-crossing track of the project in Marina was completed last December. Other rail lines on the drawing board are the 68km – Green Line from Marina through Victoria Island, Lekki Phases 1 and 2, Ajah, Ogombo, Lekki Airport to Lekki Free Trade Zone; the 60km – Purple Line from the Redemption Camp through Ogba, Iyana Ipaja and Igando ending at Ojo; and the 34km Yellow Line from Otta through Isheri Osun, Ejigbo Mafoluku, Isolo to National Theatre. There is also the 48km Orange Line from Ikeja crossing through Mile 12, Ikorodu, Alapadi, Eligana, Isiwu, Imota and ending at Agbowa.

Also, the Oshodi – Abule-Egba section of the Lagos–Abeokuta expressway has been reconstructed and commissioned last September. The 13.68 kilometre-long BRT corridor has reduced commute time on the route by as much as 75 per cent.

 

HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT

In a bid to create more awareness and sensitisation on the Lagos State Health Scheme (LSHS), the Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) has launched ‘Ilera Eko’ campaign to achieve universal health coverage for all Lagosians. This is intended to achieve universal health coverage for Lagos residents.

There is a renaissance in the state’s public health sector. A 149-bed Maternal and Childcare Centre, MCC, in Alimosho General Hospital was commissioned recently. The specialist centre is equipped with ultra-modern equipment that aids prompt delivery of maternal and child care services.

A four-floor 110-bed Maternal and Child Centre (MCC) was also recently commissioned in Eti-Osa. Specially designed to provide integrated healthcare for mothers and children, the facility has four operational surgical theatres, defibrillators, ventilators, and oxygen therapy and phototherapy units. The Eti-Osa MCC is the eighth facility completed by the state government to provide specialized mother and childcare services while two other similar facilities located in Epe and Badagry are nearing completion.

The Healthy Bee Initiative of the Lagos government, a free healthcare programme aimed at combating organ impairment and life-threatening ailments in children saw over 25,000 residents benefitting from free treatment and surgery recently.

Lagos has also been at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria with a functional incident command centre and, apart from the existing isolation centre, recently opened another in Victoria Island. The new centre is a purpose-built medical facility equipped with ICU capacities in response to the resurgence of the coronavirus in Nigeria with Lagos still the hub of the infection.

The Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, acquired 10 boats to boost its marine waste operations. The agency also launched the Lagos Blue Box initiative, a single stream recyclable collection program that encourages the separation of recyclable materials from the general waste at the point of generation and which aims to, among other objectives, encourage zero waste generation in the state and promote a healthier and cleaner environment; reduce carbon footprints and increase economic security by tapping the domestic source of the material.

 

EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY

To promote a smart city with technology, the Sanwo-Olu administration organised the Art of Technology Lagos where the governor announced a N250m grant for tech start-ups to encourage young people with fantastic ideas.

The administration gave N350million bailout for personnel cost and increased the subvention of the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education from N200million to N250mllion.

As part of the reforms for the education sector, the Eko Excel, an acronym for ‘Excellence in Child Education and Learning’, was launched in January 2020. It is already empowering teachers to deliver at the same level as their counterparts around the world; and providing strong continuous support that will encourage improvement in teachers and pupils. An estimated 14,000 primary school teachers are expected to benefit from the initiative while over 500,000 pupils would be positively impacted. Microsoft recently partnered with the state government to train 18, 000 teachers on its Microsoft Office suite.

In continuation of the use of skill acquisition as a tool of empowerment, 4, 885 youths graduated from 17 skill acquisition centres located in the five divisions of the state.

More than three decades after it was established, the Lagos State University, LASU, is set to become a residential tertiary institution as the state government, under the Public-Private Partnership, PPP, has signed a Build, Operate and Transfer, BOT, agreement with six property developers to construct 8,272 units of hostel in the school’s premises to be ready in the Year 2021.

 

EMPOWERMENT/SOCIAL WELFARE

To help legal residents whose businesses were affected by the carnage trailing the END SARS protest to resuscitate their businesses, the governor launched the N5bn MSME Recovery Fund under the Lagos State Entrepreneurship Trust Fund (LSETF).

In fulfilment of his pledge to end poverty through the implementation of socio-economic empowerment programs, Governor Sanwo-Olu recently empowered a total of 1,050 vulnerable and indigent residents in the state. Beneficiaries received, in addition to financial support, business support tools and equipment such as grinding machines, hairdressing tools, sewing machines and tyre repair kits among other materials. The governor promised that this initiative would be done quarterly.

Last November, the state government paid about N1.3 billion into the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) of 246 retirees in the state’s public service for October. The beneficiaries included employees from the mainstream service, Local Government Service, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), the Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), and other parastatals of the state government.

 

INFRASTRUCTURE

The state government has resuscitated the Adiyan Waterworks, Phase Two with contractors mobilised to site. The water treatment plant, with a production capacity of 70 million gallons per day, was started in 2013. About N600million compensation was paid to owners whose property had to give way for the reconstruction works. After resuscitation, it will provide drinking water for more than five million Lagos residents and will help to address sanitation challenges and fight water-borne diseases.

In Ojokoro Local Council Development Area, 31 roads, which adds up to a total of 20.216 kilometres, have been completed and commissioned by Governor Sanwo-Olu.

The hitherto abandoned Pen Cinema flyover project is expected to be completed and commissioned in the first quarter of 2021.

A newly constructed section of the Lagos – Badagry expressway has been declared open. The 4-kilometre section stretches from Agboju and cuts across strategic locations like Maza-Maza and Alakija to Trade Fair.

The state government entered into a Public Infrastructure Improvement Partnership (PIIP) agreement that involves banks handling the rehabilitation of roads as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). For instance, Access Bank is partnering with the state government in the infrastructural upgrading of the Oniru network of roads under the PIIP arrangement.

Under Governor Sanwo-Olu, the China Development Bank has injected a $629million financing facility to accelerate the completion of the Lekki Deep Seaport project, which started in 2011. When completed in 2022, the deep seaport would have two container berths of 680-metre long and 16.5-metre water depth. It will also have the capacity to be berthed by fifth-generation container ships, with a capacity of 18,000 TEU ship. Governor Sanwo-Olu affirmed that the project will transform the Lekki corridor into a new economic hub and offer a new impetus for socio-economic growth in the state.

 

HOUSING

 

In January 2021, Governor Sanwo-Olu commissioned 264-units of flats ranging from one to four bedrooms for upper and middle-income earners in two different estates in the Ikate Elegushi and Lekki area of the state.

The 492-flat housing project in Igando area of Lagos was completed, commissioned and handed over to its new occupants in 2019. The project, which originally started in 2012 under the Home Ownership Scheme of the administration of ex-Governor Babatunde Fashola, but was abandoned by the immediate past administration, is a testimony of Sanwo-Olu’s campaign pledge to complete and deliver all critical projects inherited from the last administration. The estate is fittingly named after the first civilian governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, who died February 11th, 2021. Similarly, the recently commissioned 132-unit Lagos HOMS project at Iponri in Surulere area was named after former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN.

There are also an additional 360 units in Igbogbo, 744 in Sangotedo, 660 in Agbowa and 680 in Egan Igando are slated for commissioning soon.

 

AGRICULTURE

Under the Agro-Processing Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Support (APPEALS) Women and Youth Empowerment Scheme (WYEP), 350 have graduated being the batch 1. Out of these beneficiaries, 165 majored in the poultry value chain, 35 in the rice value chain and 150 in the aquaculture value chain. The thrust of the project is to increase farmers’ productivity, production, and improve the processing and marketing of the target value chains, which would foster job creation along identified value chains.

The Imota Rice Mill in Lagos is nearing completion. The 38 metric tonnes per hour mill will be one of the biggest on the continent when completed. It is expected to throw up between 1000 and 1,500 jobs and positively impact the rice value chain that will produce 2.4 million bags of 50kg rice yearly.

The governor also unveiled a five-year master plan that would guide the state’s intervention and investment in agriculture for a long-term return with the objective to reduce food importation and over dependence on finished products from outside the country.

The state government is also in the process of establishing the Lagos Aquaculture Centre of Excellence (LACE) to drive fish production in the state. The centre will have a hatchery with a capacity to produce 50 million fish – enough to supply 5,000 smallholder farms. It will also include a 24,000 tonnes feed mill and a 20,000 tonne capacity fish processing centre. He said that the annual demand for fish in the state was 374,000 tonnes, considerably below the state’s current 155,000 tonnes of production.

SECURITY

Effective security is an essential component of the Sanwo-Olu developmental agenda for Lagos State. As such, he has been proactive and pragmatic in the handling of the state’s security providing the required support for the police for effective discharge of their duties. He recently commissioned the new Area L Police Command in Ilashe, Ojo; the Area ‘J’ Police Command administrative building at Elemoro town in Ibeju-Lekki and donated 125 patrol vehicles and 35 patrol motorcycles for the use of security operatives in the state.

 

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Sahara weekly online is published by First Sahara weekly international. contact saharaweekly@yahoo.com

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Tinubu @72: Photos As Lagos Lawmakers Honour Nigeria’s President

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Tinubu @72: Photos As Lagos Lawmakers Honour Nigeria’s President

 

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Lawmakers at the Lagos State House of Assembly took turns to speak glowingly of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday as he marks his 72nd birthday on Friday.

 

 

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The lawmakers commended the President for deciding on no-celebration of his birthday in consideration of the mood of the nation as, according to them, this was the mark of true leadership.

However, the lawmakers said it was important to celebrate the President’s achievements while he was governor of Lagos and his current strides noting that his policies in the State have continued to put Lagos on the global map.

Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, while praying for good health and strength for the President, noted that the successes so far achieved by Lagos can be linked to Tinubu’s wisdom and leadership capacity.

“When Asiwaju Tinubu became governor, we all know how much Lagos was earning. He successfully moved the revenue of the state from N600 million to over N8 billion in 2007. He also set in motion strategies for the upward progression of the revenue generation.

“This is not just about his birthday. It is a celebration of Lagos and where his policies have carried us. The Lagos Red Line rail project was unveiled recently and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu reiterated that the achievement can be attributed to Asiwaju who created the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) while he was governor,” Dr. Obasa said.

The Speaker directed the Clerk of the House, Barr. Olalekan Onafeko, to transmit a congratulatory message to the President on behalf of the lawmakers, staff and management of the Assembly.

In his contribution, the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Noheem Adams, prayed that the steps currently being taken by the President would bring Nigeria out of its challenges.

While the Deputy Majority Leader, Adedamola Richard Kasunmu, described Tinubu as a compassionate leader, Hon. Sa’ad Olumoh (Ajeromi-Ifelodun 1) said Tinubu’s journey has been one of successes as seen in Lagos and his current administration at the centre. He prayed that the President’s current policies will also be beneficial to every citizen.

On his part, Hon. Sylvester Ogunkelu (Epe 2) recalled how Obasa prayed in 2019 that Tinubu would be president adding that Tinubu had shown his leadership acumen by deciding not to celebrate this year’s birthday.

Hon. Foluke Osafile (Amuwo Odofin 1) commended the President’s current steps while Hon. Adewale Temitope (Ifako Ijaiye 1) prayed that God continue to direct Tinubu’s paths and also keep Lagos lawmakers soaring.

 

 

Tinubu @72: Photos As Lagos Lawmakers Honour Nigeria's President

Eromosele Ebhomele
Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly.

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BEHOLD THE BEAUTIFUL BRIDE OF OSADEBE AVENUE BECKONS

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BEHOLD THE BEAUTIFUL BRIDE OF OSADEBE AVENUE BECKONS

BEHOLD THE BEAUTIFUL BRIDE OF OSADEBE AVENUE BECKONS

 

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In the spirits of the exigencies of present charged up political topical realities and conversations,I am inherently inclined to ruminate and juggle our consciousness around the personage of Hon Senator M.Okpebholo and his walk towards becoming the Governor of Edo State.

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Humanity has always been subsumed,inundated with transformative phases culminating into palpable tangible events and outcomes and leading to positive disruptive developmental changes.

Undoubtedly,ideas visions and actionable goals shapes our world into transcendental growth and transformative developments.

A purposeful and iconoclastic idea whose time has come breaks down all barriers and obstacles to shine and glow into unparalleled unbridled fruition and acceptance.

In this sense,it’s pertinent to encapsulate rather unequivocally that Senator M Okpebholo emergence as the flag bearer of APC in the forthcoming Edo State elections is an idealistic momentous indication of an idea whose time has come-he is the rave of the moment that everyone should reasonably pander to and readily identify with without hesitations or scruples.

Resoundingly loud in the lips of rational citizens and netizens in and beyond Edo State is the very unmistakable ubiquitous voices,agitations,drumming,clamoring,for the easy going,down to earth,soft spoken,unassuming,humane,humbleness personified mien of Hon Senator M Okpebholo whose time has come to become the Governor of Edo State.

Typically,analogically and apparently the difficulties encountered with attempting to stop a moving train is the same struggle and resistance cum obstinacy to be overcome all attempts to stop the movement of SMO trains into Osadebey Avenue.

Interestingly,but ironically rumor mill and social media tends to be irreverently awash with arguments and postulations for or against and about the antecedents and benevolent overtures of SMO in the past as indices,parameters and anecdotes or measuring yardstick for future performances upon emergence as Governor….and l am simply miffed,wondering and asking rhetorically for the umpteenth time a subliminal regurgitation of our memories as to the performances of our erstwhile Governor Oshiomhole Gov Obaseki,Gov Igbinedion,Gov Odigie Oyegun
before they became Governors of Edo State??

I will be stultified and jolted into coalesce,condescension and submission if one can point at a meaningful remembrance of any grandiose project or remarkable charitable contributions they made in their respective local governments or senatorial zones prior to their being elected as Governors.

Suffice to state that I am struggling to decipher the rationale behind the conversation that previous acts of charity and projects done becomes a major political indicator and justification for becoming a Governor of Edo state.

Therefore and rightly so,it aggregates to cheap assailable blackmail all attempts to profile Hon Senator M Okpebolo on the basis of his personal acts of charity as a vicarious lens of assessment and for voting him into Office as Governor or otherwise.

He is irrevocably the beautiful bride of Edo Politics whose time is now.
An impeccable candidate with no baggages.He is his self cheerleader.
He is your everyday people person who operates an open door policy.
He is a rare silent achiever and an astute leader with pedigree of talking less but doing more.
He is an asset and a gift to Edo State

He is not your regular run of the mill boastful politician who speaks with both sides of the mouth denigrating with prism alluring lies uncensored

In the main,the whole essence of political participation is intended to make policy decisions that could shape up and lead to definitive changes,gains and democratic reforms for the generality of the public interest.

And l boldly posit unapologetically that voting Hon Senator M Okpebholo as Governor of Edo State is a wise choice to make come Election Day cos he will walk the talk by matching words with actionable and transformative deliverables of democratic dividends upon becoming the Governor of Edo State.

 

BEHOLD THE BEAUTIFUL BRIDE OF OSADEBE AVENUE BECKONS

Vibes up the Rhythm

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Ondo governorship aspirant, Akintelure is dead

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Ondo governorship aspirant, Akintelure is dead

Ondo governorship aspirant, Akintelure is dead

 

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Sadly, one of the frontline governorship aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Paul Akintelure, is dead.

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Before his untimely demise, Akintelure had raised concerns about both direct and indirect threats to his life.

 

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He had expressed hope that the situation would improve over time but sadly, it escalated as the APC governorship primary election scheduled for April 25 approached.

Akintelure’s alarm on threat to life

Akintelure in a statement released by his spokesperson, Oladapo Akintelure, on Thursday, March 21, 2023, said, “Initially, I hope these incidents would dissipate over time, yet regrettably, they have escalated to pose a serious threat to my life”

“The threats against me only strengthen my resolve to stand up for what is right and just. I will not allow fear to dictate our path forward.

“Let us embrace peace, progress, and unity. Our collective strength lies in our to stand together as one, regardless of our differences.”

Political background

Recall Akintelure ran as the deputy governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) with Rotimi Akeredolu (the incumbent Ondo State governor) against Olusegun Mimiko, the then Labour Party flagbearer, who won the election.

Earlier, he had contested the senatorial election against the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, but he was defeated.

He was a medical doctor and hailed from Igbotako, Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State.

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