…As Govt prepares rewards for outstanding 2022 performances
The Lagos Community Day celebration slated for Thursday, 19th January, 2023 is the annual event, the fourth in the series of the present administration’s four-year-tenure to celebrate the exemplary self-help projects initiated by over 4,000 Community Development Associations (CDAs) in the year 2022 as partners in progress in the State.
For the State Government, the administration has passed through both solace and trying times from the day it assumed office, and two of the rough edges suffered by the State that cannot be forgotten soon were the COVID-19 pandemic with Lagos as the “Epicentre” in Nigeria, and the ubiquitous #EndSARS protest that almost pulled down the State as an economic edifice of the Country. These among sundry issues were acidic tests that measured the integrity of the Governor in steering the ship of the State creditably with candour to secure lives and property during those crises moment and beyond. A familiar Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s humility is a life of dedicated service full of strength, success, achievements, vision, direction and ability.
That God’s appointed time is always the best resolves all curiosities about the 2022 celebration delay till date. The celebration would mark another self-help achievements of 4,270 Community Development Associations (CDAs) across Lagos State recorded against last year.
The State Government due to proven commitments has been unwavering in its disposition to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the grassroots. This commitment of the State Government to adopt citizenship participation in community affairs fulfils the golden statement that people should always think of what they can do to assist the State, not just what the State can do for them. This enriches democracy on the stand of collective responsibility.
With CDAs embedded as a Pillar in the T. H. E. M. E. S. Agenda, the State Government has undertaken a series of interventions in support of the grassroots by awarding projects that have a direct bearing on all residents in the State. Among these were; the project to construct rural and community roads, allocation of 500KVA and 350KVA transformers to different communities, upgrade of health facilities including power intervention programmes across the State’s general hospitals, provision of water schemes, rehabilitation and construction of public schools, and many others.
Retrospect of the themes of the Community Day celebration since 2019 proves that the State Government has largely fulfilled the pact of the mandate secured almost four years ago, by keeping to its promise for the people, as well, as doing more for its residents. A good example is the increase of executive buses awarded to outstanding CDAs upon verification by the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs from three to four by the present administration.
Given these antecedents, the State Government will continue to “Strengthen Community Engagements Through Inclusive Governance” as the theme of the 2022 Community Day. As usual, the venue of the event is Nigeria Police Force College ground, GRA, Ikeja.
The practice at the event includes that, the State Government will award the best four CDAs with exemplary records of achievements would go home with four 18-Seater Buses, and Cash Rewards to CDAs in the fifth to tenth positions as a token to steer healthy participation among all communities. This communal effort deserves to be acknowledged. Together, Lagos can build the desired destination to attract businesses for economic and social development.
Having delivered iconic infrastructure to its residents in almost four years to end the present tenure, residents in most parts of the State now feel relief from traffic jams on their journey because the State Government prides transportation as the mainstay of the Lagos economy. Also being delivered is the historic Lagos Metro-Line test-ran recently by Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu along the Lagos Island axis and the commissioning of the Blue-Rail-Line along the Badagry corridor.
The State Government’s increase of ferries to enhance the interconnectivity of the road, water, rail and air transport to move people and goods quickly to their various destinations made perfect, its plan to achieve Inter-Modal-Transport that would give all commuters a wider choice to plan their journey and arrive safely at their destinations without delay. During the last yuletide, the State Government successfully awarded the proposed Fourth Mainland Bridge to a reputable Chinese construction firm. These recorded victories made certain, the promise of “Making Lagos Twenty-First Century Economy.”
In April 2022, the State Government blazed another trail in higher education with two approvals of the National University Commission for the establishment of two additional universities, the upgrade of the former Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu Campus to the Lagos State University of Science and Technology, Ikorodu, and former Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Oto-Ijanikin to the Lagos State University of Education, Oto-Ijanikin. These feats would accommodate more admissions to be processed for more students seeking their first degrees in Lagos. Again, the drastic reduction of the payment of school fees for the first set of students from One Hundred and Sixty-Eight Thousand Naira and One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira only to Fifty Thousand Naira only is commendable( N168,150).
Also, the Imota Rice Mill project, the biggest ever undertaken by any Sub-National Government in Africa to be in operation very soon is a major accomplishment that would largely fulfil the efforts of the State Government to guarantee food security in the State. For ages, surplus foods have been the recipe for hunger. The Mill is expected to generate two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) direct and indirect jobs at its full capacity, and the price of the “Eko Rice” crashing the current high cost of the commodity in the market.
Going by the series of unfolding transformational projects put in place by this administration, the credit of Lagosians going to the poll again, is to go “A Greater Lagos Rising” by casting their votes for the Second Term Agenda of Mr. Sanwo-Olu.
Reuben Hopo is Senior Public Affairs Officer in Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs, Alausa-Lagos.