• Unveils plan to train one million residents in computer coding
Gboyega Akinsanmi
The Lagos State Government yesterday faulted the operational capacity of Private Sector Participants (PSP) collectors, thereby proposing a new waste management policy that would come to force by July.
The state government also unveiled a programme designed to teach one million residents to code by 2019 and foster necessary skills to create sustainable solutions to social challenges and create employment opportunities.
The state Governor Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, disclosed the need to evolve a new waste management policy in a statement, saying Lagos required a policy “to ensure that the state remains clean and safe for healthy living.”
Ambode noted that the state government was embarking on massive reform in waste management system, expressing optimism that the plan would definitely be actualised in the next six months.
He said: “We are also embarking on massive reform in the waste and sanitation management system. I do not like the way the city is and the Private Sector Participants (PSP) collectors are not having enough capacity to do it.
“But again should I tax people to death? I do not want to tax people. We need this partnership with the private sector so that they can invest in the sanitation management of the city and in no time maybe by July, the city will change forever.”
Ambode had asked Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) “to stop the collection of waste bills while instructing that all payments be remitted to the coffers of Private Sector Participation (PSP) operators, just as the government also canceled the monthly environmental sanitation exercise.
In 2016, the state government signed a $135 million agreement with a foreign firm as part of its new waste management policy, a partnership under a Public Private Partnership initiative expected to last for four years.
Also yesterday, the state government unveiled Code Lagos, which it said, would not only cultivate a savvy workforce to drive our mega-city, but would also generate employment and business opportunities.
The Special Adviser on Education, Mr. Obafela Bank-Olemoh, disclosed this in a statement, noting that the state government would mobilise up to 1,500 facilitators in 2017 alone through the initiative.
By April, the special adviser said 300 coding centre across six Education Districts in the state would be commissioned, noting that it “will mark the beginning of the CodeLagos after-school programme in both public and private schools – primary, secondary & tertiary.
“Centres will also be set up at State public libraries and other community spaces. CodeLagos is an initiative of the Lagos State Government which aims to teach one million Lagos residents to code by 2019. The program will foster necessary skills to create sustainable solutions to social challenges and create employment opportunities.”
Bank-Olemoh explained that the state government was committed “to positioning the state as the technology frontier in Africa. It is in line with the Lagos Smart City initiative in partnership with Dubai Smart City.
He said the application process, which is primarily online, entails a submission of bio-data and completion of a general assessment, while successful applicants will receive world-standard trainings on the necessary skills areas.
“Qualifying candidates must be available to participate in all the required trainings which would be provided by the state in collaboration with private sector partners within the technology sector. They must also be willing to commit at least 12 hours weekly to facilitate CodeLagos courses at designated centers upon the launch of the initiative in April.”
