Lagos Seeks More Private Sector Support

Lagos Seeks More Private Sector Support

Hamid Ayodeji

The Lagos State Government (LASG) has called for more support from the organised private sector (OPS) to help bridge the infrastructure gap in the state.

The state stressed that it is open for credible partnership that would impact the lives of people and the Lagos business community positively.

The Governor, Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, disclosed this at the inauguration of the renovated Resettlement Community Primary Healthcare Centre and Resettlement Community Junior Secondary School, courtesy of the Redeemed Christian Church of God’s(RCCG) Christian Social Responsibility (CSR) projects at the Ajah area of Lagos state.

He said the ceremony was a testament of a credible partnership that works
With the private sector. “Today’s commissioning is not about me, not about the church, it is about the children, the community that will use the facilities. This is also a testament of how partnership can work.

“It is about understanding what governance is truly about. Governance is about giving opportunities to help people govern. “I want to reach out to other corporate organisations, religious bodies to use what the church has done today as a testimony for others to also
identify what they can do in their community.

“It is not all about what government can do for the people, but what we can do to support
government. We are not going to shy away from our responsibilities. “Our main responsibility is to ensure that we provide security of lives and property for every citizen that is staying in our state,” he said. According to him, “We must also give people the opportunity to do well, create a better future for our children.

“We are going to be very big in education and health and that is why when we see opportunities like this, when the private sector is partnering with us, we will not shy
away from it. We will make sure that every child that is of school age will be provided the opportunity to attend a school right next to them.” Earlier, the assistant Pastor-in-Charge, RCCG Region20 and Pastor-in-Charge, Lagos Province 46, Kayode Pitan, said the projects worth over N180 million was aimed towards improving the quality of living in the Ajah community.

He said the projects included the rehabilitation of the Resettlement
Community Primary Healthcare Centre, stocking the centre with
drug supplies, and employment and remuneration of staff of the centre
for one year; as well as the design and construction of 12 standard
classroom blocks at the Resettlement Community Junior Secondary School, among others.

“The decision to build the school was in response to the
lack of any public schools in the area, which made children to
travel considerable distances to attend school, exposing them to
dangers like road accidents,” he added.

Group Urges Buhari, Others to End Poverty, Unemployment
Peter Uzoho

A group, under the aegis of Nigerian Economic Society (NES), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to assemble a
team of versatile economists who are vast in policy formulation and
implementation to tackle poverty and unemployment ravaging the
country.

The NES made the call in Abuja, during a press briefing ahead of its
60th Annual Conference slated for September 16, 2019. They noted that
it was high time ministers, judicial officers, National Assembly
members and other government functionaries came together to find
lasting solution to varying degrees of challenge facing the country.
The President of NES, Prof. Tamunopriye Agioberebo, who was represented
at the briefing by a member and lecturer at the University of Abuja,
Prof. Sarah Anyanwu, expressed concern of members about the
increase in poverty and unemployment rate in Africa.

Agioberebo, explained that the conference with the theme: “Economic
Policies and Quality of Life in Africa”, has been structured in a way
that would proffer solutions to numerous challenges facing African
countries particularly Nigeria.

He expressed concerns about how quality of life has been a mirage in most
African countries, saying, “the burgeoning rate of unemployment, all
largely serve to corroborate the argument of an existence of huge and
significant disconnect between the growth rate of Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) per capita and the quality of life indicators.”

According to him, “The country’s low life expectancy at birth, which
averaged a mere 53 years between 2010 and 2017, low adult literacy
rate, which averaged 66.9 per cent between 2010 and 2017, high and
disturbingly rising incidence of poverty which averaged about 77.6 per
cent between 2010 and 2017, the burgeoning rate of unemployment, all
largely serve to corroborate the argument of an existence of huge and
significant disconnect between the growth rate of GDP per capita and
the quality of life indicators.

“Sixty years down the line since the first Annual Conference of the
Nigerian Economic Society, and with the African Development Bank’s
renewed interest in rekindling the theoretical and empirical discourse
on Quality of Life indicators, coupled with the bank’s renewed
interest in the practice of using Quality of Life indicators to
evaluate the socio-economic outcomes of developmental policies,
programmes and financing as encapsulated in the fifth of the bank’s
high five priority areas which is aptly captured as “Improve the
quality of life for the people of Africa”.

‘Why FG Closed Nigeria’s Borders’
Hammed Shittu in Ilorin.
The Assistant Comptroller General of Customs (ACG), Aliyu Dahiru, has shed more light on the recent closure of Nigeria border posts by the federal government.

According to him, the initiative was to check insecurity, boost economy by protecting nation’s industries and health of the people. He, however, vowed not to spare anyone caught in acts of smuggling goods into the country.
Dahiru, who is ACG in charge of Customs Inspection, Investigation and Enforcement, Abuja and head of special task force on Joint Border Operation Drill(JBOD) for north- central zone of the country disclosed this in Ilorin, Kwara state capital while addressing newsmen on the state of the nation recently.
He also said all the goods including the rice seized from Mount Olive Warehouse in Ilorin, by the Special Task Force recently werre presently being investigated at the Customs headquarters.

He explained that the special task force set up to mount surveillance in the six zones of the country was to check proliferation of arms that made the nation unsecured, check illegal importation of rice and second hand clothes as well as exportation of petroleum products out of the country.
“Nigeria has played the role of big brother and this is making the country stagnant and that is why the special task force comprised of men and officers from different security forces including the Army, Airforce, Customs, Immigration and State Security Services is set up to check proliferation of arms, illegal importation of banned goods like rice, second hand clothes and other banned products.”

Dahiru, said the task force that operated in the north-central zone had intercepted 600 drums of petroleum products and 16,000 empty drums in Chikanda, 629 bags of rice in Ilorin both in Kwara state. He said 20 vehicles loaded with imported rice were seized in Niger state, while another consignment of rice were seized in Afikpo in Bende local government of Benue state.

Speaking on the alleged breaking into the warehouse of Mount Olive Nigeria Limited, Ojatuntun in Baboko area, Ilorin, the ACG said the task force acted on intelligence report it received before entering the warehouse adding, “we have the right to break into any premises and we have the power to search and seize anything we found there.”

Dahiru, said the taskforce seized 659 bags of rice, 29 brunch,32 empty bags and sealing machine.
” We are operating professionally, but after the operation at the warehouse, there was a protest where they labelled our men as armed robbers and an allegation that we collected money from them, Customs headquarters is investigating the allegations and if the allegations are not true, they will be prosecuted,” the ACG said.

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