I am delighted to be in the historic town of Badagry today. We continue to move the train of our community engagement and rendition of our account of stewardship round the three Senatorial Zones. It is again the turn of the West Senatorial Zone.

Today’s town Hall meeting, the fourth in the series gives us the opportunity to meet with the people of Lagos State to hear directly from you about your needs and suggestions on how we can serve you better.

Since the last quarter, we have undertaken and executed a number of social impact projects, cutting across all sectors despite the current global harsh economic realities.

A comprehensive list of our modest achievements in the last quarter are enumerated in the programme brochure. However, for emphasis, I will just mention a few.

Security

Our government procured and donated additional equipment to our security agencies in the last quarter. The Nigeria Police, Customs, Immigration Services, the Army, Airforce, Navy, DSS, AIG Zone 2, Civil Defence Corps, Federal Road Safety Corps, LASTMA, NDLEA, Lagos State Task Force and the Nigeria Prison Services were all beneficiaries.

We also commissioned the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA) Rescue Unit facility with a specially designed dispatch centre to respond to emergency cases across the State, the first of its kind in Nigeria. An outpost of the Emergency Response Unit will be situated between Ojo and Badagry in this quarter with two other outposts in Fadeyi and Lekki axis also.

INFRASTRUCTURE

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of the 38km, Fourth Mainland Bridge, was signed in the last quarter. This bridge which will connect Ikorodu to Ajah will be executed through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement and is expected to be delivered within the next three years.

The Iyana-Oworo Bus park project embarked upon by our administration to decongest traffic on the Third Mainland Bridge is nearing completion and is already yielding fruitful results.

Work has commenced on the Ultra-Modern Oshodi Interchange in line with our vision to transform Oshodi into a world class transport hub.

Several road projects were completed in the last quarter while others are at various stages of completion. Some of the most significant include:

• Ajara/Agelasho/Poka/Erekiti road in Badagry Local Government Area.
• Construction of Aradagun-Iworo Ajido Phase I Bridge in Badagry Local Government Area.
• The construction of Flyover at Ajah roundabout along the Lekki Expressway and Abule-Egba junction along Lagos-Abeokuta expressway.
• The construction of Pedestrian bridge at Ojodu

-Berger

In the period under review, the Oko-Oba Housing Scheme, comprising a total of 108 Units located on a land area of 15,785.632 sq.m has been completed and offered for sale. We have commenced the process of completing the Ibereko Housing project in Badagry.

JOB CREATION

We signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Lagos Smart City with the operators of the Dubai Smart City. This agreement is expected to bring multi-billion dollar investments to the State, create employment opportunities and transform the Ibeju-Lekki axis and the entire Lagos State.

We have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the Lagos State Medical Park. This initiative will bring more investment which will create jobs and make Lagos a destination for medical tourism.

The Employment Trust Fund would commence disbursement of funds in this quarter to our various artisans, entrepreneurs and unemployed youths to make life better for all.

LAGOS AT 50

We officially launched the celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the creation of our State in the last quarter. The events calendar for this celebration will be unveiled soon and we expect all Lagosians to be part of this.

ANALYSIS OF THE BUDGET AT HALF YEAR

The overall Budget performance as at Half Year was 70% which is an improvement over the corresponding period in 2015 when the performance stood at 63%.

Revenue recorded 73% performance for the half year 2016 despite the challenging economic environment. Your Government spent a total of N115.624bn on Capital projects during the half year 2016 leading to the Capital/Recurrent ratio of 50:50 with the plan to improve this ratio to 58:42 provided for in 2016 Appropriation Law in the remaining half of the year.

SOCIAL WELFARE AND RULE OF LAW

As a government, we are committed to the welfare of all our people without discrimination, especially our vulnerable ones. In line with provisions of Section 12, of the Special People’s Law, we launched the Lagos State Persons Living with Disability Fund with N500million. This fund will be for the advancement of the cause of persons living with disabilities.

We have also set up a Special Task Force to curb the excesses of “land grabbers” in the State. The public is expected to send petitions through the Office of the Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice to Task Force for prompt remedy.

This administration has a zero tolerance for issues relating to domestic violence and child abuse and will not relent until the scourge is reduced to the barest minimum.

OUTLOOK FOR NEXT QUARTER

In the next quarter, amongst other things we will focus on the following areas:

HEALTH

We have commenced a comprehensive action to rehabilitate and upgrade the facilities in all our hospitals. Modern equipment will be procured to facilitate treatment and we will invest in capacity building of our medical staff.  We intend to spend over N10bn on our hospitals across the State before December this year.

We will recruit and train medical professionals in areas of rare specialization and special needs.

EDUCATION

This administration will establish a Technical and Vocational School in Badagry. The ground breaking will be done in September this year. In addition, we will upgrade the infrastructure in all our schools starting from this month of July. All our Primary and Secondary schools will be upgraded to create conducive learning environment for students and teachers. Another N10bn has been earmarked for this facelift of our Secondary and Primary schools across the State.

We have recruited a total of 1,300 teachers for our Primary Schools. In the next two weeks we will start recruiting 1,000 teachers for our Secondary Schools across the State.

YOUTH AND SPORTS

In this quarter we will embark on the upgrading of sports facilities in the State. We will support and promote age-grade competitions and sponsor outstanding athletes to national and international training and competitions.

THE ELDERLY

This administration will pay greater attention to issues concerning the elderly. We will sponsor bills to the House of Assembly which will make specific provisions for the elderly in our society and create a framework for care for the aged. Our priority is to commence the provision of 3 Elderly Care centres across the Three Senatorial Zones and further urge the private sector for support and collaboration thereafter.

CONCLUSION

Ladies and Gentlemen, our government remains committed to improve the economy of Lagos State and the well-being of the citizenry.  Our duty is to protect lives and property and to ensure the welfare of all Lagosians.

As we do that, I implore you to take ownership of all government properties located in your area because they are our common wealth. Remember to pay your taxes as and when due in order to enjoy more dividends of democracy.

On our part, we will continue to ensure judicious utilization of the resources of the state by executing projects that will outlive us and affirm our position as a Centre of Excellence.

Thank you.

Itesiwaju Ipinle Eko, lo je wa logun.

Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode

Governor of Lagos State

12^th July 2016