…Says Govt To Deliver Two Roads In Each Council
…Urges Executive Secretaries To Get Involved In Their Communities
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Monday unveiled plans to commence the reconstruction of two roads in each of the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas in the State, just as he charged the Executive Secretaries to judiciously ensure that the projects meet international standard.
The Governor spoke at the Lagos House, Ikeja during the monthly meeting with the Executive Secretaries of the 57 Councils to review the progress report in their various communities as well as their challenges.
He said the decision to embark on the road rehabilitation was in line with the reforms at the local government level, noting that the first phase will commence with the reconstruction of 114 roads, two per local government, at the cost of N19billion.
The Governor, who said the execution of the project will be left in the care of the local governments, however tasked the Executive Secretaries to ensure that only the best contractors are engaged to ensure that the prescribed standard is met on all the roads.
“We expect you to create jobs in your communities and get our people employed on these projects”, he said.
Governor Ambode said that the ongoing reforms in the councils are geared towards making them more effective and deliver better service to their communities, saying that the new structure which has become operational will go a long way to reduce cost of governance.
“With this new structure, a lot is expected from you, the Executive Secretaries. You are the face of the government in your communities. Your people must know you and you must know the people”.
“You must have a good knowledge of their challenges and be able to, jointly with them, proffer solutions that the government can implement. You should live with your people. There is no reason why an Executive Secretary of a Local Government should live outside his community”, he said.
He reminded the Executive Secretaries that the performance of the administration will be judged by their performance, urging them to improve on sanitation, primary healthcare delivery, primary education, local government roads and community security in their Councils.
He also charged them to utilise the various channels of communication to improve the level of participation between the Community Development Committees (CDCs) Community Development Associations (CDAs), Local Councils, Local Governments and the State Government.
“This chain of communication must be fluid and information should flow either way. You have created websites; we have erected boundary demarcation sign posts and created phone lines for easier access to the Local Governments and Councils. We expect all these to ensure better communication with your communities and for the people to know which Local Governments they reside in”, he said.
The Governor also reiterated his promise to run an inclusive government and return governance to the communities, saying it was the surest way to give the people a stake in governance.
“This is a government of continuity with improvement. As such our people must feel that improvement. They must experience that improvement. They can only feel it if you are dedicated to serve them. As we work on ways to improve the lives of our people, I charge you all to get involved in your communities. You must live with your community and you should be accessible to them”.
“Community Governance should be our priority as we have promised. We can only consider our administration a success if we can touch the lives of all our citizens positively in any community they reside. That is the challenge facing you and I”, he said.