On Thursday, April 14th 2016, Prince Julius Adelusi- Adeluyi, and his delegation from MTN foundation paid a courtesy visit to His Excellency, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, at the Lagos House in Alausa, Ikeja. During the courtesy visit, the MTN team lauded Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on many of the developmental programmes in the state, attributing his present success as governor to the fact that he worked his way to the top by merit and quality experience in public service which spans over 27 years.
Adeluyi, who said that Lagos had always been blessed with visionary leaders who work day and night to ensure that they get things done in the right way, said there was no doubt about the fact that the State always set the pace when it comes to driving the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
“We like to commend the Governor for efforts at driving the implementation of the Lagos State Development Agenda and there are many examples to illustrate this. For example, the Light Up Lagos Project which has been quite a success and the way you have made very good efforts to complete the various road projects outstanding and also created by you as well as the massive procurement of vehicles and equipment for the police and Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) to tackle security challenges. That is why we are here to indicate to you that MTN, through the MTN Foundation, is ready to partner with you to make Lagos a greater State and to support your efforts,” Adeluyi said.
Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi during the courtesy visit said that Lagos State is the biggest beneficiary of the MTN Foundation, stating that the foundation has invested over N1 billion invested through projects spread across the different sectors of the economy which includes, Health, economy, security, entertainment, education amongst others. He further explained that MTN Foundation in time past has made donations to ETF, medical support for the State during Ebola crisis.
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode urged corporate organizations in the country to key into the efforts of government at all levels to secure the lives and property of citizens, just as he said that development and businesses can only thrive in a peaceful atmosphere.
Governor Ambode, who said this while receiving 10 fully equipped security patrol vehicles from MTN Foundation on behalf of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSTF), said security, being an everyday issue, should not be left only for government, and that there was a strong need for the Organized Private Sector (OPS) to invest in security for greater economic prosperity.
According to him, the primary purpose of government is to protect lives and property and take care of people’s welfare, but that it was not out of place to encourage the private sector to support government so as also to protect their investments and businesses.
Governor Ambode, who said his administration since inception has not minced words in placing premium on the security and welfare of the people, restated his commitment to continue to ensure a secure, safer and prosperous Lagos.
He said: “A safer Lagos is a more productive Lagos and this administration is not mincing words in that area. We are running this administration on a tripod. The first is security of lives and property. Once we are able to do that, the environment becomes more visible for job opportunities to take place because you too will do your work and employ our people.
“Those job opportunities and the productivity that we have gotten would give us the taxes we need to improve on our infrastructure.
“You see, security is never enough. It is an everyday issue but the truth is this, we will keep our streets safer, cleaner and then we have a more prosperous Lagos and that itself will make more people to live in Lagos,” Governor Ambode said.
He thanked MTN Foundation for the massive investment in security and other Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes, and charged other corporate organizations to emulate such gesture.