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Don’t leave Lagos alone to tackle developmental challenges, say Ambode, Duke

By Gbenga Salau and Henry Ekemezie
26 May 2018   |   4:35 am
Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode and former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke have raised alarm over the danger of abandoning Lagos State to shoulder the developmental challenges posed by incessant migration from all parts of the country.

Governor Ambode. Photo: Twitter/AkinwunmiAmbode

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Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode and former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke have raised alarm over the danger of abandoning Lagos State to shoulder the developmental challenges posed by incessant migration from all parts of the country.

Warning that the continued expansion of the 24 million population within a territorial land mass of 923, 773 square kilometres is leading to huge infrastructural deficit that federal allocations and internally generated revenue have not addressed, both urged state governments to create productive economies to stem the drift to Lagos.

Duke spoke at the LEADERSHIP 2017 Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony, organized by Leadership Newspapers, where Ambode, represented by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kehinde Bamigbetan received the Governor of the Year Award. Noting that the N1.4trillion budget of the State for 2018 was too meager to fund needed infrastructures, Duke said Lagos needs support. While declaring the conference open, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo advocated that sates must operate as if they are countries.

Meanwhile, the Lagos state government yesterday revealed that about 71 per cent of the over 17,000 private schools in the state are illegal, as they have no approval to operate. Deputy Governor, Idiat Adebule, said only 5105 private schools in the state have approval. She added that the Ambode led government plans to raise the number of Lagos residents that are literate to 95 per cent from 75 per cent. She disclosed that the state has not commenced the school-feeding programme because of the high number of students in the state, which requires a lot of planning.

Furthermore, the state has disbursed a sum of N500m for people living with disabilities, (PLD), who are willing to engage in small-scale trading, subsistence farming and vocation in the state.

President of the Federation Of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN), Sariyu Ashiru disclosed this at a Community Life Project Initiative organized by a non-governmental organization, Reclaim Naija in Yaba Local Community Development Area (LCDA) tagged, “How to get Government to know our needs and to provide them effectively”. Ashiru revealed that the money was budgeted under the Lagos State Office for Disabilities Affairs (LASODA) to cater for people living with disabilities and is exclusive to individuals with the LASRA identification card within Lagos.

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