‘Why we are tackling infrastructure challenges in Lagos holistically’

The new political leadership in Lagos State will be giving credence to the Lagos City master plan, which is poised to improve on the state of infrastructure and buoy the welfare of Lagosians, going by the statement of the Deputy-Governor Elect, Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat.

Speaking at the 19th yearly lecture/luncheon of the Obafemi Awolowo Muslim Graduates Association (UNIFEMGA) held in Lagos, Hamzat said plans are on to make Lagos a 21st century economy through education, technology and health.

He commended the association for its untiring devotion to issues of national development helping to proffer solutions to these challenges.

He said: “Lagos can be an innovation and technology hub of West Africa. By aggressively pursuing public private partnership.. We will set up incubation labs in all the senatorial districts and train young people how to code and assist them in getting viable employment.

“Our goal is to create a pipeline for Lagos to supply the world with high quality people in technology ecosystem. In addition, we will take advantage of the TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) structure to educate, train and encourage innovation” he stated.

Hamzat said more people would have access to private health care, adding: “We also believe that health is important, currently we have about 3000 private health facilities in the state. The insurance scheme will allow more people to have access to private health care. In addition, we also considering having the private sector assist in operations and maintenance of primary health care facilities.

He said, as far as infrastructure expansion, there is already a Lagos master plan in place. “The Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration is committed to a greater Lagos. We will not need to reinvent the wheel but rather just build on the good work of our predecessors.

“Lagos infrastructure growth is strategic, it is not by happenstance. In as much as I have already outlined Nigeria’s potential to be a global economic player, I am not being immodest when I say that Lagos State is the key to that growth.

“During our numerous town halls, traffic management was a recurring theme we immediately responded by commissioning feasibility studies to identify the major traffic bottlenecks across the state. We have identified over 60 traffic gridlocks that will receive our urgent and immediate intervention through a more efficient integration of the road, rail and water transport system” he said.

The Chairman UNIFEMGA, Lagos Chapter, Goke Qasim Adeyemi, said the topic has been chosen to address the huge deficits in the areas of human development, energy and enabling infrastructure in Nigeria.

He said: “The current global economy indicates that human development is fast becoming a central issue in the area of sustainable development due to its indispensable nature in the enhancement of sustaining the development goals.”

In this case, developing countries, including Nigeria, now see the reason to align their infrastructural growth with human development growth which is particularly crucial in building a sustainable economy”.