Lagos lauds The Guardian’s new business drive, others

Says it is a partner in progress

The Guardian has again been commended for moving in line with the new thinking in the dissemination of information as a media platform.It has done this effectively especially with the setting up of The Guardian TV as well as its high presence on the internet and social media, according to the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos State, Steve Ayorinde.

He noted that it takes courage and deep thinking for today’s media managers to make decisions to keep being relevant as print platforms, revealing that he reads and follows The Guardian tweets.

Ayorinde was not surprised that The Guardian has taken solid steps to make its social media platforms and online presence more active because looking at the sector’s landscape, any newspaper that wants to remain relevant must go that way. According to him, this is also because any media house that misses it now, will likely miss it forever, as the future being talked about belongs to digital age that is here now.

Ayorinde, who came to The Guardian with key officers of the state Ministry of Information and Strategy, said that he was on a thank-you visit because the platform has provided solid support for the government.

He described The Guardian as a partner in progress especially as the governor is working assiduously to deliver good governance.The Guardian editors and others who received the delegation took on Ayorinde on a number of issues that they wanted the state government to take action on. The issues ranged from the eyesore that the boisterous Ladipo Market in Mushin has become, ban on street trading and hawking and the failure of the government to deal decisively with touting by people who operate as transport unions; the cumbersome process in getting Certificate of Occupancy; the aggressive Internally Generated Revenue drive that seems to be targeted at formal businesses leaving out a pool of the informal sector; local government election and redevelopment of markets across local governments in the state.

Ayorinde meticulously answered the questions, stressing that the government means well for the populace and everybody who means well for the state should support it.
On street trading and hawking, Ayorinde stated that the ban was being enforced on highways and major streets. He said that the law was not for those who engaged in street trading but also those who patronise them to discourage the practice.

According to him, the more the state government tries to clean the system, there seems to be a counter-force slowing down the effort, not wanting it to achieve its set objectives. He assured the editors that government was working assiduously to deal with the issue of land grabbers. This is the reason it has a law in the making though even before it comes on stream, there are dedicated lines which aggrieved persons can call for government intervention. He said that a unit has been created in the state land bureau to specifically handle issues and treat complaints on grabbing pending when the law to criminalise the action comes alive. He stressed that once the law comes on stream, the issue of selling land to more than one person would end.

Speaking on whether the state would liberalise the issuing of Certificate of Occupancy, the commissioner said that though the government has done so to an extent but because land is the gold of Lagos, the government must be careful in the way it goes about it, which is probably why the process still seems cumbersome to some residents.

On the advice that the state should spread its tax payers net to include people not yet captured instead over-labouring those already paying with multiple taxes, Ayorinde noted that though there are complaints of multiple taxation, the present administration had driven up its IGR through encouraging the people to do self-assessment of what they should and it has yielded result with the state not only experiencing increased compliance, but also an increment in its revenue.

He promised that the local government election would hold though he did not provide any specific date but insisted that a committee set up by the governor for the purpose is made up of people with impeccable character who should be allowed to do their job.

Earlier, the Editor of The Guardian, Mr. Abraham Ogbodo, welcoming Ayorinde to Rutam House, noted that it is a home-coming for the commissioner who started his journalism career in the flagship as Arts Reporter. The Editor commended the humility exhibited by the commissioner noting that it was what endeared him to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

“I am proud of him and happy because he listens, and is willing to engage. There are controversies about him, but he is handling them well,” Ogbodo said of the governor.
He appealed to the governor to pay more attention to areas with bad roads, especially, Ladipo Market and Ajao Estate. He, however, noted that all the issues cannot be solved in one tenure, as it is work in process.