2,400 days in office: Fashola sets January 2014 date for allocation of 5,000 houses

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The 24th series of the traditional 100 days in office commemoration of the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), was held Monday in the three Senatorial Districts of the state with the governor confirming, among other things, that the long awaited allocation of houses under the State’s Home Ownership Scheme (Lagos HOMS) would finally kick off January next year.

 

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Governor Fashola, who  spoke through the Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Bosun Jeje, at the Teslim Balogun Stadium venue of the Lagos Central Senatorial District session of the event, said over 5,000 houses are now ready for allocation under the scheme, adding that there are also many other housing estates still under construction.

Responding to a question on the Scheme during the question and answer session, the Commissioner revealed that the Governor has recently approved another housing estate in Ilubirin that would contain 1,259 housing units and another one at Ibeshe in Ikorodu Local Government Area of the State.

He noted that with the frequency by which the estates come up it would not be easy to put a permanent figure on the number of houses that would be ready before the take off of the scheme but added, “The houses are not limited but we have them coming up everyday”.

“One of the campaign promises that the Governor made at that time was that he would address the problem of Housing in Lagos State. He knows it is a challenge and he promised that he would address it and he has started addressing it”, the Commissioner said.

Giving reasons for the delay in the kickoff of the allocation, the Commissioner explained further, “In actual fact, the allocation was meant to start this December but we are trying to have a sustainable programme that is why it has not started. We want to make sure that everything that needs to be done must be done before we start the allocation”.

Leader of the team of State Executive Council members at the Lagos Central Senatorial District and Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, in a presentation earlier, gave an overview of the achievements of Ministries and Government Agencies in the last 100 days saying the essence of the programme was to interact with citizens of the three Senatorial Districts to update the activities of the State Government in the last 100 days and get feedbacks on past activities and the way forward.

He said the Ministry of Science and Technology has, in the last 100 days, expanded the scope of the State’s Control and Command Centre to accommodate more calls from citizens in distress or needing emergency attention from any part of the State. The Control and Command Centre, he explained, is the place where the 211, 767 free toll calls are received and acted upon.

Noting that some people put in frivolous calls sometimes, the Commissioner advised such people to desist pointing out that by making such calls those people are delaying others who need to make emergency calls. “The lines are made strictly for emergency purposes; when there is fire, motor accidents or crime, that is the time to call”, he said.

He said the Ministry is also engaged in what he called Citizens’ Relationship Management which, according to him, entails “the signing of agreement with Microsoft so that the citizens of Lagos can complain directly to the people in Government to reduce reaction time”.

“It means that the Governor, for instance, can know through this channel how long it takes the Ministry of Works to respond to a complaint; how long it took the Ministry of Education to respond to a complaint and this will help us to know how quickly we are serving our people”, the Commissioner said.

On the Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA), the Commissioner explained that the exercise was meant to know the number of people resident in the State pointing out that it is neither a census nor for the purpose of taxation.

According to the Commissioner, “The exercise is meant to know the number of people that live in Lagos. It does not matter where you come from; whether you are Igbo or Hausa or Yoruba, once you live in Lagos. This will help us to plan infrastructure, plan hospitals, plan schools and so on and so forth. So we encourage everyone to go and register”.

On Health, Dr. Hamzat said the State Government has increased the Maternal and Child Care Centres in the State to 10 reiterating that the idea was to bring healthcare to the doorsteps of citizens.

He said within the period under review, the Government hosted the 56th National Council on Health with the theme; “The Health Sector Now and Beyond 2015” adding that a total of 92 patients were screened for limb deformation correction surgery while milk sachets were distributed to 58,600 primary one pupils in 983 primary schools in the State under the Schools Milk Programme.

The State Government also trained 520 Primary Health Care personnel on the use of Rapid Diagnostic Test Kit (RDT), commenced 15 additional Dots centre for tuberculosis treatment in all the Primary Health facilities in the State, the Commissioner said, adding that out of a total of 88,092 people screened for Diabetes and Hypertension in the 57 Council Areas in the State under the Free Hypertension and Diabetes Screening Programme, 18,842 were found to be hypertensive while 3,242 were diabetic.

Other areas covered by the Commissioner included Transportation where he said a total of 5,584 drivers have been trained in the State’s Driving Institutes across the State,   Energy and Mineral Resources where among other projects completed, Government has handed over the Ikorodu Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Skid Plant, under the Eko Gas Scheme, the Carter Bridge and Ikorodu Lighting under the Public Lighting Project, Environment and Education among others.

He was assisted during the question and answer session by other members of the team including the Commissioners for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Sola Oworu, who delivered the welcome address, Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, Housing, Mr. Bosun Jeje, Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, Physical Planning and Urban Development, TPL Olutoyin Ayinde and Special Adviser on Public Health, Dr. Yewande Adesina, among others.

Also present were Secretary to the State Government, Dr. (Mrs.) Oluranti Adebule, Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Wale Ahmed, Body of Permanent Secretaries, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Raji, the first Military Administrator of the State, Brig. Gen. Mobolaji Johnson and Chief Molade Okoya Thomas, among other dignitaries.

At the Lagos West Senatorial District session held at Abibat Mogaji Memorial Millennium Secondary School, Iloro, Agege, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaiye who led a team of members of the Executive Council said Government has been able to spread its projects evenly across the State pointing out that if a particular area has not been touched by a completed road, it must have a completed school project or a drainage.

He reiterated that no particular government can finish all forms of projects at one swoop but would only be able to accomplish it to an appreciable level before it moves on. He assured all those who complained of pending projects in their areas that such projects would be completed.

The Attorney General who listed some of the roads that have been completed in the last 100 days to include Ajana Street, Folarin Street, Kereke-Owo Street, Olanibi Street, Akinlawon Street and Badejo Kalesanwo Street, said more roads were still in various stages of completion.

On Transportation, the Commissioner stated that a year after the commencement of the operation of the State’s Traffic Law, there has been an enormous drop in crime rate especially through commercial motorcycle riders.

He added that the law has also opened new vistas of business as new buses are coming into the business of transportation to convey more people thereby creating more jobs for the people adding that in the last 100 days more traffic light signals are being installed at different location across the State.

In the health sector, Ipaiye informed that the former Ayinke House has been upgraded to a 130 bed maternity centre with additional modern facilities just as the State is also embarking on public screening on health for public servants in addition to free medical health missions for the residents.

He added that Maternal and Child Care Specialist hospitals with 110 bed capacity each have been completed in areas like Ikorodu, Ifako- Ijaiye, Isolo, Ajeromi- Ifelodun and Surulere while several others are in various stages of completion.

In education, he stated that the State has provided nine million free textbooks already while 354,478 school furniture have been delivered in an ongoing process just as 33, 653 teachers furniture have also been provided.

In terms of agriculture and Cooperatives, the Attorney General said the Ministry is in the process of revalidating cooperative  societies “because the figures the State is   working with is incorrect as several of the societies have changed names and still have the old ones in the records of the State”.

He said huge progress has been made on the AGRIC-YES programme of the State that has seen the production of several new farmers who have also been empowered thereby creating a new set of successful mechanized farmers.

While responding to some of the questions raised at the parley, the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Prince Segun Oniru, said Lagos already has a policy on water transportation which is about identifying water routes that have to be dredged to permit operation by ferries and boats.

He stated that currently government is working on Badore to Osborne to Marina route, Ikorodu-Osborne to Marina route and Ijegun to Abule-Ojo route while the Ijegun to Badagry route is in the pipeline.

Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, who responded to questions on the application of the school health programme, explained that all the school pupils in the State are the responsibility of the State and as such the pupils in private schools would not be excluded from benefitting from the exercise.

On complaints that some areas in the State are not getting enough registration points for the LASRRA exercise, Mr. Ipaiye said the complain underscores the basic essence of the exercise which is to determine accurately the number of people living in a particular area, adding that the complaints would be addressed.

On pleas by one of the participants for the State to ensure full implementation of the Tenancy Law as the law is still being circumvented by several property owners, the Attorney General said the law has already been enacted and much of the success of its implementation depended on the will of the people to insist at all times on what is right.

“Tenancy Law is a private arrangement in which a third party cannot interfere unless he is informed, the Commissioner said adding that Government can only act when it receives complaints about violations of the law.

He also used the occasion to drum up support for the on- going residents registration exercise through the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency(LASRRA) adding that it is about ensuring that all governmental plans are based on meticulous planning.

He added that it is in the best interest of each adult resident of the State to participate in the exercise and ensure that he is registered as registration points are available in all Local Government and Local Council Development Areas

Likewise at the Lagos East Senatorial District, another team of members of the State Executive Council led by the Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello briefed Lagosians on how far the present administration has succeeded in delivering the dividends.

Mr. Tunji Bello who was supported at the Shomolu Local Government Secretariat by members of the Executive Council like Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, said it is high time all tertiary education graduates embrace the various employment schemes of the State Government including the AGRIC-YES that would make them employers of labour rather than employees.

He added that there are also skills acquisition centres in the State where youths are trained on all sorts of handwork such as shoemaking, carpentry work, tailoring, repairs of refrigerators which are all designed to expand job opportunities for the youths.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, said the decision to decentralize the 2,400 days edition was so as the  people would have an opportunity to interact with members of the administration in their constituencies.

He said the 100 days concept has brought about good governance such that everybody is on the same page as government is very transparent about what it is doing with the people’s mandate and the people are also happy that the government is not hiding anything from them.

Those who were present at the Lagos West Senatorial District parley include Commissioners for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Prince Adesegun Oniru, Tourism, Mr Disun Holloway, Local Government, Prince Ademorin Kuye, Head of Service, Mrs. Seyi Williams, Health, Dr Jide Idris, Home Affairs, Hon Oyinlomo Danmole, Science and Technology, Mr Adebiyi Mabadeje and Special Advisers of Central Business District(CBD), Mrs. Derin Disu, Youth and Social Development, Dr Dolapo Badru, Education, Otunba Fatai Olukoga and Political and Legislative Matters, Mr. Muslim Folami and members of the public who trooped out in their large numbers.

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