 |
Governor
Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State
|
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of
Lagos State on Monday, said he would banish yellow commercial buses from Lagos
roads this year.
 |
| Danfo Buses - ubiquitous and chaotic |
Ambode
spoke at the 14th Annual Lecture of the Centre for Value and Leadership with
theme: “Living Well Together, Tomorrow: The Challenge of Africa’s Future
Cities” held in Lagos.
Ambode
said that connectivity was a critical element for a mega city to work, which
required having mass transit system to move people from one point to another.
“I
tell you what, I want to banish yellow buses from Lagos this year.
“My
dream of ensuring that Lagos becomes a true megacity will not be actualized
with the presence of these yellow buses on Lagos roads,” Ambode said.
The
governor said there was still a lot more to be achieved as regard making Lagos
one of the vibrant cities of the world.
According
to Ambode, cities are the most attractive destination for those who want to realize
their dreams.
He
said that to this end, there was the need for government to be proactive in
providing and expanding infrastructure, connectivity, other services to
accommodate them.
“It
is estimated that 86 immigrants enter Lagos every hour – the highest in any
city in the world – and they have no plans to leave.
“This
is because Lagos has remained over time, and most especially in the last
decade, the most attractive destination for those who want to realize and live
their Nigerian dream.
“This
ever increasing population of the state however means that we have to be on our
toes to provide facilities for this more than 23 million population,” Ambode
said.
He
said that government was also embarking on massive reform in waste management
system, expressing optimism that the plan would be fully actualized by July.
“We
are also embarking on massive reform in the waste and sanitation management
system.
“I
don’t like the way this city is and the Private Sector Participants (PSP)
collectors are not having enough capacity to do it, but again should I tax
people to death? The answer is no.
“I
don’t want to tax people and so, we need this partnership with the private
sector so that they can invest in the sanitation management of the city and in
no time, maybe by July, the city will change forever,” he said.
The
governor said that the main objective of his administration remained the growth
of the Lagos economy from fifth to third largest economy in Africa.
On
power, Ambode said the major issue had always been with transmission and
advocated an embedded power initiative that would allow clusters of Independent
Power Projects (IPP) to run the cities.
He
said that he had remained focused on some issues such as infrastructure,
security, job creation, power, adoption of technology as an enabler and driving
investment through ease of doing business.
The
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CVL, Professor Pat Utomi said that Lagos was
thriving because of 18 years of good governance and ability to sustain the
economy without and beyond oil.
Utomi said that with the theme, it was appropriate to expose the young people easily to leadership skills as future leaders, describing leadership as a sacrificial giving of oneself to the advancement of common good.
No comments:
Post a Comment