Press Releases

Fashola To Lagosians On 1,300 Days: "We Remain Commited To Service For A Brighter Rewarding Future"
• Over 7,338 Lagos students nationwide get bursary awards
• 15,000 title deeds ready for distribution to government estate allottees

Dec 19, 2010 - In keeping with the tradition of his administration since inception, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), at the weekend rendered his stewardship in the last 1,300 days in office pledging his commitment to service of Lagosians for a brighter rewarding future.

Choosing the medium of a Statewide broadcast to mark the 13th hundred days in office of his administration, Governor Fashola also urged the people to remain vigilant , live in peaceful coexistence and be ready to participate fully in the Voters Registration exercise that would commence early next year.

"Let me assure you all that your Government remains committed to service for a brighter and rewarding future for the remaining 160 days of this tenure", Governor Fashola said.

Reviewing the milestones covered by the administration in the last 100 days which started on September 10, 2010, Governor Fashola listed the expansion of the frontiers of the Contributory Pension Law and its accompanying reforms as one of the most significant developments saying it was signposted by the issuance of bonds valued in excess of N1 billion to 110 pensioners.

According to the Governor, "this is the first set of bonds ever issued in Nigeria to any set of pensioners whether employed by the State or Federal Government since the Pension Reform Law was enacted", adding that the reform were meant to secure the future of public servants in a more assuring manner".

"It pleases me to assert that the Centre of Excellence is the pack leader in demonstrating its commitment to the welfare of its public servants, not only while they are in service but long after they have left office and for the entire period of their life", the Governor explained.

Noting, however, that the overt sensitivity and response of his administration to the welfare of the public servants has not spared the State from the spate of labour disputes currently raging across the country, Governor Fashola, who pledged the commitment of the Government to improving the welfare of its workers, said the Government has set up a State Commission to review wages and salaries as a solution to the agitations.

The administration, Governor Fashola said, in the last 100 days also formally commissioned the El-Sewedy Nigeria Limited, the transformer manufacturing joint venture Company between the State Government and the Egyptian company based in Badagry adding that operations have already commenced in the company with the provision of jobs to the local people.

"Indeed, we have started receiving orders of transformers from other states to whom I extend gratitude for their patronage", the Governor said adding that within the same period, the Government also launched the Lagos Ignite Programme in partnership with the Afterschool Graduate Development Centre (AGDC) to provide "employability conversion training for our young graduates in order to get them jobs or re-orientate them towards areas where their skills are in need".

The Governor also listed the successful hosting of the Harvard University Programme of Innovation for Economic Development (IFED) in Lagos in which, according to him, 42 people from the private and public sectors participated and benefited as well as the formal inauguration of the Lagos Junior League, a football competition of young people still in school.

"It was our innovation towards ensuring that our children can receive a good education, participate in sports and also get financial reward that will help them manage their day-to-day needs", Governor Fashola explained.

Another significant milestone covered during the period, according to the Governor, was the approval by the State Government of the payment of bursaries to all students of Lagos State origin totaling N360,860,180.80 with 3,546 students in the State's University (LASU), 2,049 students in other universities across the country, 957 students in various Polytechnics and 786 students in various Colleges of education and in the Nigerian Law School as beneficiaries.

Expressing joy that many of the policies initiated by the administration in support of improving education are beginning to manifest noticeable, gradual success, Governor Fashola listed the Eko Secondary Education Project which was inaugurated with the World Bank as one of such initiatives.

He quoted a recent World Bank report on the project as saying, "The report of the supervision noted in part the emergence of very good results from the Lagos Project Students Standardized Tests in English, Mathematics and Science which improved dramatically in the recent end of year tests compared to the baseline assessments done at the beginning of last year"

"According to the World Bank supervision, the rating of the implementation performance is 'highly satisfactory' and in their opinion, '…the strong showing in the first year gives us the hope that over the life of this project, we will see more dramatic improvements' ", the Governor said.

On roads, Governor Fashola, who noted that as a result of the last severe rainfall in the country, roads in the State suffered from wear and tear, however, declared, "Your Government has been proactive in its planning and preparation, using the period of inclement weather not only to do innovative repairs and intervention, but to strengthen the road maintenance agency, the Public Works Corporation to respond more aggressively".

"I am pleased to announce that the Corporation, during the last 100 days, took delivery of the equipment it procured during the rainy season which included 10 new tractors, tipping trailers, 13 pickup trucks, asphalt cutters, six new rollers and some floodlights to enable it work at night", Governor Fashola said, adding that the impact of work is already being felt across the State.

He said 44 new roads would be completed within the next six months while 60 new roads are at various stages of work across the State adding that work is already going on with regards to road construction in areas like Ibeshe, Agiliti, Mushin, Idi-Araba, Ilasamaja, Igbo-Elerin among others.

Governor Fashola said the final solution to the Urban Mass Transit challenge of the State, the Lagos Light Rail Project, has taken off and construction of the first phase has started from Eric Moore end of the Lagos Badagry Expressway.

Other achievements made by the administration in the last 100 days include the preparation of no less than 15,000 title deeds out of the total number to be distributed to an estimated 22,000 citizens who initially had only letters of allocation for over 25 years as their only proof of ownership of their residents as well as the graduation of the first 200 youth farmers under the Lagos Agric-YES Scheme.

On the foreign scene, Governor Fashola said the State, within the last 100 days, was represented at the Annual Meeting of the World Health Organization, Kobe Centre for Public Health Development in Japan where he delivered the keynote address to an audience that was representative of over 120 countries from different regions of the world.

"In the same period, I led representatives of our Government to deliver a keynote address to students, architects and Town Planners of world renown at the London School of Economics where we were invited to share the experiences of the challenges and sanctions involved in managing our State", Governor Fashola said.

Wishing all Lagos residents "a merry Christmas and a prosperous Year 2011", Governor Fashola declared, "We have already prepared and submitted for consideration of the State House of Assembly, the estimates of Year 2011 Budget that will enable us continue our transformation of our dear State".