Echotitbits – Nigeria News

Tag: Governor Sanwo-Olu

  • Buhari, Tinubu, Sanwo-Olu, Abiodun Felicitate with Senator Oluremi Tinubu @ 60

    Buhari, Tinubu, Sanwo-Olu, Abiodun Felicitate with Senator Oluremi Tinubu @ 60

    President Muhammadu Buhari, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and his Ogun State counterpart, Dapo Abiodun, have felicitated with a lawmaker, representing Lagos Central Senatorial District, Oluremi Tinubu, on her 60th birthday anniversary.

    Oluremi Tinubu, a former First Lady of Lagos State, turns 60 today (September 21).

    Buhari, in his warm felicitations, joined family, friends and political associates “to celebrate the milestone, adorned by many years of service to the nation and humanity.”

    The President saluted the senator, who has been re-elected three times to represent Lagos Central Senatorial District, “for her courage and tenacity in many daunting situations, and remaining consistent in her passion for inclusivity, particularly as it relates to women and children, who constitute majority of the population, yet rank high on vulnerability.”

    Buhari noted “with gratitude, the loyalty and dedication of Senator Tinubu to the growth of the governing party, All Progressives Congress, and her contributions to strengthening leadership structures at various levels, always providing wise counsels and advocating middle ground reconciliation in favour of greater good for greater majority.”

    As the senator turns 60, the President believed “the stage for better and more rewarding service has been set, with all the experiences gathered over the years from Lagos State Government House, and as a ranking member the National Assembly.”

    Buhari, in his statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, prayed for “strength, good health and wisdom for the graceful matriarch of the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu family.”

    Also celebrating his darling wife, Asiwaju Tinubu described her as his strongest ally and supporter through the most difficult moments.

    According to him, “You have been my strongest ally and supporter through even the harshest and most difficult times, which is a separate chapter in itself, reflecting your perseverance, endurance and independent character.

    “The darkest days of my political exile were made easier by your presence by my side, even though very difficult for our children, as we struggled together for the return of democracy to our land and the hope of a better Nigeria…”

    On his part, Sanwo-Olu on behalf of the good people of Lagos State and his wife, Ibijoke, heartily congratulated Senator Tinubu on the occasion of her 60th birthday.

    He described the senator as an amazing amazon, whose name is synonymous to social justice and a voice of the voiceless.

    “Our Dear Amazon, attaining the age of 60 years in grace and elegance is worth celebrating.

    “Over the years, you have emblazoned your name as an advocate of social justice, a philanthropist and a voice of the voiceless.

    “As the lawmaker representing Lagos Central Senatorial District, your input to national growth is a pragmatic testament of visionary leadership.

    “Through your pet projects, Spelling Bee and the New Era Foundation, you became a reference point in women and youth development in the country.

    “On this landmark 60th birthday, I pray for continued God’s guidance and more of your service to humanity, Lagos and our country.

    “Happy 60th Birthday to an Amazing Amazon,” Sanwo-Olu said.

    To Ogun State Governor, attaining 60 is a huge milestone for anyone, saying he’s proud of the legacies of former First Lady of Lagos State in statecraft as a ranking senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    Abiodun said: “I heartily felicitate you on the auspicious occasion of your Diamond Jubilee Birthday. This is, no doubt, an important landmark in your very eventful life.

    “Turning 60 is a huge milestone for anyone. You have many things to be grateful for after living your life for six decades and justified that you are an Ogun State icon of excellence as educationist, administrator, entrepreneur, philanthropist and political icon.

    “As First Lady in Lagos State, your New Era Foundation remains a reference for others on youth development, girl child education, women empowerment and for inspiring young persons to excellence.

    “We are also proud of your legacies in statecraft as a ranking Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “We pray that as you join the Diamond League, God Almighty will grant you grace of many more years in the service of humanity, in good health and with renewed vigour to hold the banner of excellence in progressive politics.”

    Idowu Sowunmi

  • Collapse: Sanwo-Olu orders integrity test on schools’ buildings above two storeys

    Collapse: Sanwo-Olu orders integrity test on schools’ buildings above two storeys

    Following the collapse of a school building in Ejigbo area in the early hours of Saturday, integrity tests will now be carried out on both public and private schools with buildings of three floors and above in Lagos State.

    Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu gave the directive to the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development at a press briefing in the State House on Saturday

    According to the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako, the move became necessary in order to ascertain the structural integrity of all school buildings above two floors with a view to preventing future re-occurrence of school building collapse in the State.

    Salako assured that the Ministry would swing into action in earnest so as to actualise the State Government’s aim of saving lives and property, especially as schools resume after a long break due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

    In his explanation, the Commissioner noted that his Ministry will work on modalities including guidelines and procedures to implement the integrity test directive of the Lagos State Governor on public and private schools buildings above two storeys.

  • Sanwo-Olu Promises to Revive Organic Farm in Badagry to Boost Food Security

    Sanwo-Olu Promises to Revive Organic Farm in Badagry to Boost Food Security

    Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Friday visited Badagry, where he promised to revive a 279-hectare Avia-Igborosun Organic Farm, which was acquired by the state government in 2012 for commercial agricultural project.

    He assured that his administration was ready to revive the abandoned farmland for the take-off of Lagos State Food Production Park project.

    The governor disclosed that the state would be engaging private sector to secure an investment into the project, which, when completed, he said, would create thousands of direct jobs and improve the wellbeing of the residents.

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    “I have been fully briefed about this project but I considered it necessary to personally embark on this journey to Badagry in order to take assessment and see what exactly we need to do in terms of intervention.

    “After taking a tour of the project site, what I observed is that the entire project looks more as a job that has not been completed. Therefore, we need to improve on the interventions to the Ministry of Agriculture.

    “With very minimal resources, we have seen what the ministry has done to keep the project afloat. Government will raise the resources and turn around this project to the level it should be. We will need to deploy more resources to revive and scale up all the machinery and systems put already in place. We will complete the project and open it for commercial production,” he said.

    The governor added that the revival of Badagry Organic Farm and creation of more food production parks across the state were part of the strategies designed by his administration to increase food security level from 20 per cent to 50 per cent, thereby raising Lagos’ food sufficiency.

    He noted that the project would give rise to similar agro-allied businesses that would open up Badagry’s economy for more growth, while also boosting its tourism business.

    Sanwo-Olu said: “Lagos is a big state in terms of population, but we also can intervene in our food production value chain. What we are also trying to do with the revival of the project is that, we want to produce various agricultural products we can consume internally in order to reduce our dependence on external food sources. The Food Production Park, which we are creating across the state, will be a trigger to other value-added agricultural production our citizens can provide.”

    As part of the move to turn around the Organic Farm, Sanwo-Olu promised a total rehabilitation of Igborosun Road that leads to the farm.

    Some of the agricultural projects to be developed for commercial production in the organic farm include fishing, poultry, piggery and agro-forestry, among others.

    Sanwo-Olu also inspected a 105-bed Mother and Child Care (MCC) recently completed by the state government in the premises of Badagry General Hospital. The MCC would be commissioned in September, the governor assured.

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    During a tour of the hospital, Sanwo-Olu proposed an expansion of the Accident and Emergency Department. The project, he said, would take off in the next nine months.

    The governor also stopped at Marina area of Badagry town, where the state government would be building a modern jetty. The project, Sanwo-Olu explained, was part of his administration’s blueprint to promote waterways transportation across the state.

    Photos:

    Idowu Sowunmi

  • Update: Gov. Sanwo-Olu reopens Lagos worship centres Aug. 7, vows to monitor

    Update: Gov. Sanwo-Olu reopens Lagos worship centres Aug. 7, vows to monitor

    The over three months COVID-19 ban on worship centres in Lagos will be lifted from August 7.

    The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced this during a briefing on COVID-19 at the State House Marina.

    The Governor stated that places of worship that that were hitherto shut to curtail the spread of the novel Coronavirus will reopen for religious activities as from Friday, August 7, 2020.

    Sanwo-Olu stated that while Mosques will be reopened next week Friday, Churches will follow suit on Sunday, August 9.

    The Governor however emphasised that, religious leaders must make available hand sanitisers, thermometer guns, adding that the state government will ensure that social distancing is maintained.

    According to the Governor: “We will only be allowing 50 per cent of their capacity at either the church or the mosque. Churches that have Saturday worship day will also be allowed to start holding their Saturday worship.

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    “We must reiterate that places of worship are only permitted to have their regular once a week service on designated days.

    Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu during a briefing on August 1, 2020 announced that places of worship will reopen from August 7.

    The governor vowed that the state government will closely monitor and observe the compliance level of religious bodies before taking the next steps.

    Decrease In Positive Cases
    On the level of COVID-19 cases in the state, Governor Sanwo-Olu announced that the past two weeks witnessed a decline in fresh infections.

    While noting that the state government successfully tested 9,000 samples in the week ending July 26, the governor explained the figures represented 50 per cent increase in the 6,000 tested samples in the preceding week.

    According to him, more testing of suspected COVID-19 cases have been made possible with the creation of additional laboratories in the state.

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    He is however optimistic that the state is winning the battle against the dreaded virus owing to the increase in the number of tested samples.

    “We must, however, mention that we have seen a gradual decrease in the positivity rate in Lagos State over the last two weeks which combines with our increase in the testing numbers.

    “We will continue to fine-tune our strategy and our efforts to build on our successes and close all existing gaps if any.”

    Meanwhile, in a fresh statistics released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Friday night, Lagos recorded 78 fresh COVID-19 cases trailing the FCT with 93 cases.

  • Lagos to evacuate drainage silts as early morning rainfall causes building collapse in Yaba

    Lagos to evacuate drainage silts as early morning rainfall causes building collapse in Yaba

    By Idowu Sowunmi

    Lagos State Government has promised to focus its immediate attention on the evacuation of silts removed from all cleared drains in the state.

    This was coming as Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) disclosed that there was a partial building collapse at 6, Olonode Street, Alagomeji in Yaba, in the early hours of Monday due to the heavy rainfall in the area.

    Addressing journalists after the second round inspection tour of ongoing drainage project sites in Surulere, Lagos Mainland and Somolu local government areas, Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tunji Bello, said findings have shown that several drainage channels, which had been cleared in the past, are quickly filled with dirt again due to non-evacuation of the silts in time.

    He assured that work is ongoing at various canals and drainages in order to ensure the free flow of wastewater.

    “This is the second phase of the inspection tour we commenced last week. It’s an ongoing process. The inspection is based on the directive of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu that the ministry’s officials must continuously go out to monitor closely and ascertain the level of work being carried out by the contractors assigned to clean these canals,” Bello said.

    The commissioner added that the Sanwo-Olu administration has been able to reduce indiscriminate waste disposal by residents to an appreciable level, noting that the government would not relent in performing its responsibilities of maintaining flood-free, clean and hygienic environment in Lagos State.

    Bello was accompanied on the inspection tour by the Special Adviser Drainages, Joe Igbokwe, and Permanent Secretary, Lekan Shodeinde.

    While expressing satisfaction with the level of work at most of the project sites, he noted that the attention of project contractors has, however, been called to few noticeable lapses in some areas.

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    On the other hand, the commissioner expressed dissatisfaction with the level of work done at Fatai Kadiri Drain (Opeyemi Fola-Agoro Collector Drain), demanding that contractors should revisit the area for more dredging, while they should immediately remove some of the culverts that were wrongly positioned.

    Some of the drainage channels and canals visited include Somolu, Kosofe, Lagos Mainland, Surulere, Alausa Ikeja, System 2/Fola-Agoro, Gbagada/Bariga Channel and Anthony Oke.

    Other projects inspected are: Opeyemi Fola-Agoro collector drain, dredging of Ojo-Oniyun-Olaleye (by Park Lane), Otumara collector drain, Alaka – Tejuosho channel (System 4) Alaka, dredging of Carter-Railway channel Alaka, Nathan collector drain, dredging of Bush Arowojobe channel, Atunranse canal, System C6 by Fashoro/Akobi Crescent and System C6 by LUTH Idi – Araba.

    Meanwhile, a building has suffered partial collapse in Yaba area of Lagos due to heavy rainfall.

    Speaking on the incident, LASBCA General Manager, Engr. Biola Kosegbe, said the collapsed building was a three-floor structure and had previously been identified, sealed and marked for demolition, while all occupants had been evacuated by the agency before the unfortunate incident.

    “The structure, which had hitherto failed the integrity test carried out by the agency, had been earmarked for removal by LASBCA. With the latest development, the officials of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) have commenced the immediate demolition of the building to prevent any loss of lives,” she said.

    Kosegbe urged owners of old buildings in the state to, as a matter of urgency, ascertain the level of structural stability of their property to avert collapse, most especially with the present raining season.

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    The general manager explained that statistics has shown high incidence of building collapse during this period.

    Kosegbe maintained that the present administration would leave no stone unturned in sanitising the building construction industry removing all illegal or distressed buildings, as well as structures that are not in conformity with the state building laws, regulations and standards.

    She reaffirmed the commitment of the agency in ensuring that all building owners as well as developers across the metropolis comply strictly with all regulations and safety precautions, in order to prevent or reduce the occurrence of building collapse in the state.