Let Us Pay Greater Attention To Our Environment", Fashola Enjoins Nigerians



Press Releases

"Let Us Pay Greater Attention To Our Environment", Fashola Enjoins Nigerians
• As Governor hands over 100 compactor trucks to PSP Operators

Jun 20, 2011 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Monday handed over 100 new compactor trucks to the Private Sector (PSP) Operators with a call on all Nigerians to pay greater attention to the environment around them in order to enhance the quality of their lives.

Governor Fashola, who spoke at the handover ceremony which took place at the Olusosun Landfill in Ojota, said the quality of the environment goes a long way in determining not only the quality but also the life expectancy of the people living in such environment.

Describing our environment as "the biggest economy", Governor Fashola declared, "How we manage it will determine the quality of the life we live; it will determine our life expectancy".

"When we implore people to dispose of their wastes properly, to resist the temptation and impulse to dump refuse and plastics into drainages, these are appeals that go to the totality of securing our environment", the Governor said noting that refuse dumped in improper places eventually sip into the underground water which we drink.

Governor Fashola further explained, "Let us not forget that everything that we depend on, whether for food or for water, comes from how we use the land around us. If you pollute the land, it will go down to the ground water and it is that ground water that we will ultimately drink; it is that ground water that we use to farm and it is possible that that ground water will be ingested into our body with the toxin that will reduce or diminish the quality and longevity of our lives".

To Lagos residents, the Governor said, "When we ask you , therefore, not to urinate in the open, when we ask you not to defecate in the open, to dump your refuse in appropriate places and not in the drainages or water bodies, we do so because we care, not because we dislike you".

Challenging the State's environmental sanitation enforcement agencies to "increase the tempo of enforcement and compliance", Governor Fashola declared, "The core of our healthcare delivery system rests in preventive healthcare. Preventive Healthcare starts from cleaning and maintenance of our environment rather than the curative capacity that exists in our hospitals".

According to the Governor, "What our hospitals are often challenged to deal with is about 25 to 30 percent of our healthcare plans in terms of curative capacity. What you and I can correct is the 60 to 70 percent that lies in the ability to prevent ourselves and our children from falling ill and a lot of it will be determined by how you and I respond to the challenges and management of the environment".

"It is in our hands to protect our environment, to protect our city, to protect our local governments. It is not right to dump refuse inside canals and then when it is rainy season, you expect government to come and collect it. In the first place, refuse do not belong in the canals and those who put them there must lead the process now to remove them. Every community, every local government and every village must rise together and join hands with us so that we can sustain and clean the State and make it worthy and livable not only for ourselves but for the generation that are coming behind us", the Governor said.

Going down memory lane on how the PSP operation started, Governor Fashola, who thanked the PSP operators "for their various sacrifices in the past and for their faith today", said, "I recall how this journey started with broken down trucks; trucks that Mrs. Anibaba has rightly described in her speech as waste themselves. I remember that even the media used to have a joke at us that they were refuse dispersal instead of refuse disposal trucks".

"But they kept faith, they persevered, they endured and today, this is the result", the Governor said adding that sometime last year when the operators complained of their inability to sustain repayment of the loans for their fairly used compactor trucks, the State Government promised to not only assist them in managing their loan obligations and interest payments but also intervene and enable them acquire new trucks on a pricing level and financial model that is sustainable for their business.

The Governor expressed joy that since the Private Public Partnership initiative began with the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), there has been no report of loan payment default both for the BRT owners and Red and Yellow Taxis adding that owners of the first BRT buses have completed payment and have bought new buses while taxi drivers are also thriving and expanding their business. "I expect that we should not expect anything different from you as we go along this business", he told the PSP truck beneficiaries.

On the documentary currently being aired on the BBC concerning people scavenging at refuse dumps in Lagos, Governor Fashola declared, " In my view, it is showing the possibilities of why we are here. Those men and women you see at the refuse dumps are not there because of want of something to do. They see an economy there. Our responsibility as a Government is to regulate how they function; to provide them with safety gadgets, gloves and masks to ensure that they carry on that business because that is a forerunner to recycling and sorting waste that leads to better opportunities and prosperity in the economy".

In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Mrs. Titi Anibaba, recalled the adhoc refuse collection arrangements in the past by local government councils in the State which resulted in the mountains of refuse all over the city, expressing joy that today, with the use of compactor trucks, Lagos has become one of the cleanest cities in the world.

She thanked Governor Fashola for his commitment to the PSP arrangement and continuous intervention of his administration in ensuring that the operation is updated with new technologies praying that the time would come when refuse would be a scarce commodity in the State.

Also speaking, President of Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria (AWAN), Mr. Adegboyega Adepitan, paid glowing tribute to Governor Fashola for his intervention in providing the 100 new compactor trucks, the purchase of which, according to him, would have been impossible as no bank was willing to risk the loan of N7 billion needed to purchase 600 new compactors.

"The virtues of a responsible, responsive and pragmatic government with dedicated vision was displayed by the quick intervention of Lagos State Government under the leadership of Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), after the consideration of the AWAM Executive briefing on the challenges", the AWAM President said.

Earlier in his welcome address, Managing Director of LAWMA, Mr. Ola Oresanya thanked Governor Fashola for his commitment to the cleanliness of the State saying that it takes an extra political will to buy back the loans of the operators and to provide them with other incentives such as annual training adding that the Governor has approved a competition among the operators which will give a winner a new truck from the Government free of charge as well as further training Overseas.

Also present at the occasion were the Managing Director/Chief Executive Offficer of Stanbic IBTC, Mrs.Sola David-Bortha, Executive Director TATA Motors, Mr. Sudeep Ray, former Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, top officials of LAWMA and Executive members of PSP operators as well as other top government functionaries.

Press Releases

Fashola Receives Kano Governor, Says Such Partnerships Should Be Forged Across The 36 States

Jun 10, 2011 - Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Friday played host to his Kano State counterpart, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso with an assertion that the kind of partnership which the visit engenders should be forged across the 36 states of the Federation.

Governor Fashola who spoke at the Lagos House, Ikeja during a courtesy call on him by Dr Kwakwanso added that Nigeria will not prosper by what is done from the Federal Capital Territory alone but by development that takes place in each of the States.

In his words: "Nigeria will not prosper by what is done in the Federal Capital Territory alone but by development that takes place in each of the 36 states using their local talents and diverse resources as models and laboratory centres for different levels of development that aggregate into the common corporate development of Nigeria".

"This is the best way we must take control of the destiny of this country by creating viable activity centres of commerce, security and education in each of the 36 states".

While congratulating Governor Kwakwanso for the initiative of the visit which he described as a sign of the future, Governor Fashola assured him of the fullest support at all levels of government in Lagos State.

The Governor said the visit is necessary because there is a need to continue to exchange notes and compare weaknesses on all sides adding: "Our success will not be defined by what we know but by what we are willing to learn. This is the basis for continued interaction that we pursue both locally and internationally".

He identified rapid urbanization as one of the issues confronting governments in both states, stressing that their commercial allure puts a lot of pressure on government and social service.

"We can develop a synergy on how best to manage this urban challenge that really tasks the limits, endurance and ingenuity of our city managers", he added.

He promised to visit Kano State in the fullest of time as invited by the Kano State Governor, adding that he had cause to visit the state last year.

Speaking earlier, Governor Musa Kwakwanso who said he has had a long relationship with several leaders in Lagos State said he was at Alausa to compare notes and see how both states can work together.

He added that Lagos and Kano States do have a lot in common and must be willing to learn from one another to make the country a better place because according to him: "I don't want to start inventing what has already been invented".

He said after his first tenure in 2003, he decided to have a break and reflect on what was achieved them, adding that he is now back in Kano State Government House in full gear to serve the people.

Prominent among those who witnessed the ceremony were the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Mrs Seyi Williams, his transportation counterpart, Mr Seyi Coker, the Chairman of the Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS), Mr Tunde Fowler and Executive Secretary of the State Security Trust Fund, Mr Fola Arthur-Worrey and senior functionaries who accompanied the Kano State Governor.

Both Governors later observed the Friday prayers along with other Muslim faithful at the Secretariat Central Mosque Alausa, Ikeja where clerics offered prayers for a successful tenure for the Governors, continued peace, progress and stability in the various States and the country as a whole.

greateros:

wairooo!! no be that pdp thieftain bode dey stand near him for that photo

obowunmi:

I wish I got the contract to supply these trucks

greateros:

wairooo!! no be that pdp thieftain bode dey stand near him for that photo

Badesh:

FASHOLA, the great man, please carry-go!!!!

greateros:

wairooo!! no be that pdp thieftain bode dey stand near him for that photo

feelamong:

Fashola is working, Lagos is Flooding!!!

By Segun Balogun

June 21, 2011 01:44AM


The recently inaugurated seventh Lagos State House of Assembly, in its very first sitting on Monday, approved the purchase of 10 Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) for N700 million, as a response to the security alert that gripped the nation in the wake of a recent bomb explosion at the Police Headquarters in Abuja.

The purchase was approved, following a request for it by the executive government, which sent a letter, signed by the permanent secretary of the state's ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, Bayo Sodade.

However, the approval came by virtue of a veto, by the Speaker of the House, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, against majority of the lawmakers' decision that the fund for the purchase should not be taken from the local government intervention fund, as the letter requested.

Many of the lawmakers had argued that the fund could easily have been drawn from the statutorily appropriate coffers of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund.

The local intervention fund, as many of them argued, is meant for the execution of constituency projects to be nominated by each of the lawmakers, and therefore, not appropriate for funding security needs.

"We should not overlook the usefulness of this fund because if we do, it would affect other projects in our various constituencies," said Mudashiru Obasa (Agege constituency).

Mr Obasa said the "essence of local government intervention fund is for each member of the House to nominate projects in his constituencies to be handled and executed."

Ipoola Omisore, who is representing the Ifako/Ijaiye constituency,expressed suspicion on the ground that the request letter was not properly addressed.

"The letter was personalised and it was not conveyed using the Ministry's letter-head paper," he said, urging the House "to look critically into the request" especially because there is Lagos State Security Trust Fund from which such amount could be taken.

Several other lawmakers, including Dayo Fafunmi, Funmilayo Tejuosho, Bisi Yusuf, Rotimi Olowo, and Bayo Oshinowo, also rejected the request, claiming "the letter has no substance".

The Veto

However, Mr Ikuforiji, said the lawmakers should see the requested money as a "donation by the state government to the police for the safety of the state".

"We bought about ten of this kind last year and you know that for a place of our size, we need a substantial number of them for the security of the 18 million Lagosians," he said.

"If the amount in the fund is about N19.3 billion, a total of N700 million is not too much," Mr Ikuforiji said. "This is the first request from them and since we have agreed that we would collaborate with the executive, let us just approve this. We all need it and we know what security means to the nation right now."

The deputy speaker, Kolawole Taiwo, urged the lawmakers to consider the request as the local government intervention fund is the only hope of the government to source funds for the purchase.

According to him, the State Tenders Board had earlier refused to approve similar request asking that the request be funded from budgetary allocation.

"That was why the Permanent Secretary wrote to us," he said.

Other lawmakers who supported the approval were Olawale Oshun and Wahab Alawiye-King.

alj_harem:

^^^^^^^^^^^^

why is lagos buying armoured vehicle for almost a billion, why

not neccessary, what we need is for him to make sturctures to reduce flooding in lagos

also security from agberos etc

The recently inaugurated seventh Lagos State House of Assembly, in its very first sitting on Monday, approved the purchase of 10 Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) for N700 million, as a response to the security alert that gripped the nation in the wake of a recent bomb explosion at the Police Headquarters in Abuja.

obowunmi:

Ta ni omo ole ? Abi won ti she pe fun e ---- ode, oponu. u no no say business is business  

Eko Ile:



With all due respect and I'm not in anyway trying to insult you, I didn't post that for clueless and irrational people like you.

Obviously, the safety and and security of the people of Lagos is of no concern to you, but some of us appreciate visionary and proactive measures designed to protect Lagosians, their lives and property, something you and the incompetent people in Abuja dangerously lack.

alj_harem:

ode

am also a lagosian and thus can talk about our state together do u even know who i am
so keep your respect to urself and tinubu

i said what i said

i hope u are not offended and i did not insult u

LASG Hands Over 100 Patrol Vehicles, 50 Motorcycles To State Security Trust Fund
• "Security is the platform upon which we build the prosperity of our State", says Fashola

Jan 31, 2011 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Monday handed over 100 patrol vehicles and 50 security motorcycles to the State's Security Trust Fund with a commitment that security would remain a platform upon which his administration would build the prosperity of the State.

Governor Fashola, in his remarks at the handover ceremony at the open grounds of the Lagos House, Alausa, said his administration would continue to invest in resources that would ensure that criminals and lawless people would not find a place in the State.

"Government", Governor Fashola declared, "will commit and continue to invest in resources that will demonstrate that we will not abdicate our State to criminals and lawless people. We will demonstrate by our investment, as we have done today, that people's taxes will work to save their lives; that people's taxes will work to provide an environment where they can do business, where their children can choose to live, work and play"

"We will provide an enabling environment where investment will continue, as it has done, to come into Lagos", the Governor said, disclosing that just last week, a big research and data management company bought into a local company in the State heralding new job opportunities for the citizens.

Noting that crime is a business, Governor Fashola declared, "No individual, no organization has the resources that Government has and if Government continues to commit resources, as we do, to out-spend, to outrun and out think criminals, our State will be safe".

Governor Fashola, who described Lagos State as safe on all fronts, however, declared, "But the road to this destination has been challenging and I must also thank the members of the Organized Private Sector, individuals and chairmen of our various Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas CEO of banks, members and leaders of Diplomatic Mission who have chosen, of their own free will , by eminent, rational and developmental thinking, to support the idea of the Lagos Security Trust Fund".

He also thanked the Lagos State House of Assembly for what he described as "their ground-breaking and novel contribution by promptly receiving the idea of that bill and what it portended at the time for Lagos and expeditiously passed it into law", adding, "That partnership has helped us a great deal to achieve what we have achieved".

Going back the memory lane, Governor Fashola recalled, "When we started with few vehicles, not many people took us seriously. We moved from there to street signs because we realized that now that we have the capacity, how the policeman gets to places of distress; there were no street signs in Lagos and we ensured that every street in Lagos was identified, renamed and properly named to provide direction for policemen and women to get to points of distress".

Other innovations brought into the security initiative of the Government, Governor Fashola said, included the 767, 112, Emergency three-digit toll-free lines to enable distressed people call the police or ambulance or Fire Service, as the case may be, for help and the lighting of streets in Lagos to aid security agents in their job at nights.

Pointing out that the Government has also invested in speed boats to protect the State on water and in helicopters to secure the State in the air, Governor Fashola declared, "That is what we have done with tax-payers' money in almost four years. In spite of the hues and cries, I say this State is safe on land, on water and in the air".

The Governor commended officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force, especially the Rapid Response Squad, for their efforts in making the State safe adding, "We have been able to demonstrate that there is nothing wrong with us as a people; that if the resources are there and the men are there and the commitment is also there, that it is possible really to change what we do not accept".

The Governor, however, advised the policemen not to use the equipment and resources provided for them to terrorize and brutalize the citizens who, according to him, "pay your salaries and provide the money for the equipment which you use".

He also advised the citizenry to cultivate and treat police officers with respect and dignity by showing them love and appreciation for the job they do. This they could do by extending kindness to them through presentation of gifts such as food items during festivities and other means.

In his remarks earlier, the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo, thanked Governor Fashola for providing the Police the required equipment and resources to realize the security goals of the State adding, "When I assumed office as Commissioner of Police of Lagos State, I made my mission Statement of Zero Tolerance for crime but there is no way I would have achieved that mission without equipment. We assure you that we will continue to try our best".

Also in his remarks, Chairman Board of Trustees of the Trust Fund, Chief Remi Makanjuola, thanked Governor Fashola for the donation recalling that when he went to the Governor to request for more vehicles, he said there were already 200 vehicles purchased for that purpose. "That shows that he is a proactive person who thinks far ahead of what we also think", the Chairman said.

Earlier, in his welcome remarks, the Executive Secretary of the Fund, Mr. Fola Arthur-Worrey, said the significance of what Governor Fashola was doing as regards the security of the State since he took office as Governor indicates the need for political leaders in the country to take charge of certain aspects of the peoples' lives as the only way to find permanent solution to the issues.

Recalling that the Government has invested and is still investing much on security in the State, the Executive Secretary declared, "After three and a half years of this administration, the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, representing the partnership between the State Government, the Private Sector and the Civil Society, is the most viable Public Private Partnership in Nigeria today".