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As the year 2020 financial year runs to an end, the Lagos State Government has disclosed that it would prioritise  employment generation, food security and youth empowerment in the 2021 budget aimed at consolidating the gains of democracy.

 

The Lagos State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Sam Egube made the assertion while conducting members of the Implementation Monitoring Committee (IMC) of the National Economic Council (NEC) round some projects of the State Government.

Revealing that the new year would witness the commissioning of completed projects and development of new infrastructure, Egube said the inspected projects cover major thematic areas adopted by the State, in line with the 71-Point Resolution set as a template for greater and integrated economic development by the National Economic Council in March 2016.

The Commissioner, in company of the Chief Resilience Officer in the State, Arc. Gbolahan Oki, who coordinated the visit, expressed delight that various projects of the State Government monitored by the IMC were either completed or at various stages of completion, noting that the projects would add value to the quality of lives of Lagosians.

While conducting the team round the 1.4km Pen Cinema flyover in Agege, the Commissioner expressed optimism that the project, billed for commissioning before the end of this year, would permanently solve the traffic problems often encountered in the area and boost economic activities.

 

Egube commended the Federal Government for initiating various economic reforms towards stabilising the economy of individual States against recession, maintaining that monitoring of projects across States would spur healthy rivalry and synergy towards realising sustainable economic development across the country.

Giving details on some ongoing projects of the present administration, the Commissioner said that the Blue and Red Line Rail projects are part of the transport sector reforms embarked upon towards achieving a multimodal transport system that would meet the needs of a teeming population in an emerging Smart City of Lagos.

He also disclosed that the State Government is adopting geospatial data system to enhance quality governance and interact in a practical way with stakeholders in all sectors, envisaging that the platform would help to provide adequate information in the area of business development, health, agriculture, food security, education and transportation, among other services.

 

In his response, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, who led the delegation to the State, commended Lagos State Government for embarking on people-oriented projects, noting that various development projects showcased will bring democracy dividends to the grassroots.

The Minister hinted that the Federal Government is developing an app to monitor projects in order to bridge the trust gap between government and citizens, while a National Development Plan involving all States of the Federation and Local Governments will be rolled out in due course.

While explaining that the inspection visit was aimed at monitoring ongoing projects in the State as part of the 2016 71-Point Resolution of the National Economic Council Strategy for States’ Economic Growth, the Minister commended the ‘Eko 360’ data warehousing and analytical platform, which covers the T.H.E.M.E.S development agenda.

Agba, who also visited the Lagos Revenue House, Ikeja Bus Terminal and Oba Ogunji section of the Pen-Cinema Bridge expressed satisfaction with the progress made and urged other State Governments to emulate Lagos in terms of people-oriented projects.

 

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