By Adeyemi Adeleye
The Lagos State PDP Governorship Candidate , Dr Abdul-Azeez Adediran (popularly called ‘Jandor’), on Wednesday unveiled a seven-point programme of action for the state if elected governor in 2023.
The programme tagged: ‘WEALTHY’ comprised: Works, Housing & Road Infrastructure; Education; Aquaculture & Ease of Doing Business; Law, Order & Security; Tourism, Transport & Traffic Management; Health & Environment; and Youth, Women and Social Development.
Adediran disclosed the agenda in a statement on Wednesday titled: “My Vision for Lagos”, as the governorship and House of Assembly campaigns officially kicked off ahead of the 2023 general elections.
“Today marks a special point in our journey to the ballot and our resolve to offer ourselves for public service in the quest to create a Lagos state of our shared desire.
“We were not beckoned on to serve or railroaded into a project of which we have little knowledge.
“This journey started exactly seven years ago, after a detailed appraisal of the performance of successive governments in Lagos state from 1999.
“We are convinced that our state will fare better when well-meaning stakeholders graduate from armchair criticism of the systemic decadence to becoming active players by throwing their hats into the ring to salvage the state.
“We are signing a social contract with you to serve you with the skillfulness of our hands and the integrity of our hearts.
“I am not here to make promises that are not achievable but with your mandate, our vision is to transform Lagos into a functional, prosperous and secure state that will deliver the promise of making Lagos work for all,” he said.
Adediran said that alongside his running mate, Ms Olufunke Akindele, would make Lagos state work for its residents.
According to him, the team will make Lagos truly wealthy by giving a breath of fresh air in the seven areas the word denotes, and other critical areas of governance.
He said: “Our focus is to change the face of governance in Lagos state and make it a wealthy state in truth as against its current status of being a wealthy state only on paper. Our Agenda for a Wealthy Lagos, is a treat everyone deserves.
“We can have it better; our lives can be much easier when altruism, transparent honesty, accountability, and empathy govern the conduct of public officeholders.
“We are set to make Lagos state work better in the interest of all residents by decentralising development to all parts of the state and ensuring that the flow of the wealth of the state is redirected from the pockets of an individual to the benefit of all.
“We are very intentional about our vision of birthing a true Mega City led by a servant leader who is truly independent and will not need a second level of approval before taking decisions.
“The power will truly reside with the people and not an individual pretending to be a demi-god.”
As part of their plans to deliver a wealthy Lagos, Adediran said that his team would be guided by: Technology-driven approach to governance; Rule of Law; Equity & Inclusiveness; Accountable Representation and Transparency (TREAT).
The candidate noted that corruption was one of the biggest problems stagnating the development of the state.
He promised to ensure financial re-engineering through critical reforms that would fast-track operational processes and plug financial leakages in the public service.
On works and infrastructure, Adediran said that the financial muscle of the state would be deployed to providing necessary road infrastructure and bridges to resolve perennial traffic gridlock in some flash points while also instilling discipline among road users.
“We will ensure that the acclaimed huge Lagos state revenue will now reflect in our daily living by using it to aggressively repair all existing state roads, building iconic bridges that will give Lagos a facelift as a mega city of repute.
“We will involve private sectors in project financing via Public-Private Partnership such as Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) and other concessions, but with interest of Lagos residents at the centre of it all,” he said.
On education, Adediran said that serious government would take education very seriously, promising to take out-of-school children off the streets and put them in school.
The candidate said that he would declare a state of emergency in the education sector and proceed to make primary and secondary education completely free and compulsory.
He added that he would also provide free school uniforms and learning aids in both primary and secondary schools.
“We shall embark on infrastructural renewal and upgrades in our public schools.
“We will address shortage of school teachers by being the first to implement the 65 years retirement age and 40 years of service.
“We will also bring back those that have been retired since the signing of this law to complete their years of service.”
On healthcare, the governorship hopeful decried how patients roamed about premises of general hospitals because of lack of hospital beds, saying that pending when adequate infrastructure would be provided, his team would embark on automation of health facilities.
“In addition to this, health insurances will be made compulsory and available to the less-privileged and vulnerable for free, to improve access and affordability,” he added.
Adediran assured that his administration would create technovation hubs across the five divisions of Lagos state, namely, Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos and Epe.
He said that youths would be trained at the hubs to acquire digital skills while facilitating tech start-up support to leverage opportunities.
Adediran promised to invest heavily in security using technology, address perennial flooding, respect rights of citizens, restore hope of market men and women.
He added that he would be deliberate about ease of doing business in Lagos state by providing enabling environment to players in our economy, both at the formal and informal sectors
Adediran said that all PDP candidates for legislative offices would reach out to every Lagos state resident and walk through each of the 245 political wards and 13,325 polling units across the 20 local government areas of the state to seek votes and support.
The PDP candidate, who said that his team would continue to communicate plans in the coming days, solicited feedback from time to time on their project of mutual interest.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that INEC lifted ban on campaigns for Presidential and National Assembly elections on Sept. 28 while that of governorship and state house of assembly was lifted on Oct. 12. (NAN)
