Ekocity layout August-1

URBAN DEVELOPMENT
2 million volunteers to campaign
against sexual violence in Lagos
Cleaner Lagos Initiative
to kickoff September
ENVIRONMENT
The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team
(DSVRT) has begun an intensified six-month campaign against all
forms of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in the State with
a target to reach out to two million residents to lead the crusade
against the menace.
Coordinator of DSVRT, Mrs. Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi who disclosed this
during a training session for Media Practitioners on Best Practices for Investigating
and Reporting Sexual and Gender Based Violence cases, said
the development was in a bid to ensure that no community is left behind
in the fight against all forms of SGBV.
According to her, the DSVRT would be embarking on intensive sensitisation
campaigns at communities like Fagba, Ajuwon, Surulere, Ikeja,
Kosofe, Ikorodu, Iwaya, Epe, Badagry, Onike, Ijanikin, Ojo, Idimu, Lagos Island,
Alimosho and Agege. She also said that inner communities in Badore,
Sangotedo, OkeYaya, Owutu would also not be left out of the intensive
campaign to reach out to at least two million Lagosians.
“The campaign will be conducted through door-to-door canvassing, engagement
of children in schools, town hall meetings, and market rallies,
engagement at religious gatherings, and visitation to salons.“There would
also be an extensive media outreach through Billboards, radio and television
jingles in English, pidgin and other indigenous languages,” Vivour-
Adeniyi said.
The DSVRT Coordinator also said that the Team would ensure that relevant
details on Domestic Violence prevention are distributed through Local
Governments and Marriage Registries to intending couples. She said
the aim of the six months intensive campaign is to drive increased awareness
within the populace, improve on coordination of response and more
effective prosecution of cases with better witness corroboration, and ultimately
a reduction in the number of SGBV cases within the State.
THE CAMPAIGN WILL BE
CONDUCTED THROUGH
DOOR-TO-DOOR
CANVASSING, ENGAGEMENT
OF CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS,
TOWN HALL MEETINGS, AND
MARKET RALLIES,
ENGAGEMENT AT RELIGIOUS
GATHERINGS, AND
VISITATION TO SALONS.
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi
Ambode, has urged Lagosians to be
patient with his administration as the
Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) commences
in September 2017 to comprehensively
deal with the issue of waste management
in the State.
Speaking at a Town Hall Meeting in Lagos,
Ambode said once the initiative is fully
operational, waste would be collected in
line with international best practices, while
all parts of the State would be kept clean
always.
The Governor however urged residents
to adopt new attitude to disposing waste
and desist from dumping in drainages and
canals, assuring that the Government would
provide adequate bins to discourage indiscriminate
dumping.
“The question to ask is why are people
putting their waste in the drains and canals
hoping that somehow the water will flush
it away? The answer comes back to government
because we have not been able
to provide the people with enough bins or
places where they can put the dirt.
“They cannot leave the dirt in the house
so they must have a channel to get it out.
If government has been able to provide
enough locations, bins, bags and so on
where they can put that refuse and then
we can collect it and when we collect it efficiently,
as part of their attitude, they will not
go back to the canals and the drains. They
will only go back to where we have provided
for them.
“Now, do we have enough equipment to
clean Lagos? Do we have enough bins, plastic
bags, compactors that can go round the
population of 22million people? The answer
before now is no. We are the largest waste
producer in the world more than New York.
New York produces 10,000 tonnes of waste
every day; the waste accounted for in Lagos
is 13,000 tonnes per day not to talk of areas
that are not documented”.
“Do we have enough equipment and
compactors? We don’t have, but how do we
have it? We have not increased the taxes you
are paying. The population is increasing and
by that fact the waste is increasing and we
have not increased revenue. But we need
new equipment. Some people were doing it
for us before but we all saw the equipment
they have been using to clean up the State
and the truth is it can never do it right.
“If we say we want to be a smart city
and globally competitive, we must use the
approach that allows you to collect waste
in a globally competitive way and that is
what we have done with the CLI without me
punishing tax payers. We have a partnership
that provides 500 brand new compactors
without me paying one naira yet and
with the partnership, we will provide 27,500
sanitation workers in all our wards across
the State who will be uniformed and clean
Ikorodu, Ayobo the same way they clean
Victoria Island. Waste bins will also be provided
where our people can now have the
culture and attitude to put their dirt in the
bins instead of putting it in the canals and
drains,” Governor Ambode said.
In the meantime, Governor Ambode
said all the 20 Local Government and 37
Local Council Development Chairmen have
been mandated to ensure 24/7 cleaning of
the environment, while officials of the State
Government would be moving round to
evacuate waste.
Lagos assures implementation
of Ikeja Model City Master Plan
– Steve Ayorinde
The Lagos State Government on Sunday
restated its determination to actualize the
objectives of the renewed Ikeja Model City
Master Plan in order to address infrastructural
challenges in the capital city. The Commissioner
for Information and Strategy in
Lagos State, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, said Governor
Akinwunmi Ambode is desirous of making
Ikeja a model city and would leave no
stone unturned in actualizing the relocation
of the Computer Village to the new site in
Katangowa, AgbadoOke-Odo Local Council
Development Area in line with the reviewed
Master Plan.
Ayorinde said the Ikeja Model City Master
Plan designated the present Computer
Village for residential use and that the government
will adhere to the plans to make
the area more organized, serene and habitable.
He explained that the State Government
has not issued any permit to any individual
or organization for the construction
of an ICT specialized mall directly beside
the newly built Ikeja Bus Terminal, adding
that such move does not tally with the State
Government’s plan for the capital city.
The Commissioner said that as a sign of
the state government’s genuine commitment
to the relocation of the Computer Village
from Ikeja to Katangowa, the take-off of
the Katangowa project is already in its final
stage of implementation. He disclosed that
the government had met with the Executive
members of Computer and Allied Products
Dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN)
where it (the government) reiterated its
commitment to the relocation plan. He further
urged the general public to disregard
any insinuation that might be suggesting
the possibility of a spurious ICT mall in Ikeja.
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