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6 MONDAY, JULY 9, <strong>2018</strong><br />
news<br />
photo<br />
•L-R: Associate Pastor, Daystar Christian Centre, Pastor Dele Agbogun; National President, Nigeria Society of<br />
Physiotherapy, Dr Rufai Ahmed; one of the book reviewers, Dr Ogechi Adeola; author, Mrs Bukola Ayinde; her mother, Mrs<br />
Betty Olokesusi; and author’s husband, Mr Lawrence Ayinde, during the public presentation of Bukola’s books in Lagos... on<br />
Sunday. Photo: Saheed Olugbon<br />
•L-R: Students of the Learning Centre, Maiduguri, Aisha Ibrahim; Baba Liman; Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN;<br />
Head of Administration and Strategy, North East Children’s Trust, Dupe Kila-Kafidipe; and Senior Special Assistant to the<br />
President on IDPs, Dr Mariam Masha, during the Vice President’s visit to the Learning Centre, a 1000-capacity school set up to<br />
cater for children orphaned by the conflicts in the North-East Nigeria, in Maiduguri... on Thursday.<br />
•L-R: Editor, Genevieve Magazine, Ms Sonia Irabor; media aide to the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande; author, Mrs<br />
Betty Irabor; and her husband, Mr Soni Irabor, during the public presentation of a book, Dust to Dew, in Lagos... on<br />
Saturday. Photo: Goke Famadewa<br />
Lagos showcases<br />
opportunities, woos investors<br />
Samson Folarin<br />
The Lagos State<br />
Government has<br />
inaugurated a campaign to<br />
showcase opportunities in<br />
the state.<br />
The Special Adviser, Lagos<br />
State Office of Overseas Affairs<br />
and Investment, aka Lagos<br />
Global, Prof. Ademola Abass,<br />
said the state wanted to play<br />
up opportunities in Lagos<br />
with a view to turning the state<br />
into a desirable investment<br />
destination.<br />
A statement on Sunday said<br />
the special adviser spoke at<br />
a media inauguration of the<br />
campaign, tagged, ‘Lagos to<br />
the World.’<br />
The event also featured the<br />
presentation of a book detailing<br />
investment opportunities in<br />
key sectors, including health<br />
and transport.<br />
Abass said, “Lagos to<br />
the World is an initiative<br />
of Governor Akinwunmi<br />
Ambode. We felt that all the<br />
government has been doing<br />
Sesan Olufowobi<br />
The Lagos State<br />
Government has urged<br />
senior workers in accounts<br />
departments in state offices<br />
to ensure fair procurement<br />
and payment processes and<br />
show transparency in the use<br />
of public funds.<br />
The Accountant General,<br />
Mrs Abimbola Umar, stated<br />
this at the second quarterly<br />
technical meeting organised<br />
by the state Treasury Office.<br />
She told directors/heads<br />
of finance and accounts<br />
departments in all the<br />
ministries, departments and<br />
agencies that the success<br />
story of Lagos in the area of<br />
effective management of its<br />
resources had put the state in<br />
an enviable position.<br />
“Therefore, I urge you to<br />
always strive for excellence<br />
through a deft management of<br />
resources,” she added.<br />
In a lecture titled, ‘Effective<br />
Sesan Olufowobi<br />
Lagos State Governor,<br />
Akinwunmi Ambode, has<br />
said the N500m given to 275<br />
Community Development<br />
Associations (CDAs) will<br />
transform communities in the<br />
state.<br />
The governor added that<br />
there was no doubt that the<br />
various self-help projects,<br />
ranging from streetlights and<br />
transformers to drainage<br />
channels and health centres,<br />
which would be constructed<br />
by the communities would<br />
complement government’s<br />
efforts.<br />
Ambode said his<br />
administration was committed<br />
to supporting CDAs in the<br />
initiation and implementation of<br />
community-based development<br />
projects.<br />
He said, “I must commend all<br />
CDAs for the various projects<br />
you have initiated and funded<br />
from levies and donations by<br />
in recent times, especially in<br />
terms of investment, should<br />
be made known to the world.<br />
“The world needs to know how<br />
Lagos has been improving<br />
in terms of infrastructural<br />
development, among others.<br />
“Most of these things are<br />
what attract investors, but the<br />
story is not being told. This<br />
initiative is to tell people how<br />
Lagos Global has been working<br />
to project Lagos in terms of<br />
investment opportunities.<br />
“Very little is known about<br />
Lagos State out there; it is<br />
high time we push Lagos<br />
narrative overseas. Today is<br />
about marketing Lagos and<br />
communicating investment<br />
opportunities in Lagos to<br />
investors both in Nigeria and<br />
outside the country.”<br />
The Commissioner for<br />
Commerce, Industry and<br />
Cooperatives, Mrs Olayinka<br />
Oladunjoye, said Lagos was<br />
ready for business, adding<br />
that a lot of incentives had<br />
been put in place to encourage<br />
investment.<br />
LASG seeks transparency<br />
in procurement process<br />
and Sustainable Procurement<br />
System in Lagos State,<br />
Partnering for Development,’<br />
the General Manager, Lagos<br />
State Public Procurement<br />
Agency, Mr Fatai Onafowote,<br />
said professionals in the<br />
accounting field were expected<br />
to ensure good governance<br />
through transparency<br />
and inclusiveness, using<br />
a procurement system<br />
that supported the state<br />
development goals and<br />
engender public trust.<br />
“Finance and accounts<br />
officers, apart from carrying<br />
the procurement officers<br />
along, should consider the<br />
availability of funds for proper<br />
execution of projects,” he said.<br />
Onafowote also stated that<br />
the monitoring unit of the<br />
agency would soon commence<br />
visits to the sites of various<br />
ongoing capital projects to<br />
certify that they conformed to<br />
contractual agreements.<br />
‘N500m grant’ll transform communities’<br />
members.<br />
“The decision to aid CDAs<br />
with N500m grant is based<br />
on the report gathered from<br />
monitoring of ongoing<br />
community projects, which<br />
showed that some projects are<br />
on the verge of being abandoned<br />
due to paucity of funds; the<br />
gesture is therefore compelling.”<br />
The state Chairman of the<br />
All Progressives Congress,<br />
Alhaji Tunde Balogun, urged<br />
the community leaders and<br />
residents to make judicious use<br />
of the funds.<br />
The Commissioner for Local<br />
Government and Community<br />
Affairs, Muslim Folami, said<br />
due to the all inclusive policy of<br />
the governor, the CDAs in the<br />
state had increased from 2,012<br />
to 3,935 in the last three years.<br />
The Special Adviser to the<br />
Governor on Communities<br />
and Communications, Akeem<br />
Sulaimon, said all government<br />
programmes would be driven<br />
by the needs of communities.