Kunle ADELABU
-Governor has fulfilled electoral pledges to Communities – Special Adviser on Communities & Communications
Lagos State Government, on Friday, November 1, 2017, stated that it has decentralized the yearly celebration of Community Day in the State to include the 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), to further enrich community participation in all the nooks and crannies of the State.
The celebration is scheduled to start on Wednesday, December 6, 2017, and it is expected to be marked at designated venues in the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) with the grand finale holding on Thursday, November 7, 2017, at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium located within the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, after a courtesy call on the Governor by the leadership of the Community Development Committee’s organs in the State.
This was disclosed by the Special Adviser to the Governor of the State on Community and Communications, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan at the press conference on the Year 2017 Community Day Celebration held at the T-Block, Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, on Friday, December 1, 2017.
This year’s Community Day is themed, “Community Affirnity: Aligning The Needs of Lagos Community With Private Sector”.
Bamigbetan stated that the decision to incorporate LCDAs into the celebration was informed by the impressive performance of the various CDAs and CDCs across the State over the years.
The Special Adviser, while hoping that the decentralization of the celebration would result in increased communalism by the various communities, commended the over 3,900 CDAs in the State for initiating various self-help projects and complementing government’s efforts in their various localities.
While explaining the theme of this year’s celebration, Bamigbetan disclosed that members of the Organised Private Sector, OPS, had already been acquainted by state government on communities’ needs so that the needs of these communities would serve as a guide to the private sector when embarking on their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR).
“What the State Government is doing now is that we are addressing needs mis-match, we want the various developmental strides in all the communities to be far-reaching and very impactful. I am glad to report to you that residents of Apapa recently received six boats donated by a private company to ease their access to the Mainland. This was as a result of our engagement with the OPS few months ago on CSR”, the Special Adviser stated.
He said that the Ministry of Local Government and Communities Affairs has compiled the various needs of communities in the State through a need assessment survey it conducted recently, assuring that provision of infrastructural amenities in the various communities would henceforth be guided by the outcome of the Survey.
While stating that the government of Lagos State, under the leadership of Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, has fulfilled its electoral pledges concerning development of communities, Hon. Bamgbetan listed some of these achievements in the last 29 months.
“There is no doubt that the progress recorded over the years has taken a quantum leap following the assumption of office of the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode. He campaigned with a clear programme committing his administration to deepening and strengthening the role communities can play in governance generally and in the administration of Lagos State in particular”, he stated.
“The establishment of the Office of the Special Adviser, Communities & Communications, to drive the fulfillment of this pledge” , he stated.
“The establishment of the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor and the appointment of the Chairman of the State Advisory Council on Community Development, to integrate the Community Development structure into the State’s Service Delivery System”.
“The upscaling of the role of Community Development Associations in Service delivery at the State and Local Government levels through support for monthly interactive sessions with Ministries, Departments and Agencies to discuss the direction of Government strategies”, he added.
Hon. Bamigbetan also listed the monitoring, evaluation and feedback roles of CDAs in project initiation, execution and delivery, the visibility accorded the CDAs in the organisation of government programmes, the renewed guidelines to local governments emphasizing the consultation of, and partnership with community development associations as a code of governance of this administration and many more as parts of the achievements of the State government in the last 29 months.
Stating that the 2017 Edition of the Community Day Celebration would be inspired by the need to celebrate these achievements and demonstrate that the Ambode’s government is willing and ready to do more, adding that the State government is also considering fresh initiatives to take the community development higher.
“Fresh initiatives, such as a state-wide CDAs close user group system in which members of CDAs can make calls 24/7 at a very cheap rate per month is on the drawing board. A community house, which will serve as the best CDA state secretariat in the country is also on the drawing board. Finally, the light up Lagos monitoring programme in which CDAs will report on the performance of street lights in their neighbourhoods is also being considered”, he added.
Meanwhile, the State Government has directed all the Chairmen, legislative houses and management of LGAs and LCDAs in the state to support the CDAs and CDCs in making the event memorable and historic.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, Community Development Committee (CDC) in Ikorodu Local Government, Alhaji Luqman Shonibare has told THE IMPACT in an interview that the Community Day Celebration in Ikorodu would be a memorable and an unforgettable experience for the community developers and residents.
He stated that members are being mobilized to participate in the celebration holding at open ground opposite the Post Office in Ikorodu by 10am in Ikorodu on Wednesday, December 6.
According to him, activities lined-up to celebrate the day in Ikorodu are match past, dance, parade among others.
Members have also been directed to wear Lagos @50 blue ankara for the two day celebration.
