Ambode To Spend N19bn On 114 Lagos Roads

Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Monday unveiled plans to commence the reconstruction of 114 roads across the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas in the State.

According to him, two roads will be constructed in each of the 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs.

Speaking at the Lagos House, Ikeja during the monthly meeting with the Executive Secretaries of the 57 Councils to review the progress report in their various communities, Ambode said the decision to embark on the road rehabilitation was in line with the reforms at the local government level.

He noted that the first phase will commence with the reconstruction of 114 roads, two per local government, at the cost of N19 billion and will be left for the local governments to execute.

“We expect you to create jobs in your communities and get our people employed on these projects,” he said.

Governor Ambode said the councils were undergoing reforms that the ongoing reforms aimed at making them more effective. He also said that the new structure would reduce cost of governance.

“With this new structure, a lot is expected from you, the Executive Secretaries. You are the face of the government in your communities. Your people must know you and you must know the people”.

“You must have a good knowledge of their challenges and be able to, jointly with them, proffer solutions that the government can implement. You should live with your people. There is no reason why an Executive Secretary of a Local Government should live outside his community,” he said.

He also charged them to utilise the various channels of communication to improve the level of participation between the Community Development Committees (CDCs) Community Development Associations (CDAs), Local Councils, Local Governments and the State Government.

“This chain of communication must be fluid and information should flow either way. You have created websites; we have erected boundary demarcation sign posts and created phone lines for easier access to the Local Governments and Councils. We expect all these to ensure better communication with your communities and for the people to know which Local Governments they reside in,” he said.

Speaking further, Ambode said: “This is a government of continuity with improvement. As such our people must feel that improvement. They must experience that improvement. They can only feel it if you are dedicated to serve them. As we work on ways to improve the lives of our people, I charge you all to get involved in your communities. You must live with your community and you should be accessible to them”.

“Community Governance should be our priority as we have promised. We can only consider our administration a success if we can touch the lives of all our citizens positively in any community they reside. That is the challenge facing you and I,” he said.