Eye on Ambode: Lagos governor promises to transform Yaba into Nigeria’s Silicon Valley, more

It’s another weekend and we bring you a recap of the activities of Lagos state’s Governor Akinwunmi Ambode through the week.

We’ll begin from Wednesday when the governor received His Royal Highness, the Ooni of Ile-Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi at the Lagos House, Alausa. The Ooni’s visit was mainly to identify with the developmental work of the Lagos state governor and to seek ways of partnering with the state, especially on food security.

The Ooni said: “We can partner in respect of food security. In Osun State, we have land for agriculture and same in Oyo, Ondo and Ekiti States. You will not believe that 80 per cent of all the products from those farmlands are wasted; it is only about 20 per cent that get to the metropolis of Lagos for consumption. Now imagine, if we can just synchronise and work together on how to take food security to another level.

Receiving the king, Governor Ambode expressed pleasure at the visit as it came only few weeks after the commemoration of the Ooni’s first year on the throne. Addressing the food security partnership discussion, the governor said, “Everything Ooni has said on food security is in consonance with our belief and we believe that if we move forward, Nigeria will also move forward“. He added that the state had already purchased land in two Southwestern states, Ogun and Oyo and the way forward is to integrate the other states in the sub-region in the food security mechanism of demand and supply.

Also on Wednesday, the governor made a few stops at the technology centres in Yaba. He touched CCHub, Andela and IDEA among others, as part of his extensive inspection tour through the state.

At the visit, Governor Ambode promised to transform Yaba to Nigeria’s own Silicon Valley. He also said that his decision to visit the technology hub was to have a personal feel of the state of affairs and learn about their challenges firsthand. He announced to the technology entrepreneurs that they would be granted access to the N25 billion Employment Trust Fund.

The governor said, “All we need to do is to now send people here and also support by way of infrastructure to scale up this place…Our aim is to create enabling environment for our youth to thrive, to be more creative and enterprising. We so much believe in innovation and creativity. We strongly believe that youths are the ones that can take us out of this economic recession and the truth is that we must create enabling environment for our youths to optimally utilize their talents.”

He was accompanied on the visit by former Minister for Information and Communication, Mrs Omobola Johnson and other top government officials.

The governor also made it to Ladipo autoparts market where he announced the commencement of the rehabilitation of some of the streets and the construction of a multi-layer carpark.

On Friday, Governor Ambode received, at the Lagos House, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Paul Arkwright and the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Barnhard Schlagheck. The purpose of the meeting was to strengthen the ties that the state has with Britain and Germany.

Speaking at the meeting, Governor Ambode said: “We are doing everything to make sure that we take as much as possible from the expertise of the British companies and I want to see a situation where how London is the hub of European commerce and tourism, we can also make Lagos to be the hub of African commerce and tourism and that is where we are going.

He also promised that the state will continue to make sure that Britons in the state are protected alongside their investments.

Mr Schlagheck commended the governor for his commitment towards making Lagos a model for prosperity and progress and for thriving despite the economic recession that has hit Nigeria as a nation.

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