Lagos state government has created an Office of Civic Engagements in a bid to listen to the residents of the state and ensure that their concerns are adequately attended to.
The governor of the state, Akinwunmi Ambode, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule at the launch of the office on Wednesday, February 17 said that the OCE will attend to Lagosians on behalf of the government.
The governor said ‘the essence of representative democracy is continual engagement of all stakeholders in the society.’
“In creating this office, we have opened our government to all for engagement. We want a participatory government, we want our government to listen to all your concerns, so we can bring people-oriented solutions.”
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Civic Engagement, Kehinde Joseph gave the welcome address at the launch of the office stating that the office was created by Governor Ambode in his resolve towards sustenance of peace, ethical rebirth and working together of Lagosians without prejudice to the indigent.
Furthermore, he explained that the purpose of the office is not to only provide financial assistance to the needy but also engage diverse interest groups, arms of government and other stakeholders in the project to sustain Lagos as a mega city.
“It is not only financial Assistance that we handle on behalf of the Government, our core responsibility spread across almost 20 Civic and Political tasks and duties likes it is our duty to initiate formulate and evaluate policies relating to citizens and stakeholders cohesion and engagement,” the commissioner said.
He continued: “It is our duty to promote issues and activities relating to volunteerism and community engagements. We also appraise political and legislative issues for Governor’s attention.
“We deal with matters relating to political engagements and inclusion. We stand as a go-between the State Government and Political Parties at the National, State and Local Government Levels. It is our responsibility to mobilize support for State Government Bills at Public Hearing of the State House of Assembly.”
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