Imperatives of engagement, viable intervention in hard times
The Lagos State government recently rolled out a special intervention plan to douse the severity of the current economic hardship that is battering already distressed residents. Whatever the shortfall of the intervention, it is an apt entry point into the welfare duty that the state statutorily has to the people, and a nudge on others nationwide to hold their governors accountable, KEHINDE OLATUNJI reports.
HARD times are such that try the soul of nations, as much as they test the mettle of their leaders.
In a warp federalism like Nigeria, where the Federal Governm ent micromanages almost all affairs of other tiers, hard time is a leeway for idle state governors to blame the centre for the miser y of their people. And such is the cheap politics of leadership without responsibility or empathy.
Perhaps some state governors, despite the inadequacies of the governance structure, are learning to do things differently , at least to take up the gauntlet of dousing the severity of the grim socio- economic realities. They are those that are true to their constitutional remit that the primary purpose of government shall be ‘ security and welfare’ – not ditching excuses – to the people.
Last week, the Lagos state government joined the fray with a rollout of interventions to cushion the effects of galloping inflation. While it will not solve all problems, stakeholders and residents alike concur that it is a positive way to show up in dire straits.
Lagos, the commercial hub of the countr y, with over 20 million residents, has its share of the economic crisis, with many businesses closing down and companies downsizing to further worsen an already bad unemployment rate.
Many believe the current situation warrants the declaratio n of a state of emergency as Nigerians are finding it more difficult to feed themselves, as food inflation has risen to a time high.
Apparently liste ning to the growing decibels of “hunger in the land”, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo- Olu, recently rolled out relief measures that are targeted at vulnerable people, which include reduction in fares of public transport, rebate foods, as well as health and education palliatives – all based on his engagement with the primary needs of the people.
The governor, accompanied by his deputy governor, Obafemi Hamzat, and selected members of the state Executive Council, who spoke during a live media chat titled, ‘ Sanwo Speaks,’ revealed steps being taken by his administration to relieve the economic burden on the residents.
He said: “We are not unaware and unmindful of the current situation, but as leaders, we have the responsibility to bring immediate ease to our people. Given the nature of the challenges that we are facing presently, we have designed creative means to ease the hardship of our people. “As incident commander, I am giving you the commitment that the bipartisan advisory committee that we have put together, will welcome ideas and advice from everyone that can lead to more solutions out of the challenges that we have found ourselves.
“In terms of policies, we will continue to do everything within our means that the greatest good gets to the greatest number. Lagosians are resourceful and hardworking, they are commercially driven selfstarters. Those are the values I want all of us to build our hope around,” Sanwo- Olu said.
To address the rising food prices, the governor announced three layers of agricultural interventions, one of which would be the distribution of combo packages of food items to vulnerable Lagosians, targeting 300,000 households, adding that the state had concluded the procurement of over 100 trailers of rice and other food items, but currently fine- tuning the logistics for seamless distribution to the beneficiaries.
Another layer would be the opening of a “Sunday Market” for the next five weeks in 42 communities across the state, where staple food would be available for residents to buy at reduced prices. He said shoppers could only buy items not more than N25,000, with each shopper getting a 25 per cent rebate immediately after purchase.
On the third level of agricultural intervention, he said it was the “Soup Bowl”, which was rolled out during the COVID- 19 lockdown. “We have identified local cafeteria operators and caterers within communities. Funds will be sent to them to prepare the soup bowls. Vouchers will be given to anybody to walk in and eat free of charge. We want to be able to feed between 1,000 and 1,500 people in every local government area daily for the next 30 to 60 days at the first instance.”
In the health sector, also reintroduced a free child delivery programme for expectant mothers in all the state- owned General Hospitals and special maternity centres. Essentially, this means that the state government would take up the cost of the child delivery, including Caesarean section.
He said: “We believe this measure would help reduce pressure on families. We are also working with state- owned hospitals to reduce the cost of certain drugs, such as hypertension medication. All six health districts in Lagos will roll out a bi- weekly community health mission over the next three months, where residents will enjoy free check- ups for diabetes, blood pressure and eye testing. There will be free medications to be given to patients to manage observed conditions.”
Infrastructure- wise, the governor revealed the collaborative plan with the local government authorities to reconstruct 180 inner roads across the state.
Taking cognisance of the challenges pensioners often face in accessing their pensions, Governor Sanwo- Olu said the state government would ensure the prompt payment of pensions to retired civil servants in the state, adding that they should be able to receive their cheques within a month after retirement.
Given the importance of security, the governor said measures are on the ground to secure the citizenry. On the recent move by FG to approve state policing, he reiterated Lagos’ readiness to deploy 10,000 men from the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps ( LNSC) to assist with the provision of security across the state.
The governor said this will come into effect once the Federal Government and the National Assembly firm up constitutional provisions for the establishment of state police.
Buttressing his point, he said the LNSC, a uniformed security agency established by a law of the Lagos
State House of
Assembly in 2016, would be pulled out to join the state police.
In education,
Sanwo- Olu introduced additional transport support for classroom teachers to enable them to keep their work schedule, while pupils across public schools would continue their five- day school attendance.
For the time being, he however suspended the directive compelling parents to show evidence of tax payment to enroll their wards in school. According to him, this was to discourage absenteeism and dropping out of school.
In terms of cost of transportation, the governor gave a 25 per cent fare slash across the state- owned public transport channels, including BRT, train and ferry services, adding that all government departments and agencies have been instructed to design modalities for immediate implementation of the measures.
He said: “The rising cost of transportation has also made it pertinent for us to initiate an intervention in the sector. For the public using the government- owned transport services, we are implementing a 25 per cent fare reduction on all our public transportation channels.
“We are also working with various commercial transporters to assist in the little way we can ease the situation. Instructions have been given to government functionaries for the implementation of these measures; modalities will be provided.” According to the governor, one of the immediate measures was to target a new work schedule for the workforce in the state’s civil service. From this week, the civil servants on Grade Levels 1 to 14 are now permitted to work three times weekly until further notice while civil servants on Grade Levels 15 to 17 will work four days in a week.
Giving assurances that this measure would not disrupt governance, he said it was to reduce the pressure daily borne by workers in carrying out their duties in the period of economic hardship, adding that it would save the staff additional stress.
The Governor said hard times called for hard decisions by the Government, urging those calling for civil unrest and industrial action to desist from the plan. He noted that paralysing the economy would not bring about solutions.
We are not unaware and unmindful of the current situation, but as leaders, we have the responsibility to bring immediate ease to our people. Given the nature of the challenges that we are facing presently, we have designed creative means to ease the hardship of our people. In terms of policies, we will continue to do everything within our means so that the greatest good gets to the greatest number.