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By Henry Uche
Lagosians have urged governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to improve performance in security, road network, employment, healthcare delivery, education among other critical sectors, going forward.
They made this call following a data obtained by Emani (A rapid & robust Survey Consults) after a painstaking survey carried out on Citizens’ Perceptions on Governance of Lagos State, specifically with respect to: Budget delivery, promises and general expectations.
At a press brief yesterday in Lagos, the initiator of the survey, HEDA Resource Center (A leading Anti-corruption good governance Civil Society Organization) said the essence of the survey was to beam its spotlight on critical sector, arms and tiers of government with a view to gaining insight on how people perceive the government and its activities.
Presenting the report to the public, the chairman of HEDA, Olarenwaju Suraju, said another key aim of the effort was to measure people’s expectations of government with a view to serving as a feedback mechanism to government and other stakeholders.
According to him, the research instrument (A questionnaire) was administered by members of Emani community using stratified random sampling spread across age, gender, disability, socio-economic and religious status and across all Local Government areas of Lagos State.
“The survey was conducted in Lagos between January 19 and 21, 2022 with 457 respondents. The respondents were spread across gender comprising of 236 men and 218 women; age comprising of 195 respondents who are under 25 years of age, 163 respondents between ages 25 and 34 and 101 respondents who are above 35 years old. Out of the respondents, 53 self-identified as having a disability and overall, an average of 20 responses were received across each Local Government Area of Lagos State.
“More than half (61%) of respondents have no idea what the Lagos State budget contains; 5% of the respondents expressed satisfaction with the Lagos State Government’s overall performance; about 40% of respondents believe that the Lagos State Government needs to improve its performance in critical sectors; 15% of young people consider the approach of the Lagos State Government to Education effective; up to 43% of them say the approach needs improvement while 11% of female respondents consider the Lagos State Government effective in creating economic opportunities. About half of them (45%) said the situation needs improvement,”
The document obtained by Daily Sun recommended that: The State Government should ensure a participatory budgetary process in managing and administering the State; The State Assembly was charged to make public and proactively disclose copies of budget passed immediately after passage.
Also Considering the spate of insecurity and increasing rate of unemployment, the State Government is under renewed obligation to rededicate attention towards creating sustainable job for the teeming youths and also providing security across the State.
The roads of Lagos State are unbefitting of the economic hub of Nigeria and sixth largest economy in Africa. The Internally Generated Revenue of the State Government should be sufficiently deployed to build mass-oriented infrastructure for the State.
On health, it was emphasized that the wealth of a nation is dependent on the health of the citizens. Since the health of average citizen and resident epitomises the health of the State, the State Government therefore should prioritise affordable and quality health for the citizens.
Suraju affirmed that the report would be delivered to the state government, the State House of Assembly and other critical ministries, Departments, Agencies, groups, institutions and Individuals who would need it for different purposes.
“This report would trigger reactions across board, we shall follow up with the government in particular and where they fail to address issues we shall take legal actions where necessary.
“We hope that the Government of Lagos State will thoroughly review the report with a view to evolving ways and strategies for improving citizens’ perception of governance and the government. By extension, we hope that other States, Federal and Local Governments will also tap into the findings of this report with a view to improving governance and meeting expectations of the citizens.,” he added.
Other areas the report covered were: Infrastructure, Emergency Situations, Disease Outbreak, Preventing and Managing Building Collapse, Traffic Management, Civic Education & Citizens Engagements, and the Economy at large.
