By Chukwudi Nweje
As Nigerians grapple with the economic hardship amid rising cost of living and protests in some parts of the country, the Lagos State Government, yesterday, said it is on top of the situation, as it is doing everything possible to ameliorate the pains of the people.
It asked Nigerians to be patient with President Bola Tinubu-led government as the seeds he has sown would soon germinate.
It assured Lagosians that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration has put measures in place to make food available to the residents at the grassroots.
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotosho, and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Civic Engagement, Mr Afolabi Tajudeen, gave the assurance in separate addresses at a town hall meeting organised by The Youth Bureau (TYB), coalition of civil society and socio/economic stakeholders in Lagos, under the theme, ‘State of the Nation.’
Omotosho noted that Nigeria faces food scarcity because of the insecurity that has driven farmers away from their farmlands and the activities of illegal miners.
He said: “The problem of food scarcity in Nigeria is due to insecurity. Many farmers no longer go to farm because their farmlands have been turned into mining sites or Boko Haram and other agents of destruction have chased them out of their farms.”
He noted that Lagos State has a peculiar challenge of unreliable data caused by the daily migration of people into the state, a development he stated has made it difficult for the government to plan adequately for the people.
He further said: “If you stand at Ojota, you will see how people are transported in trucks every day into Lagos State. So, Lagos has a problem with reliable data and without reliable data, it is very difficult to plan.”
He, however, assured that the state government would not relent on its plans to make life better for the people.
He added: “I assure you that Gov Sanwo-Olu is coming with a Lagos solution. We are giving out food but that cannot be a lasting solution; the final solution. We are working on what would be the lasting solution, that is that all the food that gets spoilt will no longer spoil, and we are working to establish price control. All we are telling Lagosians is to be calm, take it easy, and be patient. The government is not asleep, it is working to make things right for our people,” Omotosho said.
On his part, Tajudeen noted that the governor has said that quarterly, food should be distributed to the indigent at the grassroots.
He noted that the distribution would be distributed through the Community Development Associations (CDAs) to ensure that the items get to the targeted population.
Reacting, Prince Rotimi Adeniyi, Chairman of People living with Disability (PWDs), Lagos State chapter, lamented that the PWDs have borne more of the economic hardship, and appealed to Sanwo-Olu and President Tinubu to look into their plight.
“Persons with disability bear the brunt of the economic hardship. The PWDs are suffering and we appeal to President Tinubu to consider the challenges they face,” he noted.
Earlier, Rasaq Olokobo, convener of the meeting noted that the prevailing economic hardship was not peculiar to Nigeria, and called on the citizenry to join hands and pull the country out of its current state.
He said: “As we all know, our country, just like many other countries in the world, is faced with severe economic challenges, which call for concerted efforts to fathom what needs to be done to mitigate the challenging times. We are at a time when rather than buck-passing, name-calling or campaigns of blackmail and calumny to heat the polity, destabilise processes, mislead and incite the people to civil unrest, we are called to proffer solutions.
“We are here to rub minds as patriots and nationalists, who are conscious that we have no other country but Nigeria. Therefore, it behoves us to maintain dignifying calm and candour in relating our condition, x-raying it and in proffering the way forward to be critical but constructive rather than dismissive or destructive.”
He said the meeting was convoked because of the shared understanding of the groups that every Nigerian has a role to play in making Nigeria better.
“No matter the circumstances or conditions we are passing through, we must understand that nations are built by the vibrancy of the youth and the wisdom of the elders.
“We are gathered here as responsible citizens, to voice our genuine concerns about our socio-economic realities and examine what is being done, and proffer recommendations on what can be further done as our contribution to nation building,” he said.