Agege ends 3-day Budget Retreat

We must not allow our sacrifice to be in vain by not walking our talk - Egunjobi 

Agege Local Government Area of Lagos State has presented its 2018 budget estimates after the Executive Council Management Committee completed a three-day budget retreat held at VIP Chalet in Badagary area of the state.

At the end of the event,  the council chairman, Alhaji Ganiyu Kola Egunjobi made it categorically clear to participants made up of the council management,  staff, Secretary(SLG), Councillors, Supervisors, and other political appointees  to put into practice their take-away from the retreat, adding that it was important that the council met its revenue expectation, and carried out its planned programmes and projects, a statement by the Special Adviser on Media to the council boss, Rotimi Sulyman claimed.

"Talk is cheap, we must put our action where our mouth is, we have been here for three days deliberating on how to move our council forward, we must not allow our sacrifice to be in vain by not walking our talk as soon as we return to the office," Egunjobi who presided over the retreat alongside the Council's Head of Administration, HOA, Builder M. A.Abass said in one of his remarks at the twilight of the event.    

Abass brought his knowledge of coordinating such occasion to bear, and in one of his numerous contributions urged participants, particularly the civil servants to contribute maximally to the deliberation,  saying that retreat was not a walk in the park.

 "When you are at a retreat, you are expected to work extremely hard, think hard and make contributions that would be of benefit to the organisation.

"We have all heard the Chairman promising to implement all the planned projects and programmes captured in the 2018 budget   asat when due. So we must seize this moment by making informed suggestions and contribution," the HOA said.

Some of those who made quite an impression on the Council management as a result of their contributions were the Chairman, Council Revenue Committee, Hon. Rasheed Osanyinpeju, the SLG, Hon. Gbenga Abiola, the Supervisor for Works, Hon. Olusola Osolana , the outgoing auditor, Mr.  Monsuru Adelu and his legal counterpart, Lawyer Akin-Kunle Akin-Ajayi.

Among the facilitators who took the participants through various issues were the acting Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Finance Committee, Hon. Oluyinka Ogundimu, SA on Budget and Planning to Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Otunba Richard Akin Osungboye   and a Geography Information System expert, Mr. Olubiyi Bidemi.

LASG tasks staff on sound policy formulation, implementation

Lagos State Government has tasked its workforce to come up with suggestions on how to formulate and execute government policies that would address challenges confronting majority of the populace.

The State Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr. Akintola Benson-Oke gave the charge today at the opening session of a workshop tagged: Policy Analysis Development and Implementation, organised by the State Government for Policy Analysts in Lagos Public Service at Ikeja.

He maintained that those involved in government policy process need to possess strong analytical skills and ability to apply a variety of research and evaluation methods within a complex political and economic environment.

The Commissioner said that the training will review the analytical approaches that are essential for effective policy development in modern times.

The training will cover the nature and role of policy analysts and the interaction among social institutions, markets and government. It will examine how to conduct effective policy analysis, manage the policy development process, and produce sound and persuasive policy reports and recommendation to the government, he said.

He informed that policy-making and implementation functions in governance are important because governments are repeatedly confronted with problems that call for apt and appropriate solutions.

Benson-Oke added that challenges of governance in recent time have taken complex features and as such a government of metropolitan state like Lagos must have a pool of skilled, trained and current policy analysts and developers who will assist the government in designing the right, appropriate and sustainable answers to complex and urgent problems.

The Commissioner said that the present administration is taking up challenges to aspire to the highest standards of governance and administration that the citizens expect of the government.

He maintained that all the achievements of the Ambode-led administration since inception is hinged on the quality of reforms and policies enunciated by the government policy makers, adding that there is little or nothing that could be achieved by any government without a robust policy-making process.

He, therefore, urged participants to embrace the capacity development initiative and open their minds to new ideas that might emanate in the course of the training.


I exhort public policy analysts and developers in the Lagos State Public Service to learn to focus quickly on the central decision criterion of a problem requiring attention, avoid the Tool-box Approach to analysing policies and also learn how to deal with uncertainty, Benson-Oke reiterated.

Lagos Speaker Obasa Hands Over Report Of Constituency Meeting To Ambode

Lagos Speaker Obasa Hands Over Report Of Constituency Meeting To Ambode; Gov Says it’ll Form Part Of 2017 Budget

The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa has handed over the reports of the constituency stakeholders’ meeting organised by the House to the state Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode for implementation.

The constituency stakeholders’ meeting, second in the series, took place simultaneously in all the 40 constituencies in the state.

The reports contained the requests and recommendations of the people of the state spread across the 40 constituencies on how the state will continue to achieve development and growth.

On Friday during the Executive-Legislative Parley organised by the state government, Obasa told the Governor that the reports contained the wishes and recommendations of the people of the state urging him to ensure their implementation.

“We decided to feel the pulse of our people through the constituency stakeholders’ meeting and what I’m presenting to you today is their aggregate demands and recommendations collated by our field officers who worked in the 40 constituencies,” the Lagos Assembly Speaker said.

Governor Ambode while receiving the reports from the Speaker assured that the contents would form major components of the 2017 budget.

“These are the wishes of Lagosians and these will help us greatly in preparing the 2017 budget. These reports will save time because they are the direct requests of the people so we have something to work on,” Ambode said.

He commended the state Assembly for the initiative boring that the initiative complements the efforts of state government to bring dividends of democracy closer to the people. “This is a very unique initiative which has been complementing the efforts of the government to improve the welfare of our people and bring dividends of democracy closer to them,” he said.

Ambode later handed over the reports to the state Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Akinyemi Asade for implementation.