Sanwo-Olu’s Aide rallies support from CEOs, Heads of Govt Agencies

… As Parastatals Monitoring Office Holds Workshop For Heads of Agencies

 AgegePulse Magazine

The Chief of Staff to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Tayo Ayinde has craved for the support of all heads of government-owned agencies and parastatals in the State towards the realisation of the vision of the current administration.

Ayinde made the plea at the commencement of a two-day workshop organised for the Chief Executives of government agencies in Lagos State, emphasising the importance of a full understanding of the agenda of the State Governor by the helmsmen as well as keying into the areas that are relevant to the mandate of their organisations.

“This is very crucial because the success of this administration would depend on the successful implementation of responsibilities assigned to your parastatals and agencies,” the Chief of Staff said.

He enjoined the participants to take advantage of the workshop and gain full knowledge and understanding of the processes and procedures required for the day to day running of their respective organisations.

“This administration, led by Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, is result-oriented and determined to leave a legacy of unprecedented development that will impact directly the lives of every Lagosian irrespective of gender, religion, tribe or socio-economic background.  I urge you to embrace this philosophy of governance within your spheres of authority and responsibility with special consideration for transparency, accountability and value for taxpayers’ money,” Ayinde stated.

In a similar contribution, the Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Paratstals Monitoring Office, PMO, Mr. Afolabi Ayantayo disclosed that the supervisory roles played by the Office as regards the Parastatals and Agency are not meant to witchhunt, but to work hand in hand with each other so as to effectively coordinate their activities for the advancement of the State.

He said that the Workshop was meant to further enhance the capabilities of the participants to discharge the enormous tasks bestowed on them as heads of various government and semi-autonomous establishments charged with providing various services towards enhancing the quality of life of Lagosians.

Ayantanyo also revealed that since the resuscitation of the Office under the present administration, the Parastatals Monitoring Office (PMO) team has traversed 83 government companies, agencies and parastatals, straddling the nooks and crannies of the entire area of the State.

The visit to the agencies, according to him, was to have first-hand information about the various offices and also advise government about the activities of each of the agencies.

Speaking on the essence of establishing the various agencies, Ayantayo stated that the establishment of the agencies was borne out of the need to decentralise government services and also make it easily accessible to service seekers in a very swift and efficient manner.

“It is simply because the Government desires to make certain qualities of life obtainable for the majority, if not all citizens, through the running of some essential services which, if left to the private sector, may not be accessible, or may be accessible at exorbitant costs.”

“For example, it would be unimaginable to expect the Ministry of Transportation to directly manage hundreds of buses plying different routes on a daily basis, therefore, there has to be LAMATA and LAGBUS,” the Special Adviser explained.

He expressed the belief that at the end of the workshop, Lagos State will have a group of more dedicated, industrious and overwhelmingly confident Chief Executive Officers and Heads of Agencies and Parastatals ready to actualise the vision of this administration as encapsulated in the T.H.E.M.E.S  agenda.

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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.