News
Lagos to build resilient residents, city
By Oyebola Owolabi
Lagos State will continue to build the resilience of residents to enable them cope with the challenges of a mega city and other emerging trials resulting from COVID-19 pandemic and violent protests.
The Head of Service, Hakeem Muri-Okunola, who spoke at a resilience sensitisation workshop for state officials, said the COVID-19 outbreak and EndSARS protests were testimonials to the resilient nature of Lagos.
According to him, the state stood strong in the face of devastation and economic downturn occasioned by the pandemic-induced lockdowns.
Muri-Okunola said the government would continue to take proactive steps and policies to keep the state afloat.
He added: “However, the strategy cannot implement itself; public servants are the key drivers and engine room of the system that will ensure full implementation of the initiatives contained therein.
“The Lagos State public service has always held a role model status in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa; and like many ideas executed by government, the vision of the Lagos Resilience Strategy cannot be achieved without the buy-in of the ever ready public service.”
Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning Sam Egube stressed that it was time for the public service to retool for the future, physical, social and economic challenges, new technologies and emerging realities.
“There is great need for the public service to begin to think from a resilience perspective in its approach to problem solving, policy development, administration and governance, as we cannot continue to do things the same way and expect different results.
“Today’s sessions are therefore aimed at intimating you with the Lagos Resilience Strategy; building your capacity to develop and implement resilient interventions in the state; and charging you to bring the acquired skills to bear,” he said.
The state’s Chief Resilience Officer, Folayinka Dania, said the workshop was to intimate participants on the activities of the office, its city resilience strategy and interventions to improve resilience qualities. She urged participants to think more about stakeholders when planning their programmes.
According to Dania, the Lagos State resilience strategy identifies supporting genuine entrepreneurs and their collective efforts to improve the city’s resilience and ensure a thriving workforce.
