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HARDSHIP: SANWO-OLU ROLLS OUT RELIEF MEASURES, REDUCES WORK DAYS FOR LAGOS CIVIL SERVANTS

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…Governor sets up open markets for cheap food items, slashes T-fares by 25% on public transport means

…Launches palliative in health, education

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has announced sweeping interventions which the State will be implementing in order to reduce the effects of the current economic hardship on its citizens.

The Governor, during a live media chat on Thursday, conveyed his empathy to the State’s residents groaning under the rising cost of living, resulting in inflation of food and commodities prices.

Sanwo-Olu rolled out layers of measures targeted at vulnerable populations within the State to mitigate the impact of the hardship and bring about immediate ease, just as the Federal Government led the recovery efforts.

The Governor bared it all at the live programme anchored by veteran media practitioners led by Dr. Reuben Abati of Arise TV and Babajide Kolade-Otitoju of Television Continental (TVC). Others are General Manager of Lagos Television, Mrs Adesola Kosoko, and Channels TV’s Jeffery Uzomma.

As part of the measures to cushion the harsh economic situation, Sanwo-Olu announced new work schedule for the workforce in the State’s civil service. From next week, State workers on Grade Level 1 to 14 will be permitted to work three times weekly until further notice.

Also, civil servants on Grade Level 15 to 17 will work four days in a week.

Sanwo-Olu said the measure was not intended to disrupt governance. The move, he said, was to reduce the pressure daily borne by workers in carrying out their duties in the period of economic hardship. The Governor said the measure would save the staff of additional stress.

Besides, Sanwo-Olu announced a 25 per cent fare slash across the State-owned public transport channels, including BRT, train and ferry services.

The Governor said he had instructed all government departments and agencies to design modalities for immediate implementation of the measures.

He said: “I convey our deepest empathy to our citizens over the current hardship occasioned by inflation commodities prices. We are not unaware and unmindful of the current situation, but as leaders, we have the responsibility to bring immediate ease to our people. Given the nature of challenges that we are facing presently, we have designed creative means to ease the hardship on our people, starting with public servants.

“Effective from next week, the working hours of workers from Level 1 to Level 14 in the State’s civil service will be rescheduled. They will now come to office for maximum period of three times in a week. This measure will not shut down governance, neither will it disrupt operations of Government. It will all be calendarised and scheduled. Workers in Level 15 to Level 17 will be required to work four times in a week. All we seek to achieve is reducing the pressure on our workers and save them of additional stress.

“Rising cost of transportation has also made it pertinent for us to initiate an intervention in the sector. For the public using the Government-owned transport services, we are implementing 25 per cent fare reduction on all our public transportation channels. We are also working with various commercial transporters to assist in little way we can to ease the situation. Instructions have been given to government functionaries for the implementation of these measures; modalities will be provided.”

To address the rising food prices, Sanwo-Olu announced three layers of agricultural interventions. He said the State Government would be distributing combo packages of food items to vulnerable Lagosians, targeting 300,000 households.

The Governor said the State had concluded the procurement of over 100 trailers of rice and other food items, but currently fine-tunning the logistics for seamless distribution to the beneficiaries.

Sanwo-Olu said Lagos would be opening “Sunday Market” in 42 communities across the State, where staple food would be available for residents to buy at reduced prices. Shoppers would only be able to buy items not more than N25,000, with each shopper getting 25 per cent rebate immediately after purchase.

The Sunday Market, the Governor said, will open for the next five weeks.

“The third level of our intervention in agriculture sector is what we call “Soup Bowl”, which we similarly rolled out during COVID-19 lockdown. We have identified local cafeteria operators and caterers within communities. Funds will be sent to them to prepare the soup bowls. Vouchers will be given to anybody to walk in and eat free of charge. We want to be able to feed between 1,000 and 1,500 people in every Local Government Area daily for the next 30 to 60 days at the first instance,” he said.

In education, Sanwo-Olu introduced additional transport support for classroom teachers to enable them keep their work schedule, while pupils across public schools would continue their five-day school attendance.

For the time being, the Governor suspended the directive compelling parents to show evidence of tax payment in order to enroll their wards in school. This is to discourage pupil absenteeism and dropping out of school.

In health, Sanwo-Olu also reintroduced free child delivery programme for expectant mothers in all the State-owned General Hospitals and special maternity centres. The State Government, he said, would take up the cost of the child delivery, including Caesarean section.

He said: “We believe this measure would help reduce pressure on families. We are also working with the State-owned hospitals to reduce the cost of some certain drugs, such as hypertension medication.

“All the six health districts in Lagos will roll out bi-weekly community health mission over the next three months, where residents would enjoy free check-up for diabetes, blood pressure and eye testing. There will be free medications to be given to patients to manage observed conditions.”

Sanwo-Olu also touched other areas of his Government’s activities during the media chat, including the collaborative plan with the Local Government authorities to reconstruct 180 inner roads across the State.

He reiterated Lagos’ readiness of 10,000 men for state police in the case of the Federal Government giving full constitutional approval for creation of State Police outfit.

The Governor said hard times called for hard decisions by the Government, urging those calling for civil unrest and industrial action to desist from the plan. He noted that paralysing the economy would not bring about solutions.

He pleaded for patience and understanding, noting that the nation would be out of the woods in the fullness of the reforms initiated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Addressing Lagosians, Sanwo-Olu said: “As incident commander, I am giving you the commitment that the bipartisan advisory committee that we have put together, will welcome ideas and advice from everyone that can lead to more solution out of the challenges that we have found ourselves.

“In terms of policies, we will continue to do everything within our means that the greatest good gets to the greatest number. Lagosians are resourceful and hardworking, they are commercially driven self-starters. Those are the values I want all of us to build our hope around.”

 

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Abandoned Roads: Lagos Assembly Sends Fresh Message

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– invites works commissioner, contractors

– lawmakers to submit list of abandoned roads to govt

 

 

The Lagos State House of Assembly has called on the Government to urgently address the pain of residents in relation to some roads.

 

The lawmakers at a sitting presided over by Speaker Mojisola Lasbat Meranda particularly mentioned the abandoned Bola Ahmed Tinubu Road in Igbogbo-Baiyeku Local Council Development Area (LCDA) urging Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to direct the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to ensure that HITECH Construction Company resumes work on it.

 

They also urged all relevant agencies to develop a concrete plan for completing the project while ensuring adequate security measures for residents in the affected community.

 

Contained in the House resolution was that the contractors should receive an upfront payment of 60 to 70 percent to facilitate the prompt completion of projects.

 

Rt. Hon. Meranda directed all the lawmakers to compile lists of abandoned roads in their constituencies for submission to the appropriate ministry for immediate action.

 

The resolution followed a ‘matter of urgent public importance’ raised by Hon. Aro Moshood, who decried the hardship faced by Ikorodu residents due to the abandoned road.

 

“This road has been left in a deplorable state since 2017. What was meant to bring relief to the people has now become a source of distress, posing serious security and socio-economic challenges,” Moshood said.

 

The lawmaker highlighted the alarming rate of criminal activities including kidnappings, accidents and sexual assaults, all linked to the poor condition of the road in the area.

 

Contributing to the debate, Hon. Abiodun Ogunleye stressed the strategic importance of the road to the state adding that its completion would significantly boost economic activities in the area.

 

On his part, Hon. Lukmon Sa’ad Olumoh criticized the prolonged delay in the completion of the road, noting that the House had approved funds for the project in the previous year.

 

“It is disappointing that a road construction project has been abandoned for over seven years. I was part of a committee that inspected ongoing road projects across the state last year and contractors cited the fluctuating exchange rate as a major challenge.

 

“This House should invite the contractor handling the project to clarify whether they received the funds approved by this Assembly,” Hon. Olumoh said.

 

Deputy Chief Whip of the House, Hon. Sanni Ganiyu Okanlawon, insisted on a decisive action by the government. He also called on the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure as well as contractors to explain why the project remains uncompleted.

 

“This issue of abandoned road projects should not be treated with levity. I urge this House to summon the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, alongside the contractors, to explain why these projects have stalled,” he stated.

 

Hon. Tobun Abiodun proposed enacting a law to mandate all administrations to complete projects initiated by their predecessors so as to prevent cases of uncompleted projects.

 

Speaking about the challenge, Deputy Majority Leader Adedamola Richard Kasunmu stressed that the issue extended beyond Ikorodu.

 

“This is not just an Ikorodu problem. It is happening across the state. We need to summon all relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to provide explanations for these abandoned roads,” he said.

 

Following extensive deliberations, the Assembly unanimously resolved to summon the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure and the contractors to provide a detailed report on the status of abandoned road projects in Lagos State.

 

 

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Blackout As National Grid Suffers Disturbance

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Nigeria experienced another nationwide blackout on Wednesday following the collapse of the national grid, the second such incident this year.

The incident occurred around 11:30 am on Wednesday, making it the second time the national grid will be suffering setback this year.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has yet to disclose the cause.

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) confirmed the incident, stating:

“We regret to inform you that a system disturbance occurred on the national grid at 11:34 a.m., causing power outages across our coverage areas. While gradual restoration has begun, we are working with stakeholders to fully stabilize supply.”

A popular Nigeria National Grid account on X also reported the collapse, noting that parts of the country were affected.

When contacted, TCN spokesperson Ndidi Mbah said she was in transit and would respond later.

This latest failure follows a similar collapse on January 11, 2025. In 2024, the national grid suffered at least 12 collapses, highlighting ongoing instability in Nigeria’s power sector.

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IBEDC Restores Power Supply To UCH After 3 Months Of Darkness

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The blackout at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, has now ended as the management of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company yesterday restored power to the teaching hospital.

The restoration of power to the hospital was confirmed to newsmen by the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Professor Jesse Abiodun Otegbayo.

Recall that the hospital had been thrown into darkness after the distribution company cut off their power following a huge debt running into millions of Naira.

The strained customer-vendor relationship prompted the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu to pay a working visit to the hospital during which he brokered peace between the two managements. IBEDC then promised to restore power within 24–48 hours.

Initially, when Vanguard asked him if energy had been restored to the hospital, he answered in affirmative but added that a fault had been discovered outside the hospital which the IBEDC team were trying to fix.

Prof Otegbayo said in a terse message, “Yes, but they have reported fault outside the hospital which they are attending to.

Some moments later, the CMD confirmed it that the power had been restored.

He said, “IBEDC power is now on in University College Hospital, Ibadan.”

Prior to the reconnection, the CMD explained that when the power was cut, the management tried to reduce the effects by solarizing some emergency areas in the hospital.

Professor Otegbayo said, “The management applied some temporary measures to cushion the effects of the power outage.

“We have installed solar inverters to major areas in the hospital such as Intensive Care Unit, Children’s Emergency Ward, Endoscopic Unit, Cardiac unit and others.

“All these wards have solar inverters to provide energy so that the wards and patients will not be in darkness. Our short term measures will continue to stabilize the emergency areas. Some of our underground cables have been there for more than 50 years. That’s not within the budget of the hospital.

But, the public doesn’t know what we are passing through.”

The hospital had dismissed a report that some patients brought in their generators as an alternative.

The management clarified further that anyone who came to the hospital at night would see that some departments had lights.

 

 

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