The Lagos State Government on Tuesday launched a document tagged “Lagos Resilience Strategy’’, aimed at identifying challenges and opportunities to develop residents and the state at large.
Speaking during the ceremony, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said that the strategic document represented his administration’s vision to transform Lagos into an innovative, inclusive and prosperous city.
Represented by the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Sam Egube, Sanwo-Olu said that the document would provide an empirical background for all its policies and also aid his plans to speedily transform the state to a more resilient city.
He said that the state would leverage the appropriate governance and infrastructure mechanisms to empower its people to thrive, adapt and grow sustainably.
The governor said that the unveiling of the Lagos Resilience Document attested to the readiness of his administration to bequeath a legacy of good governance to residents and also guarantee their wellbeing.
“The documents present a platform for planning and tackling acute shocks and chronic stresses, thereby enabling the city to survive, adapt and grow in spite of its multifaceted challenges.
“With the implementation of the Resilience Strategy, we will develop a sustainable approach to combat flooding incidents, stop haphazard urban planning, and improve emergency response.
“With the implementation of the Resilience Strategy, we will develop a sustainable approach to provide quality healthcare services, support the immense potential of our youths through technology and deliver a robust, multimodal and integrated transportation system, without excluding the poor and vulnerable,’’ Sanwo-Olu said.
He said that with the pace of development going on across the state and its attendant effect on the environment, Lagos could not afford to rely on traditional concepts in tackling its challenges but must adopt a cross-sectoral planning and implementation approach.
According to him, the Lagos Resilience Strategy contains three pillars, 10 goals and 31 initiatives which provide a framework for improving the capacity of the city to respond to present and future shocks and stresses.
“It aligns with the Lagos State Development Plan, the ‘THEMES’ agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
“This will aid the improvement of the natural and built environment and at the same time optimise resources and systems for greater efficiency, accountability and transparency,’’ he said.
Sanwo-Olu said that the Lagos Resilience Strategy would be reviewed periodically to monitor its alignment with the city’s development priorities and to track progress on resilience building.
Earlier in a welcome address, Egube said that the objective of the strategy development was to identify various challenges the city experienced.
Egube said that it was to identify opportunities for collaborations and actions to improve the resilience of the city of Lagos.
The commissioner, whose address was read by the Special Adviser on Economic Planning and Budget, Adebayo Sodade, said that the initiatives articulated in the Lagos Resilience Strategy were affordable, scalable, replicable and measurable.
According to him, the initiatives will support the communities’ efforts to adapt to global environmental changes to survive in the face of adversity, grow and to confidently thrive, resulting in a Lagos that is truly efficient, inclusive, enterprising and prosperous.
In May 2016, Lagos State was selected to join the third cohort of 100 Resilient Cities from more than 400 city applicants across the globe.
