#EndSARS: Osinbajo pledges FG support to rebuild Lagos

 

BY NICHOLAS ABE

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Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has pledged the support of the federal government as Lagos State begins the process of reconstruction, following massive destruction of public and private assets by hoodlums who hijacked the recent #EndSARS protest in the state.

Osinbajo said Lagos remained a critical federating unit around which Nigeria’s fortune was tied and deserved the support of both the government and private sector to heal, noting that the task of reconstructing the destroyed assets would be painful and costly.

He spoke Monday in Lagos at formal inauguration of an eight-man team, led by the chairman of Citibank Nigeria, Yemi Cardoso, constituted a fortnight ago by Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to coordinate the recovery effort of the state.

Osinbajo charged the rebuilding committee not to be discouraged by the enormity of the task before them, while also urging them to pursue the rebuilding process with an objective to restore trust between the government and citizens.

The Vice President pledged President Buhari’s support for the state-led recovery effort, but said the presidency still awaited the full report of Lagos destruction in order to know the level of support required from the Federal Government.

He said: “On behalf of the Federal Government, let me assure you that we stand with the great people of Lagos as you undertake this difficult journey of rebuilding the lost assets. It’s my conviction that Lagos and the nation at large will emerge from this crisis better and stronger.”

The event, tagged “Consultative Forum on Rebuilding Lagos”, brought together the various arms of government and the private sector. In attendance were the Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele; Senator Representing Lagos West, Solomon Adeola; Chief Judge of Lagos, Hon. Justice Kazeem Alogba and chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, represented by the group’s Executive Director, Dr Mansur Ahmed.

Governor Sanwo-Olu described the proportion of the devastation suffered by the state as unprecedented, saying the coordinated violence set Lagos economy – fifth largest in Africa – back by hundreds of billions of Naira.

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The destruction, the governor said, tore down the fortress of commerce Lagos built over centuries ago, adding that those who carried out the violence made an attempt to ruin values that stood the state out as centre of creativity and innovation in the country.

He said: “The violence we witnessed last October is the most widespread carnage the state has seen in decades. Every aspect of life and livelihood in Lagos was affected – government buildings, offices, public monuments and historical archives, public infrastructure and very sadly too, private property and investments.

“The violence has, no doubt, set our economy back by hundreds of billions of Naira, and impacted our confidence. We have, however, found hope and great strength in the offers of assistance from far and wide, which culminated in the constitution of the Lagos Rebuild Committee to coordinate our efforts to rebuild and upgrade our state.

“We seek to restore the infrastructure that was destroyed, to revive the energy and confidence of everyone who has been affected by these losses, to help restore the confidence of the people of Lagos in the infinite potentials of Lagos. The State Government cannot do this alone. We need all the help that we can get.”

Sanwo-Olu disclosed that the state government would be setting aside a huge amount of money as the state’s collateral in the recovery effort, adding that the Cardoso-led team that would be coordinating the Trust Fund would be given legislative backing through an Executive Bill that will soon be transmitted to the House of Assembly.

He promised that money that will be donated into the Trust Funds would go into rebuilding and re-tooling security infrastructure, strengthening public transportation systems, restoring judicial and local government operations, rebuilding damaged public monuments.

Sanwo-Olu emphasised that transparency and accountability would be foundational elements in the implementation of the mandate of the rebuilding committee, stressing that the fund-raising and disbursement would be supervised by FBN Trustees Limited.

CBN Governor Emefiele said the unrest impacted greatly on the national economy, stressing that Lagos particularly must sustain the recovery effort to protect its economy from catastrophic consequences.

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Given the magnitude of losses and devastation that trailed the unrest, Emefiele disclosed that the Bankers’ Committee and key stakeholders in the private sector would be unveiling a recovery blueprint next week to support all households and businesses, using the Coalition Against Covid-19 (Ca-COVID) alliance.

Speaker of the federal House, Gbajabiamila, said the level of destruction was heartbreaking and the loss on hardworking people was monumental while praising Governor Sanwo-Olu for his doggedness and courage to lift the spirit of the state in the face of devastation.

Gbajabiamila said the effort to restore Lagos would go beyond budget, adding: “It requires special intervention from the Federal Government.”

Cardoso promised that members of the rebuilding committee would give their full commitment to the recovery process, pointing that the best decision Sanwo-Olu took was to get the private sector involved in the project.

“The task may seem tough and arduous, but it is not unachievable. We will do it,” Cardoso said.

Other members of the rebuilding committee are the Managing Partner, Olaniwun Ajayi LP, Prof. Konyinsola Ajayi, SAN; Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman; Co-Founder and CEO, Flutterwave; Mr. Gbenga Agboola; Vice Chairman, Standard Chartered Bank, Mrs. Bola Adesola – all representing the private sector – and a representative of an International Donor Agency.

The Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Sam Egube, and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Jimi Hotonou, are members of the Board representing the public sector.