‘Our emphasis is to bring government closer to the people’

The newly elected Chairman of Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State, Mr. Afolabi Babatunde Sofola, having won the second term in office, has said his administration’s focus is to bring government closer to the people, as he reiterated his vision of making the local council a preferred investment destination in the country, pointing out areas of concern, which would be given urgent attention.

Sofola, who won the July 22, 2017 council election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), gave the pledge, during a courtesy visit of The Guardian Newspapers Limited Advert Executives to the office of the Executive Chairman at the Kosofe Local Government Secretariat.

The council boss, who has started implementing some of his electoral promises, with few days in office, as he gave out the General Certificate Examination (GCE) forms to indigent students in the local council, said the education sector, which is the bedrock of every progressive society is one of the major sector his administration would lay great emphasis on.

“The best legacy that any parent can leave for a child and any government can bequeath to its citizens is a sound education. We believe that education is very important and we found that basic education is very crucial, starting from the primary school level to the tertiary level, even the adult education and our emphasis is to bring government closer to the people,” he said.

He lamented the diminishing reading culture in the country, especially among students, saying; “We will set up well equipped libraries with good collection of books in schools and the communities, so that people can return to the reading culture of the old days. They must read and expand their minds”, adding that the libraries would be run by the local council.

Sofola further said that his administration would give out scholarships to the underprivileged students at all levels, to reduce out of school children in the communities, adding that he would build Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centres in the local council, to equip residents with the technological knowledge they need to compete with their peers in the advance countries.

He further disclosed that his action plan to make the Kosofe, a council of excellence in the state, which will have all its residents benefit from, include, but not limited to massive roads rehabilitation and construction in the LCDA, which would make the area more accessible, assuring that he would embark on the immediate repair of the bad roads in all the affected areas.

Primary health delivery, according to the chairman is a major concern in the country in which his administration would address by adding more health centres across the local council, to enable the people receive optimal care and services, stressing that there would be provision of drugs at all the health centres in which patients will be given free drugs and medication.

“We want to make healthcare delivery easily accessible to every member of this local government, we will build health centers closer to the people and that is what we call governance and dividend of democracy, because the grass root is the most important all over the world which is given the highest in terms of revenue,” he stressed.

Sofola, who has commenced the cleaner Lagos initiative, further stressed that aside roads, he intends to see a clean and healthier environment, strengthen security by donating utility vehicles, quality basic and primary education, youth and women empowerment, widows welfare and empowerment, and setting revenue generating projects through establishing industries to alleviate unemployment.

He, however, said his vision is to run a people-centered government geared towards involving every citizen, irrespective of their social status as they benefit from the agenda of his administration, adding that he intends to continue the laudable projects he initiated when he served his first term, an era that witnessed massive progress in every sectors of the area.