Benjamin Omoike I Thursday, May 30, 2019
IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos resumed his first day in the office with an inspection tour of the Alusa Secretariat, where he met with the state workforce.
It was a rousing welcome for the newly sworn in Governor and his Deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat by civil servants at the state Secretariat on Thursday. Civil servants in the various ministries were gathered outside their offices awaiting the arrival of the governor. Posters and banners with inscriptions: “A New Dawn”, “Welcome”, “Now A New Lagos Begins”, were displayed by the workers.
The first ministry he visited was the Ministry of the Environment attached with the Ministry of Physical Panning and Urban Dvelopment, and Lands Bureau. Addressing the workers, Sanwo-Olu charged the workers to rededicate themselves to service and absolute commitment to the development agenda of the government.
According to him, civil servants play fundamental roles in the success of every administration and they should be encouraged.
He urged workers to reciprocate the gesture through hard work and dedication to duty so as to attract more interventions from the government. He also promised to look into the transportation system of the workforce, promising to provide 30 to 40 new buses to improve the fleet.
He said: “I am excited to be here this morning. We decided to come here first because of the critical arm you control here. The Environment, the Lands department, Physical Planning, Surveyor-General’s office, these are the critical things that people are asking us to work better on.
“So we will from day one say to Lagosians that new things should begin to happen. Yes there are issues, there will be issues, there will be challenges but out of it, looking at all your faces, you cannot all afford at this time fail the citizens.
“So, my charge is this, whatever we know that we are not doing too well, even in the period of Ramadan, let us ask God for forgiveness. Let us turn a new leaf and let us be that change that we are asking for. I know that when we take care of you, you will take care of Lagosians .So those are the promises I want to draw from all of you. I know the challenges you face but let us begin to think and innovate how we are going to bake a bigger cake. Let us begin to think out of the box,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu assured that Issues around the minimum wage would be sorted in earnest saying, “I will ensure your take home will be taking you home. But Lagosians have to feel you from day one, from the way we speak to them, the way we take their records. Henceforth, we should reflect it.”
