Admin l Wednesday, February 07, 2018
LAGOS, Nigeria – Following the recent discovery of an illegal orphanage home in Igando area of the State on Tuesday, the Lagos State Government has issued a 14-day ultimatum to operators of unregistered Orphanages and Homes in the State for registration or risk forfeiture of their facilities.
The State Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mr. Agboola Dabiri, who made the disclosure, stated that the Enforcement Unit of the Ministry of Youth and Social Development, acting on an information received from the Lagos Police Command, Gender Unit, Ikeja visited the illegal orphanage at 3, Alhaji Jimoh Sodiq Street, Igando and took custody of three pregnant teenagers and two children at the location before it was sealed.
Dabiri opined that the existence of illegal Orphanages and Homes not duly registered with government makes such facilities susceptible to unscrupulous practices capable of negatively affecting the image of the State government and the putting their clients at risk.
He stated that henceforth there shall be no more hiding place for owners of illegal Homes that fail to adhere to regulatory standards set for orphanages, motherless babies and correctional homes in the State.
According to him, “It is mandatory for all orphanages, homeowners and operators in Lagos State to register with Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development; those who are yet to do so must comply within 14 days from now to forestall closure of such illicit homes”.
The Commissioner stated that after preliminary investigations on the sealed home, it was discovered that the Orphanage does not have the approval of the State Government to commence activities as the operators had earlier been denied the certificate of operation due to unavailability of necessary facilities.
However, the operator of Holy Infant Orphanage, Mrs. Binta Adebayo who claimed that she was still processing the certificate of operation with the State government, denied running the Home with an ulterior intention.
LAGOS TO BOOST TOURISM WITH TECHNOLOGY
Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Steve Ayorinde has said the State is ready to deploy innovation, technology and globally tested resources to achieve its goal in marketing her tourism assets as part of the tourism master plan.
Speaking during a courtesy call by promoters of Tourism Innovation Development Advantage (TIDA) to his office, Ayorinde disclosed that the State Government realized early that tourism is one of the pillars of the creative economy which could boost the IGR of any country.
He stated further that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is ever receptive to innovation in driving and achieving optimum development in Lagos State especially in the creative industry, hospitality management and the entire tourism value-chain development.
The Commissioner pledged the support of the State Government for the hosting of the 2018 TIDA conference and the launch of virtual tourism device for tourism promotion in the State, adding that the endorsement is purely hinged on the fact that the innovation aligns with the present administration’s drive to use technology to expand the market for the consumption of made- in-Lagos creative ideas, products and services.
On the proposed release of Lagos Tourism Event Calendar, Ayorinde said the idea is to help tourists plan their movement around the major tourism events that will happen in Lagos in 2018.
He said prior to the release of the Lagos State Tourism Master Plan, the Ministry will convene a tourism stakeholders’ summit to share ideas and collaborate to achieve a private driven Lagos master plan.
“As part of the re-engineering to be introduced in the new plan the State government is looking at the possibility of setting up a Tourism Promotion Council to regulate and drive tourism affairs in the State”, he added.
Earlier, the Team Leader, Mr. Femi Lawson, said the choice of Lagos State for the launch of the virtual tourism device was borne out of recognition for the position Lagos State occupies as the emerging tourism hub of the nation and the large tourism market available for exploration in the State.
He affirmed that TIDA is set for development of ideas that will add value to tourism promotion through Tourism Insurance, Infrastructural Tourism and the Virtual Tourism device that will help to market Nigeria tourism potentials domestically and help to increase traffic of international tourists into the country.
Also present at the gathering were the Special Adviser to the Governor on Arts and Culture, Mrs. Aramide Giwanson, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Fola Adeyemi and senior officials of the Ministry.
