- Council chief says completed classrooms are yet to be commissioned by Governor
By Olanrewaju Adesanya
Chairmen of Local Government Areas in Lagos State have described the oversight function of the Lagos State House of Assembly as a necessary legislative function to put them on their toes and spur them to do more.
The chairmen spoke with journalists on Wednesday during the oversight tour of all LGAs and LCDAs in Lagos by the House Committee on Local Government and Community Affairs which started last week.
Chairman of Badagry LGA, Hon. Onilude Olusegun Adeniran said, “the visit by the lawmakers is a welcome development to us as they have come to inspect our projects and find out the welfare of staff of the local government. This will put us on our toes and spur us to do more, especially when we remember they are coming to inspect our works.
“We are aware people measure the performance of even the state government through our deliveries that is why we can’t afford to let them down because it would affect people’s perception about the government in Lagos State,” he said.
Also speaking during the inspection of projects at Olorunda LCDA, the local council boss, Hon. Samson Folorunso Olatunde corroborated this position saying; “we represent the government at the grassroots.
We are charged with the responsibility of bringing government closer to the people, so we can’t afford to disappoint our people, we will continue to do more as the funds are made available,” Hon. Folorunso promised.
Fielding questions from journalists on why nursery pupils were learning under the mango tree at Our Lady of Fatima Primary School, Ganyingbo, in Badagry West LCDA, the chairman, Hon. Gbenu Hennugbe Joseph explained that there were completed classrooms ready for the pupils since year 2020 but the LCDA was waiting for the governor or any of his officials to come and commission it before the pupils start using the classrooms.
However, the chairman of the committee on Local Government and Community Affairs, Hon. Olawale Olayiwola while condemning the reason adduced by the chairman, directed that the pupils be moved immediately to the classrooms
“So far so good, we are impressed with the performance of all the chairmen in Badagry LGA and the two LCDAs except for where we met pupils learning under the mango tree but I have given a directive to the contrary
“We are going to be doing this periodically because it enables us to see the areas where the LGAs need to improve and we will commend them where we see outstanding performance like we have done here in Badagry,” Hon Olawale said.