…Signs Executive Order
By Dayo Omoogun
Following the massive devastation and arson that befell Lagos State when the well organized and peaceful#End SARS protest was overtaken by thugs and hoodlums, the state government is putting in place a rebuilding trust fund to enable rapid reconstruction, repairs and replacement of public and private properties damaged during the unfortunate saga.
This was made known in an address by the state governor, His Excellency Babajide Sanwoolu during the establishment of the fund.
Rallying Lagos residents to put behind the ugly events of the recent past and forge ahead, the governor said:
“We have decided to look to the future with hope as we work on healing the wounds of our recent past. Instead of wallowing in our pain, we have chosen to positively move forward. We will embrace new standards of governance; we will build stronger partnerships, stronger people, stronger institutions, and a stronger state. Our strength lies in our uncanny ability to overcome the most complicated challenges because we have people who genuinely love Lagos State and will assiduously do all they can to preserve its peace and unity.
“As I sign the Executive Order today, I am positive that we will attain new heights of development, we will build more resilient systems, we will become more united and accomplish our audacious goals and visions for Lagos State”, he said.
While promising to send a bill to the state House of Assembly for the establishment of a trust fund to rebuild Lagos, he, however, acknowledged that it had become imperative to sign the executive order in order to immediately take advantage of intervention offers that the state has received since the incident.
“In the next few days, our government will send a bill to the Lagos State House of Assembly for the Establishment of a Trust Fund to Rebuild Lagos.
“However, with the deluge of offers of immediate help and assistance that we have received locally and internationally, we can no longer wait until the bill is passed. It is expedient that our enumeration, recovery, and rebuilding efforts start as soon as possible.
“Therefore, by the power vested in me as the Governor of Lagos State, I will today sign an Executive Order to set up an 8-Man Lagos Rebuild Trust Fund Committee, which will as a matter of urgency begin to oversee our recovery process.
“When the Trust Fund Bill is passed by the House of Assembly and becomes law, the Lagos Rebuild Trust Fund Committee will be dissolved, and its functions will be immediately transferred to the newly established Trust Fund.
“The Trust Fund Committee will be responsible for getting the detailed cost of restructuring and rebuilding the destroyed properties, the identification of our state’s most critical needs and how they align with our THEMES agenda, how best to improve our emergency response service (Fire, LASEMA and Health), determination of the areas of critical need to get affected agencies back to work, and the construction of a website to gather ideas from the public on the way forward.