Lagos State Government on Friday charged all internal stakeholders on the execution of the initiatives in the State’s Development Plan 2052 in driving the municipality to become Africa’s Model Mega City.
Speaking at the stakeholders’ parley, which had in attendance Permanent Secretaries, Heads of Planning Units and representatives of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as development partners, held at the Protea Hotels, Ikeja, Mr. Ope George, the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, urged the major players on the need to actualise the vision of the state by effectively implementing the LSDP 2052 across all sectors and levels of governance.
The Commissioner stated that the plan targets fostering a thriving economy to modernise infrastructure, promoting human-centric cities and ensuring effective governance.
His words, “The realisation of the State vision hinges upon the effective implementation of the LSDP 2052 across all sectors and levels of governance and this requires a concerted effort from all stakeholders, including government agencies, private sector entities, civil society organisations, and the general populace.
“As custodians of this transformative plan, we must commit ourselves wholeheartedly to its execution. We must translate its objectives into tangible actions, prioritise initiatives, allocate resources judiciously, and foster collaboration among all stakeholders, which will be used to appraise the MDAs’ Medium Term Sector Strategies (MTSS) document and annual budget performance.
“It becomes evident that our objectives are not merely lofty aspirations, but tangible goals backed by strategic initiatives and actionable steps. From fostering a thriving economy to modernising infrastructure, promoting a human-centric city, and ensuring effective governance, every facet of the LSDP 2052 is designed to drive holistic development and prosperity”, he added.
In his welcome address, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Lekan Balogun said: “We must execute plans and deliver locked-down targets (implementation) related to our MDA’s, track and report the progress, while also aligning our numerous stakeholders on the need to implement initiatives in line with the LSDP 2052 for a more collaboration and implementations of these objectives”.
UNICEF Social Policy Manager, Mr. Muhammad Okorie in his address said, “For us, it is easy now to buy in from all you have outlined. We can go into this document and say when it comes to school, this is what we can help the government with, it becomes easy for us. We can go to the Ministry of Education just like what we are doing currently talking about technology in education and that’s where the Nigerian learning passport comes in for us.
“We, development partners, are in support of what you are doing. It forms the basis for our planning, implementation, soliciting support across the board, and also for monitoring and evaluation.
“Every single thing we do right now has to have a way of tying to the result of what we want to see in 30 years. We want to see Lagos where we all anticipate by 2052. We need to start seeing activities that lead to it from now on, that is the essence of this”, he stated.
The Lagos State Development Plan (LSDP) 2052 is a 30-year development plan that lays out the overall direction for the State from 2022-2052, which provides an overall strategic framework and direction for the State’s development efforts.
Recall that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the 9th edition of the Lagos State Economic Summit ‘Ehingbeti’, launched the Development Plan to chart a growth path for the state.
