LAGOS ASSURES CITIZENS OF PROTECTION OF RIGHTS
The Lagos State Government has assured residents of the Administration’s commitment in ensuring access to justice for all citizens of the State in line with its Policy.
The Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Mrs Funlola Odunlami, disclosed this at a one-day workshop organized by the Public Advice Centre (PAC), adding that the government has always taken the lead in legislation and law reform initiatives.
She said the workshop with the theme “The Role of Public Advice Centre (PAC) in Contemporary Lagos” is aimed at enlightening members of the public on the roles of the Centre and ensure that residents of the State make use of the services of the Centre.
“Today’s workshop will therefore give members of the public a good opportunity to learn and know more of the Centre’s role, its positive impact in ensuring that rights of each individual resident of the State are well protected and guaranteed”, Odunlami stated.
The Permanent Secretary also informed the workshop that PAC as a Unit in the Ministry was established to give free legal advice and independent information to residents of the State on series of issues, adding that the Centre is also to assist in referring the citizenry to other appropriate Government and Non-Governmental Agencies to deal with other issues pertaining to the agencies.
‘In Lagos State, the protection and advancement of human right is the cornerstone of the rule of law, the Ministry therefore placed high premium on various programmes that provide free access to justice for Lagos State citizens’, she disclosed.
The Solicitor-General therefore appealed to the general public to take full advantage of the good gesture of the services provided by the Center.
Prof. Bolaji Owasanye in his paper delivered at the workshop, advocated for the decentralization of the Agency as is the case with Citizens’ Mediation Centre, expressing the need to establish offices in various Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas to ensure members of the public have access to the Center’s services.
Another speaker, Prof. Oludayo Amokaiye opined that in order to make the Centre better, proactive and responsive, the State Government needs to continuously strengthen the capacity of the Center in terms of qualified personnel and infrastructure and sustain the activities of the Centre in order to enhance the quality of service delivery which should be beneficial, efficient and cost-effective.
BA/FO/OS
12 MAJOR STREETS CLEANED UP ON VICTORIA ISLAND, IKOYI -TUNJI BELLO
The Chairman of the Special Committee on Clean-Up of Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Lekki, Mr. Tunji Bello recently said the progressing exercise has already cleaned up seven major streets in Victoria Island and five in Ikoyi.
The Chairman who spoke with newsmen after an unscheduled visit to some of the areas being cleaned- up on Ahmadu Bello Way and Ozumba Mbadiwe said the committee has decided to take the clean-up exercise on the listed streets in batches to ensure sustainability and effectiveness.
Mr. Bello along with members of the Special Committee including the Sole Administrators of Iru-Victoria Island and Ikoyi-Obalende LCDA, Princess Aderemi Adebowale and Mr. Felix Ona-Olawale, officials of the Task Force on Special Offences, members of Victoria Island Residents Association (VIRA) on the inspection, listed the streets already cleaned up in Victoria Island to include Water Corporation Drive, Ahmadu Bello Way, Adetokunbo Ademola, Bishop Aboyade Cole, Ajose Adeogun, Ligali Ayorinde Streets and Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue while those in Ikoyi are Awolowo Road, Falomo Roundabout, Kingsway Road, Glover Road, and Bourdillon Road.
He clarified that KAI Operatives would be deployed to areas where street traders were dislodged and shanties demolished to ensure that such people do not return.
The Committee Chairman continued saying “On Ahmadu Bello Way, where we have a lot of infractions such as illegal parking by tricycles and conversion of median walkways to parking space and setbacks by yellow taxis, car hire services, companies without parking lots, all such vehicles which were not removed after due notices, have been towed away to ensure free flow of traffic. Even on the same Ahmadu Bello Way, all those who have turned the road to a major depot for charcoal have been removed and the spaces secured with motorized KAI patrol vehicles”.
“At the entrance to the Eko Atlantic City which has been taken over by miscreants and undesirable elements who masquerade as religious worshippers, sleep and defecate on the stretch of the fence have all been dislodged and the area cleaned up through combined operations by men of the State Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences, the Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and Environmental Health Officers of Iru- Victoria Island LCDA”, he stated.
He said the exercise has also provided an avenue for security agencies to dislodge criminally minded people who reside in several abandoned land spaces and buildings in areas like Ligali Ayorinde that served as brothels and drinking joints.
He reiterated that the Special Task Force is committed to carrying out the mandate of the Committee as spelt out during its inauguration by the Governor and would ensure that all environmental nuisances which dot the area are removed in a steady and systematic manner.
