Lagos governorship candidates speak on education, housing, healthcare, Yoruba cultural preservation, business protection plans

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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has said Lagos is Yoruba land and promised to deepen efforts to preserve the language, culture and history of the Yoruba people in the state.

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Mr Rhodes-Vivour made the remarks during a town hall meeting with millennials and Gen Z voters in Lagos on Thursday.

The meeting, organised by The Platform Nigeria, brought together governorship candidates from different political parties to respond to questions from young Lagos residents.

Other candidates at the event were the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Obafemi Hamzat; the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Funso Doherty; and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Deji Doherty.

An attendee asked Mr Rhodes-Vivour what he would do to ensure that the Yoruba language and culture are preserved and protected in Lagos.

Mr Rhodes-Vivour was initially responding in English when members of the audience interrupted him and asked him to answer the question in Yoruba.

He said he was at the event to discuss politics, but stressed that Lagos is Yoruba land, and criticised the treatment of the Yoruba language in schools.

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“Today, we have about twenty-something years of the APC government, but till now, if you speak Yoruba in primary school and secondary school, they say it’s vernacular, and they beat and punish you,” he said.

He said the issue should also be directed at representatives of the Lagos State government who were present at the meeting.

Mr Rhodes-Vivour then linked cultural preservation to broader concerns about education, healthcare and the cost of living, saying families would be less concerned about such questions if they had access to quality public services.

“The fact of the matter is this: we must ensure that our culture is preserved,” he said.

He promised to create a ministry responsible for culture in his administration and said his government would examine Lagos’ culture and history more deeply.

“We have an entire ministry that’s going to be in charge of that, and we’re going to look at our culture and our history, even deeper than the surface level at which we are doing it,” he said.

During the 2023 Lagos governorship election, Mr Rhodes-Vivour faced criticism over his Yoruba identity and ability to speak the language, with his mixed Yoruba and Igbo heritage becoming a subject of political debate.

His comment during a Channels Television interview that he did not “think in Yoruba” drew criticism during the campaign, with the issue becoming part of the wider debate over his Yoruba identity and his suitability to govern Lagos.

Hamzat promises to scrap untraceable levies, support SMEs

Mr Hamzat promised to remove unauthorised and untraceable levies imposed on businesses, saying operators should know exactly what they are required to pay.

He said the state would work with the federal and local governments to harmonise taxes and charges imposed on businesses and prevent multiple collections.

“The role of government is to ensure that businesses start, survive and are able to grow. So what we will do is to make sure that any levy that is unauthorized, that is not known, that even we can’t track will go. So what that means, is that we will work with the federal, state and local government levels to streamline levies and charges and nobody should stand at the junction collecting any levy,” he said.

On waste management, Mr Hamzat said the state would increase its capacity to collect and process waste, rather than relying mainly on landfills.

He said Lagos was bringing in about 160 additional waste trucks and building transfer loading stations, each capable of handling about 2,500 tonnes of waste.

He said two material recovery facilities and a waste-to-energy plant at Agbara were also part of the plan, with the plant expected to process about 3,000 metric tonnes of waste.

Mr Hamzat said the transfer loading stations in Solous and Agbara would be completed before the end of the administration, with additional facilities planned for areas including Badagry and Ikorodu.

“The two we finish before the end of this administration: the one in Agbara and the one in Solous. So those ones should finish before April, by the grace of God,” he said.

Mr Hamzat, who was asked about his priorities for his first 100 days in office, said his administration would prioritise child welfare and establish a dedicated agency to oversee the wellbeing of children in Lagos.

He said the proposed Child Welfare Administration Agency would be separated from the Ministry of Youth and Social Development and would be responsible for ensuring that children are properly cared for.

“Our children in Lagos cannot be roaming the streets. Everybody under 18 must either be in school, in some trade,” Mr Hamzat said.

He acknowledged the difficulty of monitoring children in Lagos because of the influx of people from other parts of the country, including those displaced by insecurity.

Doherty outlines housing plan

On his part, Deji Doherty of the PDP proposed the development of affordable, high-rise housing in areas outside the Lagos metropolis, supported by efficient transportation to enable residents to commute to work.

He mentioned areas including Epe, Badagry and Kosofe as locations where improved transport links and housing could be developed.

He said his administration, if elected, would consider acquiring family-owned properties for housing development, subject to negotiations with the owners.

“We are going to buy up family houses,” he said, adding that government would have to negotiate with property owners rather than force them to sell.

He said the objective would be to develop affordable housing in less densely populated parts of the state while providing reliable transportation between those areas and the metropolitan centres.

According to him, the major gap is the failure of successive governments to use revenue generated from land-related charges to develop sufficient housing and infrastructure.

He argued that the Lagos government, as the custodian of public land, should use revenue from land use charges and other levies to build roads and housing and ultimately become a major landlord in the state.

“Government regulates housing rent by having more houses. You are the landlord of land. You charge land use charge. You charge all the charges that is chargeable. But what are you doing with the charge?” he asked.

Doherty promises education, healthcare accessible to all

The NDC Lagos governorship candidate, Funsho Doherty, promised to build a Lagos where no child is denied education or healthcare because of their parents’ inability to pay.

Mr Doherty said his vision for the state was anchored on a social contract in which citizens pay taxes and contribute to the economy while government provides basic services and creates an environment for residents to thrive.

He said Lagos has a particularly strong obligation to deliver quality public services because of the resources available to the state.

Citing recent National Bureau of Statistics data, Mr Doherty said Lagos generates more internally generated revenue (IGR) than 31 other states combined after excluding Delta, Rivers, Ogun, Enugu and the Federal Capital Territory.

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He said his administration would focus on ensuring that poverty does not prevent children from accessing education or healthcare.

“For me, my vision of Lagos is a Lagos where no child, no child, is left out of an education because their parents can’t afford it. No child dies because their parent cannot afford drugs,” he said.

He also promised to address transportation and the way residents interact with government.

“No one has to commute in transportation that is unsafe, rickety, and where they have a high probability of getting robbed. Nobody has to interact with government in a way in which they feel that they are abused,” he said.

Mr Doherty said his plans were backed by specific policy actions, rather than being merely aspirational.

He said his campaign would release its manifesto the following week, containing 34 commitments it plans to implement during its first term if elected.