By Bolaji Buhari
Lagos – The Lagos State Government was on Thursday urged to improve the education and health sectors in order to engender the state’s development.
Speakers at a forum ” The Lagos Open Parliament 4 (LOP 4) gave the advice in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme was organised by the Centre for Anti -Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) to assess the performance of the state government and generate feedback for development.
Mr Lanre Suraj, Chairman, Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) said education and a functional health sector were key to development.
Represented by the (CSNAC) Legal Officer, Mrs Fateema Usman, Suraj said the two sectors were not yet at optimal level, urging the government to improve sector.
He said though the government might have done well in some areas in the last three years,the two sectors needed to be improved to impact on lives.
“The state government has done well in some areas, but in the areas that really matter like education and health, they need to do lots more.
“Schools in the state are not yet offering the kind of education they should be offering and the health sector is not performing yet to expectations.
“The government needs to improve in these areas in view of their impact on lives and development”, he said.
Suraj also bemoaned what he called the poor state of environment in the state as evidenced by refuse on streets and roadsides.
He urged the government to revert to the old system if the present strategy was not working in order avert epidemic and ensure a clean environment.
Also speaking, Founder of Federation of Informal workers, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, also stressed the need for the state to improve the health and education sectors.
“Because of the problems in the health sector in the state, people have resorted to the private hospitals who have no specialists to handle certain ailments.
“If the sector is improved, residents would benefit from the kind of quality and comprehensive healthcare a public health system should offer,” he said.
He added that the state of environment was something to worry about with the seemingly intractable refuse problem.
Komolafe the environmental and health hazard posed by the gases and fire from Olusosun dump site was a time bomb which should be addressed urgently.
Also speaking, Mr Olumide Fasuka,a legal practitioner, commended Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode on interventions in road infrastructure.
“However, development is not all about projects. The critical sectors of health and education need development in the state because they are far from where they should be.
“The government should give the right attention to these important areas,” he said.
Fasuka said solution to the gridlocks in Lagos lay in the completion of the state’s rail project to convey a sizeable portion of its population to different destinations.
In his opening address,CACOL’s Chairman, Mr Debo Adeniran, said the essence of the forum was to evaluate government ‘s performance to promote development.
He said the assessments of discussants and other participants would be sent as feedback to government for the necessary interventions. (NAN)