The Lagos State Government on Thursday, October 5, 2023, pledged its readiness to partner Ekiti State Government on environmental sustainability as it played host to the state’s delegates from the environment sector.
This is contained in a statement signed by Kunle Adesina, Director, Public Affairs, MOE & WR, and obtained by newsmen in Lagos.
Speaking while receiving the guests led by the Commissioner for the Environment in Ekiti State, Mrs Tosin Aluko-Ajisafe, her counterpart in Lagos State, Tokunbo Wahab, said that knowledge sharing was essential to the development of any state that aspires to grow.
Wahab said that whatever success might have been achieved in the environment sector in Lagos today have only been achieved through the tenacity of the leaders.
He said that people are generally receptive to change, adding that the present campaign to sanitise the environment has received backlash from some people who see nothing wrong in a dirty and unorganised environment.
Wahab, who listed the agencies under the supervision of the Ministry, said that there was a synergy in place that has enabled a high level cooperation in achieving ministerial goals, urging Ekiti to replicate same.
He said the present administration was determined to move Lagos from the trajectory of a state with a dirty environment through sustained enforcement and series of stakeholder engagement and advocacy campaigns to a mega and smart city .
“It is a reset system like a child that is used to taking milk mixed with honey and water. When you try to change the meal to ordinary water he would resist but when it is for the good of the child, you would stand your ground, and that is leadership, taking him to where he ought to be,” Wahab said.
He emphasised that enforcement was a key component that must be used to achieve set out goals bearing in mind that when enforcement is in place some residents would l embrace the idea while some would resist the change, adding that when enforcement of Laws is not in place, development cannot thrive.
He encouraged the team from Ekiti to go round the Ministry and Agencies in the Environment sector of the state, rub mind with the officers on ground and tap from their wealth of experience, adding that their presence was a reminder that the state’s performance in the sector was worthy of emulation.
While welcoming the delegates, the Special Adviser on Environment, Mr. Olakunle Rotimi-Akodu, reiterated his belief that the process would be a knowledge-sharing experience for the two states, noting that the possibility of Lagos learning from the challenges and successes recorded in Ekiti should not be ruled out.
He said that Lagos, in terms of land mass, migration and population was being confronted with a lot of challenges where lessons have been learnt and corrections made where necessary, adding that the team from Ekiti should explore all the advantages embedded in this trip to gather information that will be useful when they return to their home state.
Speaking earlier, the Ekiti State delegate led by the Commissioner for Environment, Mrs Tosin Aluko-Ajisafe, commended the strides achieved by Lagos State in the Environment Sector, saying that they were confident that whatever they were able to take away for the state would improve the sector in Ekiti State.
Part of the areas the delegates intend to learn from include Solid Waste Management, Recycling, Waste Water Management, Environmental Regeneration and Conservation as well as Climate Change.
They later had a meeting with all the agencies of the Ministry, comparing notes before visiting some of them.
