24th July, 2017
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode on Monday charged accountants under government’s employ to assist in strengthening the financial base of the state.
The governor spoke while declaring open the 7th Annual Public Lecture of the Lagos State Public Service Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria, ICAN, held at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
He said despite efforts of government to deliver the dividends of democracy to residents of the state, it had been discovered that government could not do it alone without collaborative efforts.
“Despite all these initiatives and many more, it is clear that government alone cannot implement these reforms. As accountants in the State public service, you all seated here have a role to play. You must see yourselves as key stakeholders in bringing about the desired outcome.
“Part of your responsibility within the context of achieving sustainable development is to ensure that the financial base of the State is strengthened in order to execute infrastructural projects that are vital to economic growth and development successfully. So, my charge to you all is to be your best in any endeavour you find yourself,” he said.
However, Ambode said the need to identify, explore and exploit the untapped potentials of the Lagos economy had become imperative, especially one considered the enormous challenges face as a government.
“According to him, the State had to surmount a host of issues, top of which were a high population growth rate of 3.2% annually, high migration rate estimated to be one of the highest in the world today and rapid urbanisation.
“For us, what is certain is that we must be more strategic, innovative and long term in our thinking and planning. We must deliberately and actively fully harness our comparative advantages as well as develop and implement viable reforms that will ensure that the future of our dear State will be even more prosperous than it is today.
“As a government, we understand that the most effective and efficient way to unlock these economic potentials is to open up the economy for private enterprise to thrive. And the only way to achieve this is to facilitate the delivery of first class infrastructure and put in place the right policies within a secure and business-friendly environment.
“One sector where our State has massive potential is in tourism, entertainment and arts. We have the potential to become a major entertainment and tourism destination in Africa. Epe and Badagry have tremendous tourism potentials. The Lekki axis is already an entertainment hub,” he said.
The governor said government was currently executing projects which would transform the landscape in the East and Western axis as well as the Lagos Marina and Onikan axis to generate tourism revenues, adding that his administration was also creating infrastructure to support the entertainment industry.
According to Ambode, one key to unlocking the economic potentials of the State is power, saying that government had embarked on a power reform aimed at generating up to 3,000 MW of captive power within the next few years for the benefit of Lagosians, which he said would go a long way in reducing the cost of doing business as well as improving the living conditions of the people in Lagos State.
“Our ‘Smart City’ initiative will help to ensure that the State is cleaner, safer, productive, and more resilient, thereby also making it more attractive for foreign direct investments,” he said.
Speaking, ICAN President, Mallam Muhamadu Zakari represented by Dr Innocent Okwuosa, urged other states to borrow a leaf from Lagos on sustainable development policies to revive the nation’s economy.
Earlier, ICAN Chairman in the state public service, Mr Hakeem Tairu, who noted that the role of accountants could not be overemphasized, appealed to Ambode to approve a new designation of Finance and Account status as practiced at the Federal level for accountants in the public service.
The theme of the public lecture is “Lagos at 50: Unlocking its Economic Potentials for Sustainable Development.”