Ambode: Tackling health, education challenges are priorities

Kazeem Ugbodaga

The Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday reiterated his administration’s commitment to massively invest in the health and education sectors of the state, saying that the 2018 budget would be accounted for by projects executed in the sectors.

The governor spoke at the 5th Summit of the Association of the Lagos State Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries, held in Alausa area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.

Ambode, who was represented  by the Chief of Staff, Mr Samuel Ojo, said that the sectors had remained the key areas of his administration’s development plan.

The theme of the summit is “Lagos State Vision on Education and Health in Relations to the sustainable Goals.”

According to the governor, the theme is apt, saying that the sectors determined the human capital development index of any nation.

“An educated and healthy population is a great asset that can contribute effectively to wealth creation. Great nations are not made by the quality of natural resources they are endowed with but by the quality of their human capital. In the last 3 years, our administration has invested heavily in the education sector to ensure that no child is left behind irrespective of their parent’s and economic status,” Ambode said.

The governor stated that as a measure of premium placed on the two sectors and in line with his administration’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, he would ensure that plans for the two sectors were implemented.

Ambode said he had no doubt that the summit would proffer solutions to some of the challenges being faced by these sectors, saying he looked forward to receiving the recommendation for onward implementation.

Head of Service, Folasade Adesoye, said that it was crucial that education and health policies were simultaneously addressed and better coordinated to maximize complementary of both sectors.

“Oftentimes, health goals are pursued through health intervention alone while education goals through education programmes alone. Unless we break through these sectoral walls and explore better inter-sectoral complementaries in these areas, it is likely that the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals for Education and Health may take us a little longer to achieve,” she said.

Adesoye said in the area of health, a strategic health insurance model that would adequately address the health needs of Lagosians would soon come on stream anytime from now.

According to her, the state had continued to be foremost state in the federation in term of growth and development, describing the forum as one of the key strengths.