Lagos shops for N262b to provide roads, water for rural areas

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The Lagos State Government has said it would require about N262 billion to provide access roads and portable water for its residents living in rural areas of the state.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Rural Development, Cornelius Ojelabi, who disclosed this at a press briefing, said it would require N256 billion to provide road infrastructure in rural areas.
The commissioner said provision of portable drinking water for rural dwellers will gulp about N6 billion.
He said the state government is committed to ensuring development of rural areas in the state to minimise the frequent incidents of rural-urban migration.
He said the demand for social amenities and basic infrastructures have continued to increase by the day due to the influx of thousands of people to Lagos daily.
According to him: “The challenges we face in our effort at transforming our rural areas are enormous while resources at our disposal are limited.
“The estimate we have for provision of bridges, rural roads, jetties and drains alone for this year is more than the budget of the whole state.”
Ojelabi enjoined corporate bodies, donor agencies and philanthropists to assist government in providing amenities in the rural areas.
He said: “Organisations, companies and philanthropists could adopt projects in rural communities as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility and brand them in their names on completion.
“With this we can together take Lagos to the next level and make it a model mega city.
“We need the public to come and will aid us to provide culverts, mini bridges, and quality roads that will enhance a better living condition for rural people and open up rural areas and we need nothing less than N256billon.
“To also be sure that majority of rural dwellers have a good source of water supply, with the number of requests we have received so far to provide water amounts to about N6 billion.”
On rural electrification projects, Ojelabi revealed that about N1 billion has so far been expended in the last one year to light up rural areas, adding that most of the transformers installed have been connected to national grid.
Ojelabi said the state government is repositioning the Neighbourhood Watch, a local security outfit set up by the Ministry to ensure security within around communities in the state.