Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has expressed dissatisfaction that the State Water Corporation had not been innovative enough to create solutions to water resource management challenges in the state despite international training of its staff.
This is as the governor solicited partnerships from stakeholders in the public and private sectors in tackling water resource management challenges.
Sanwo-Olu made this known on Tuesday at the Fifth Lagos International Water Conference in Lagos.
The conference had the theme: ” Financing Water and Sanitation for a Greater Lagos”.
“We have had several World Bank best trainers.
“They have been trained in the best institutions but that has not put solutions on the table for us, that has not resolved the challenges that we have.
“Water, as Fela said, has no enemy, but it has got a lot of enemies because we are all not sincere or serious and true to ourselves.
“We all need to ask ourselves how well we are playing these roles. How well are we moving from lip service to being able to resolve the issues?” Sanwo-Olu asked.
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He stated further that, “In the last five years, this administration has been dedicated to financing this conference with discussions as to how to straighten water resource management.
“Our focus includes regulating the water sector, promoting public/ private partnerships; we believe this will fill the gaps and foster operational efficiency of Lagos State Water Corporation.
“We want to move away from talk to action, we want to move to action. It is the fifth year we are coming for the water conference. I want to see the outcomes and the outputs.
“We have increased our spending in this sector, we appreciate how Denmark and the Netherlands have collaborated with us.”
Sanwo-Olu added that if the state government had not been proactive, the recent outbreak of cholera in the state would have become a pandemic.
On his part, the Minister for Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, also called for more public/private partnerships in order to find permanent solutions to water resource management problems.
”I am proud of Lagos and its strides. We need more collaborations between the private and public sectors, we need each other to find solutions,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference was held at the Eko Hotel and Suites on Victoria Island.
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