By Abayomi Elias
The Governor of Lagos State His Excellency Babajide Olusola Sanwo-olu and members House of Representatives from Ikorodu, Kosofe, Badagry respectively justified why Lagos State should be given a special recognition having being a former capital of the country.
Newsconnect reports that Sanwo-Olu who was ably represented by his Deputy His Excellency Dr Obafemi Hamzat said;
“Any State that was once the federal capital of the nation cannot just inherit the assets and liabilities of the entire country, but then be forgotten of the responsibilities that come with those assets. As a nation, let us be fair to the people of Lagos by granting the state a special status.
“As we embark on this critical process of reviewing our constitution, we must be guided by the principles of inclusiveness, equity, and justice. We must listen to everyone, men and women, young and old, from all corners of our communities. Their hopes, worries, and dreams should shape the amendments that come out of this process.”
House of Representative member from Badagry Federal Constituency Honourable Sesi Oluwaseun Whingan in corroboration with the request that Lagos should be recognize as a special status said;
“Obviously we know the population here and we know the revenue generated from this state. So the issue of special recognition is long and overdue.
“We believe this time around we will be able to address that issue through this constitional amendment. We also have our own group from Badagry who also made a submission today”. He said.
Honourable Kafilat Ogbara, House of Representative member representing Kosofe Federal Constituency said there are so many bills they have enlisted, hence the Public hearing is timely so that they can understand what the people really need.
“So that we don’t make any mistake, we are making a laws for the people, not any class of people so it’s important for them to be part of the process so that when the bill eventually come to past, it will be effective and it will be impactful.
“The special status of Lagos, the clamor is on, it is a collective thing at the National assembly, I am very sure a lot of our members support this. The northerners are more than the southerners, we will continue to lobby and ensure we have the passage.
“Lagos used to be the Capital, because we have move to Abuja, we should not neglect those resources and responsibilities Lagos is carrying for Nigeria.
“Even though Abuja is taking the stage now, Lagos still carries a lot of responsibilities for Nigeria. We know the population of Lagos State, that means there is a lot of burden on the government.
“A lot of our people in nearby states like Ogun and Oyo, most of them live in Lagos. A lot of these pressure have multiplier effects on Lagos. These are one of the reasons special status for Lagos is very important.
“Special status in terms of budgetary allocations, in terms of giving privileges Lagos is highly populated”. She said.
Honourable Babajimi Benson The Deputy Chairman of the Constitutional Review Committee and Chairman House committee on Defense, representing Ikorodu Federal Constituency told journalists at the event that in a couple of days time, they are going to have a central public hearing in Abuja, after that, they would go to the parliament, vote and send suggestions to various states house of Assemblies for approvals.
“Politics is about lobbying but Lagos State deserves a special status. It is only in Nigeria that a former capital has been left with liabilities. I believe Lagos State needs to attain a pride of place in Nigeria, it needs to be supported adequately because Lagos contributes a lot to the GDP of Nigeria”. He said