‘Much ado about Lagos debts’

There was no previous precedent. Lagos had to learn by itself and she did.

You all stood up; Obas, chiefs, religious leaders, community leaders, men and women, boys and girls, transporters and all state workers, but most especially our health workers, working with their colleagues in the Federal Health Institutions and developmental partners, WHO, UNICEF, Doctors without Borders and the Centre for Disease Control.

I cannot forget the interventions of the Diplomatic Community who are part of our teeming residents.

You refused to surrender. You contained the disease and our country is in the world news for all the right reasons.

I thank you all very much for standing up to be counted.

But in the spirit of Lagos, we know that our work is not finished. The lessons of hygiene must remain with us, regular hand washing with soap and water, stopping the practice of public urination and open defecation must continue.

And still on this matter, I appeal to the Federal Government to maintain the highest vigilance at our Land, Air and Sea Borders.

Close scrutiny of persons from countries and regions where Ebola remains a challenge must be our first line of defence.

Importantly, we must send help to these countries if we truly want to keep the gains we have recorded.

As I said, our work on Ebola continues because we must do everything to avoid a re-infection.

We have put many policies in place which the Honourable Commissioner for Health will be communicating to you.

Some of the lessons learnt are the need for a Government Scientific Adviser to be our co-ordinator not only for providing scientific information about infectious diseases but also co-ordinating other areas of science based research, food sufficiency, water sufficiency, air pollution and all other things that are likely to affect our well-being.

Today therefore, I am announcing the appointment of Dr. Adekemi Oluwayemisi Sekoni as my chief Scientific Adviser.

She will be presented shortly at a formal induction.

The last few days of the past 100 days have also been instructive in the pursuit of our policies and the Lagos of our dreams.

In October, specifically on the 15th, we set out on a journey of well-being by declaring a Horn-free day as the first step to reduce noise pollution.

Your support for this initiative has been encouraging; and in the weeks and months that lie ahead I am sure we will again be in a position to say that we have done something worthwhile for ourselves.

The consciousness, the debate and the reactions that were generated on the day were, for me, the biggest measures of our success.

I followed them on many media platforms, and I was particularly pleased by the decision of a group called Extreme Ideas, a non-governmental organisation, who have taken ownership of the campaign.

That is the Spirit of Lagos. Let us all own the campaign to reduce noise.

In the same month of October, which is now the Lagos Energy Conservation month, I flagged off the programme for this year by commissioning the Lagos Energy Academy where young people are already being trained in Energy and Electricity technologies.

They will learn about energy generation in the traditional and renewable way. They will learn about transmission and generation as well as meter repairs and fault diagnosis.

By the time the first batch graduate in March 2015, they will receive a Siemens certificate that makes them employable in any part of the world where energy and electricity technicians and engineers are required.

My hope is that they will choose to remain and work here to solve our energy problems because we will not give up on power.

I am also pleased to report that the full design of the Solar Power kit that will be deployed to all our schools, to provide them with renewable and reliable energy to facilitate learning has been completed.

In the course of time, we will begin deployment to the first 172 schools who are in Phase I and the Primary Health Care centres.

Still on energy, I am also pleased to report that the Mainland IPP, the 6th IPP by our Government, has been concluded and is going through pre-commission testing, preparatory to full commissioning.