Lagos Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Sam Egube has revealed that the state government’s budgetary allocation for human capital development for the year 2020 increased by 33 percent to N160 Billion. The commissioner disclosed this during the recent Equipment and Manufacturing West Africa (EMWA) exhibition and conference themed: “Industrialisation and innovation revitalising the industrial sector to unlock Nigeria’s potential.”
While this means that the state is beginning to pay more attention to human capital development as a catalyst for economic growth, Egube expressed the readiness of the government to develop the capacity of young people which he said constitutes 45 percent of the population of the state. He also emphasised the need to engage the youths having seen their active involvement in the technology space.
As part of the administration’s commitment towards making Lagos a hub for business in the Africa continent, he noted that state has flagged off significant infrastructural developments including a 3,000 kilometres fiber dock infrastructure in Lagos to bring high internet capacity through underwater cables into homes and industries. This, according to the commissioner, is because technology is an effective way to fast-track development and improve behaviour in the Lagos metropolis.
Highlighting other infrastructure projects in the state, Egube said when the current government came into power, one of the things it promised the people was improved transportation. It was clear to us that transportation will not improve just by building roads alone because of the rate of urban migration in Lagos.
“It was also clear to us that for us to improve the environment and the transportation system, it was important we invested in mass transportation. So the state government felt they needed to find a creative way of solving the problem, otherwise, movement will be difficult,” he said.
Egube stated that they were able to finance the redline rail by the innovation of the governor and working with the finance team. This redline rail will move people from Agbado down to Oyingbo, then to Marina in its phase two. It is also projected to move 22.5 million people monthly, thus reducing their travel time by 50 percent from 2 hours to 45minutes.
