Full Details Of Lagos Govt’s Economic Relief Measures For Lagosians

• Governor Sanwo-Olu announced various relief measures on Thursday.

• He said the Lagos government was setting up open markets for cheap food items, among other things.

• The governor also launched palliative in health and education.

Eko Hot Blog reports that Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday, announced sweeping interventions which the state will be implementing in order to reduce the effects of the current economic hardship on its citizens.

The governor, during a live media chat, conveyed his empathy to the state’s residents groaning under the rising cost of living, resulting in inflation of food and commodities prices.

As part of the measures to cushion the harsh economic situation, Sanwo-Olu announced new work schedule for the workforce in the State’s civil service. From next week, State workers on Grade Level 1 to 14 will be permitted to work three times weekly until further notice.

Also, civil servants on Grade Level 15 to 17 will work four days in a week.

Sanwo-Olu said the measure was not intended to disrupt governance. The move, he said, was to reduce the pressure daily borne by workers in carrying out their duties in the period of economic hardship. The governor said the measure would save the staff of additional stress.

Besides, he announced a 25 per cent fare slash across the State-owned public transport channels, including BRT, train and ferry services.

The governor said he had instructed all government departments and agencies to design modalities for immediate implementation of the measures.

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu

To address the rising food prices, Sanwo-Olu announced three layers of agricultural interventions.

He said the state government would be distributing combo packages of food items to vulnerable Lagosians, targeting 300,000 households.

The governor said the state had concluded the procurement of over 100 trailers of rice and other food items, but currently fine-tuning the logistics for seamless distribution to the beneficiaries.

Sanwo-Olu said Lagos would be opening “Sunday Market” in 42 communities across the state, where staple food would be available for residents to buy at reduced prices.

Shoppers would only be able to buy items not more than N25,000, with each shopper getting 25 per cent rebate immediately after purchase.

The Sunday Market, the Governor said, will open for the next five weeks.

“The third level of our intervention in agriculture sector is what we call ‘Soup Bowl’, which we similarly rolled out during COVID-19 lockdown. We have identified local cafeteria operators and caterers within communities. Funds will be sent to them to prepare the soup bowls. Vouchers will be given to anybody to walk in and eat free of charge. We want to be able to feed between 1,000 and 1,500 people in every Local Government Area daily for the next 30 to 60 days at the first instance,” he said.

In education, Sanwo-Olu introduced additional transport support for classroom teachers to enable them keep their work schedule, while pupils across public schools would continue their five-day school attendance.

For the time being, the governor suspended the directive compelling parents to show evidence of tax payment in order to enroll their wards in school.

This is to discourage pupil absenteeism and dropping out of school, he said.

In health, Sanwo-Olu also reintroduced free child delivery programme for expectant mothers in all the State-owned General Hospitals and special maternity centres.

The state government, he said, would take up the cost of the child delivery, including Caesarean section.

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