The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has stated that his administration will provide Lagosians with affordable housing units and a platform to report any cases of intimidation by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force or by thugs, if elected governor in 2027.
He also noted his administration’s commitment to remove thugs from the streets of Lagos by equipping them with monetary vocational skills,
Rhodes-Vivour made the promises, among others, on Thursday during a special town hall meeting hosted by The Platform, a thought leadership initiative of The Covenant Nation, Lagos.
When asked about his vision for the state and its residents come 2027, the former governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 governorship election said, “Our plans for you are increasing your capacity, localising that at the ward level so that you can get jobs and skills, and it’s not just about getting the skills and the training. It’s also providing the opportunity for you to use those skills, and we are going to domicile that at the ward and local government levels.
“We are going to look at how people feel, especially the youths of Lagos State. There’s a lot of insecurity, harassment and intimidation, and you find these either with the police or the thugs.
“We are going to take the thugs off the streets by giving them a different pathway to be productive members of society. This ties into skill acquisition. If you want to learn tiling, bricklaying, POP, you can learn these skills for free at your ward level. And when the government is doing our housing revolution, which we’ve talked about, these are the people we will engage and ensure that they are earning higher than the minimum wage, thereby taking them off the streets and creating a more secure Lagos.
“In relation to the police, we are going to create help desks all over the state because we are also traumatised from the EndSARS. If any young person is intimidated by the police, there’s a number that they can call, and we have lawyers who will look to ensure that if they are unfairly being treated, it will be handled and taken care of. The state will look out for them.”
The ADC governorship candidate added that his administration will ensure there are more housing units and improved transportation networks.
“We are increasing the housing stock. We aim to deliver 100,000 housing units in four years. We are going to create a truly multimodal and affordable means of transportation all over Lagos State. We are going to do all the lines in two years,” he pledged, adding that his administration will enable private sector partnerships to ensure that the state is “better connected.”
Rhodes-Vivour also stated that his administration will work to “decentralise waste management” by empowering local governments in the state to be more involved.
“That will make the process a lot more efficient,” he stated, adding that a “waste-to-wealth value chain” will be created to ensure energy production from waste.