The Story Your path to the story
• Vows to enhance education, health and energy sectors
Ahead of the May 20, 2020 governorship primary of the All Progressive Congress, a Lagos governorship aspirant, Mr Abdul-Ahmed Olorunfemi Mustapha, yesterday said that he has what it takes to attend to some of the yearnings of Lagosians begging for attention.
Mustapha, a former Permanent Secretary in the state’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said that he is determined to change the narrative of the education, health, power and other sectors of the state begging for serious attention, adding that if elected as the next governor of Lagos State, the Lagosians will see a Lagos that works for everyone irrespective of party affiliation, religion, tribe and other differences.
Speaking with journalists on why he is interested in governing Lagos, Mustapha said that ideas rule the world. He said he would bring his experience in both the private and public sector at home and abroad into play if elected, adding that Lagos deserves the best and is uniquely placed to be able to address the power issue, leveraging on the support from the telecommunication industry.
He said there are so many strategies and workable plans that the state can leverage on in order to develop more independent power plants, which he said would guarantee a 24/7 power supply for the residents.
According to him, the strategies that would bring together the private and public sectors would result in a generation of sustainable energy marketing, resulting in an uninterrupted electricity supply in the state. This, he said, will entice more investors to come to the state.
Harping on the health sector, he said there are ways of building more hospitals on a lease and accelerated framework as it is done in developed countries, adding that hospital equipment could also be procured on a lease, adding that the funding from the state health insurance scheme and the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, could be used to refurbish the facilities.
He said: “Where Lagos State finds itself now is not different from where the City of New York found itself in the 70s. Where are the new ideas we have to table? For instance, we need to build new schools, we need to build new hospitals, and we need to provide equipment for the new hospitals. We need to build new infrastructure. We want each and every citizen, irrespective of their background, to be able to become whoever they choose to be.
“So what do we do? We will categorize them, give them access to capital and give them access to finance, among others, so that at the end of the day, the output from these teachers would be similar to what Edo State is doing. We would be able to replicate that. The City of New York created what we called the Hospital and Health Cooperation of New Hospitals to revolutionize their healthcare system; we would do that as well. “
