We are committed to achieving safer, peaceful, prosperous Lagos – Ambode

…Says Lagos committed to creating Industrial Clusters

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State yesterday, assured Lagosians that his administration is strongly committed to achieving the vision of a safer, peaceful and prosperous Lagos for all.

Governor Ambode, who spoke when he received the Polish Ambassador to Nigeria, Andrezj Dycha, some European Union officials and Polish business Chief Executive Officers on a courtesy visit at the Lagos House in Alausa, Ikeja, reiterated the commitment of his administration to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

He also reiterated his strong commitment to create industrial clusters in the State, which will in turn, go a long way in engaging the people in gainful employment.

Emphasising that Lagos is the fourth largest economy in Africa with a population of over 20 million people, Governor Ambode said the market which the State is blessed with, is a great opportunity which can be and must be utilised for the people’s benefits.

He added, “The market is not only restricted to the Nigerian market, the market is more or less a hub for the West African Sub-Region and when you look at the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Lagos which is at $131 billion presently, it is greater than 42 countries combined in Africa. So, we stand at the threshold of the opportunities that our new democracy is actually offering us”.

Assuring his visitors of his commitment to build on the relationship, Governor Ambode said his administration has already begun the journey of making Lagos safe for the economic prosperity of the people.

The Governor added that the Government has also commenced the process of implementing judicial and security sector reforms, all geared towards making Lagos safe.

While stating that he was willing to learn from the success story of Poland on agriculture, software technology among other areas, Governor Ambode said he would be willing to scale up the courtesy visit to him by the delegation to a bilateral platform, where issues of mutually beneficial partnership will be discussed and perfected.

He also used the opportunity to introduce the office of the Overseas Affairs and Investment to his visitors, which he said is a one-stop shop where investors can seamlessly obtain regulatory approvals and other incentives in order to drive further investment to create jobs.

Some of the Polish CEOs, who were part of the delegation, had taken time to explain one after the other how they can partner with Lagos in various sectors such as renewable energy, waste to wealth programme, power transmission and distribution and so on.

The Political Director of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jaroslaw Bratkiewicz, in response, thanked Governor Ambode for hosting them, adding that the visit was a good beginning of better days ahead.