Why Lagos needs N1tr to fix destroyed assets — Sanwo-Olu
The government of Lagos State has revealed that N1 trillion will be used to rebuild some infrastructure in Lagos State destroyed as a result of the #EndSARs protest.
House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, revealed the estimated cost during his visit to the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the Government House in Marina on Sunday.
Daily Times gathered that Gbajabiamila, who visited to sympathise with the state along with members of the House of Representatives from Lagos, said: “The governor was telling me just now that it was going to cost about a trillion naira to rebuild Lagos. That makes my heart heavy. And I asked the governor what’s the budget of Lagos State? What are you planning? And he told me that they’re planning a budget of about a trillion naira.”
Among other public assets destroyed are 89 new buses of the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) burnt down in Oyingbo and Berger where they were parked.
Each of the buses, according to Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso costs about $200,000.
The multi-million naira forensic and DNA centre, the Igbosere High Court, local government secretariat buildings, and hundreds of vehicles, other public buildings scattered across the state, street lights, among others are affected.
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Gbajabiamila visited Oba of Lagos Rilwanu Akiolu, whose palace was razed and looted as well as Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader.
The Speaker described the destruction of properties as sad and should not occur again.
“I came in from Abuja today, not just to stand in solidarity with him, but by extension the people of Lagos State. These have been very difficult few days. It has even been more difficult for me in the last hour. Driving in from the airport and sitting with the governor to watch the documentary here put together, that evidences of the carnage we all witnessed. It makes us all very sad.
“This, certainly, is not the Lagos of our dream that we all talk about. And I know deep down, and I believe no matter how brave a face one puts to it, that even the protesters have their regrets that things went this far, because from my understanding and from what I’ve seen, both those who are pro-protest and those who are anti-protest, were all affected.
“There’s very little I can say. But, I know that standing with me is a man of courage, a man of destiny. Because it’s very unusual for you to come into office, and within a year a few months, you witnessed two calamitous events: first, you were in the epicentre of COVID-19, which you dealt with to the admiration of all.
“Whilst we were still grappling with that, you now became the epicentre of the protests. I want to encourage you to lift your head high, because you discharged your duties as a governor of a state that was troubled in the last few months, or clos
