Lagos
State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Wednesday played host to the British
Minister of State for Foreign Commonwealth Affairs and DFID, Mr. Grant Shapps
and the British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Ray Kyles, where he expressed
the readiness of the state to explore the opportunities for partnership in the
area of power supply.
Governor
Ambode who spoke at the Lagos House, Marina, lauded the intervention of the UK
DFID through solar related energy in the state, expressing optimism that it
would prove a viable energy alternative to more rural areas in the state.
He
also reiterated his administration’s commitment to partner with willing investors
to take power supply to communities in need of it.
“I will like you to also know that other areas
where we believe that we can partner together is in the area of energy, that’s
something that is also of utmost interest to us here, we would like to thank
you for what we’ve done together in terms of solar related energy and am happy
that we’re going into the phase two of that project. I will like to commend you
for taking it up so quickly in the life of this administration”.
“I
believe strongly that it is one major alternative to the challenges that is
actually facing most people in the remote areas and the poorer people in our
own society, I also believe that we can accelerate that relationship and be
able to use it also as a platform to touch lives of our people and create jobs”,
he said.
Governor
Ambode lauded the longstanding partnership with the UK DFID, which he said has
been beneficial to the state in recent times, just as he assured that his administration
will sustain the relationship.
“I
am also one of the partakers of the programmes that DFID put together in the
course of my earlier career. I just want to say that they have brought so many
reforms and changes to Lagos state that we have partaken in and also had positive
impact in some of the programmes we’ve had together”.
“I
want to commit myself to say that this relationship I am going to enhance and
build on it, like we discussed privately, one of the major things that we are
looking at is to improve on the ease of doing business and that is very
important to us. In the last four months that’s what we’ve been doing
structurally and in the reforms that we have been taking, we’ve been trying to improve
on it”, Governor Ambode said.
He
told his visitors that the socio-economic challenges confronting the state presents
greater opportunities for partnership, saying that his administration is
working round the clock to provide an enabling environment for investors to
come into the state and do business with ease.
“We
believe strongly that setting up the Office of Overseas Affairs and Investment
is one right step in that direction. That office reports directly to me and we’re
trying to make sure that everything that is bureaucratic, we more or less break
it down and allow people to come into Lagos easily and be able to set up their
business, live in the state and also enjoy the state. That’s our focus, that’s what
we have been doing and we believe strongly that the partnership you bring to
the table with us will also enhance this particular objective”, he said.
Earlier,
Mr. Shapps expressed excitement at the visit, noting that the economic possibilities
that abound in the state coupled with its population make it one to reckon
with.
“There
are a lot of exciting opportunities and that is why I’m so pleased to be with
you and to make use of these opportunities. We were just discussing about trade
and the ability for our two countries to work closely together and I think the opportunities
for all our citizens to learn from experience in each of our countries is
second to none”, he said.