Healthcare is to be accorded priority in post Covid-19 Lagos, as up to 20 percent of the state’s 2021 annual budget would be allocated to the sector, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said.
About 13 percent of the state’s 2020 budget of N1.16 trillion was allocated to the health sector. But the sudden outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic seems to have rubbished that allocation, forcing the government amid the crisis to redirect the 2020 budget, with a chunk of it moved to the health sector for immediate intervention as Lagos continues to record increase cases of Covid-19.
In the last two months, four isolation centres have been created and more being considered, to receive and treat increasing number of patients. The state government has also increased duty allowance for health workers and spent heavily on palliatives for the citizens, all of which were not budgeted for in 2020.
Sanwo-Olu, who was on ‘The Platform’, an annual programme organised by Covenant Christian Centre (CCC), monitored on Channels Television on Saturday, also listed education, infrastructure, security, and information technology as other areas his administration would pay greater attention in post Covid-19 Lagos.
He said the state would be looking to balancing education, security and infrastructure to recreate the economy by helping the citizens to connect.
“There are things that we can do from our homes. There is, therefore, the need for improved infrastructure development in terms of broadband penetration and information technology.”
Government, he said, would also be slashing its overhead expenses in order to give priority to areas that are critical to strengthening the economy going forward.
According to the governor, who was being interviewed via skype by Poju Oyemade, senior pastor of CCC, the state had already set a post Covid-19 ‘War-Committee’ to direct governance in terms of areas to focus amid revenue shortfall occasioned by the pandemic.
He said some immediate areas the government would be looking at to boost internally generated revenue (IGR) would be to fast-track issuance of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), building approval and title documents.
“We would need to raise our capacity for IGR. We want to see how improvement in turn-around time for C of O, building approvals and title documents would encourage people to come forward for these critical services. We are also going to be more creative dealing with informal sector,” said Sanwo-Olu.
The governor also said that governance in post Covid-19 era would be driven more by data. He explained that the lesson from coronavirus has made the use of data a necessity at both national and sub-national levels.
“Accurate data is needed for planning and identification purposes. This would help national and sub-national to account for their citizens, know what they do, where they are and serve them better,” sanwo-Olu said.
The governor, who expressed concern about possible job losses and the effect this might have on the economy, said he has held discussions with the organised private sector (OPS) to ensure that jobs are retained.
“I have had conversation with the OPS. We need to know that it is not only profitability that should drive our goal but sustainability. It is only when we are alive this year that we can talk about money for shareholders value,” he said.
JOSHUA BASSEY
