LAGOS STATE TO PARTNER WITH CUSTOMS FOR PORTS TURNAROUND – SANWO-OLU
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By ‘Leke Yusuf
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has reiterated his administration’s commitment to making Lagos a business destination for as many investors as possible to improve the economic prosperity of the state.
He said the Lagos State Government will continue to partner with the Nigeria Customs Service to ensure turnaround for the ports in the State to be globally competitive and make Lagos a top destination for West African countries.
The Governor also restated his government’s commitment to construct a new port in the Badagry axis of the State to decongest Apapa and Tincan Island ports and bring in more investors into the State, noting that the State Government is already in touch with a contractor for the construction of the Badagry Port.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu spoke on Tuesday when the Acting Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi paid him a courtesy visit at the Lagos House, Marina.
He said: “I want to assure you that Lagos and Lagosians will continue to give you hospitality; a place of comfort and a willing environment where business can thrive, where officers can do their work without fear or favour, and where service can be rendered to our citizens, your customers, and the international community at large.
“We will continue to work together. And because of where we are as a country and the need to increase our export, foreign currency and ensure that we are not a mono-product country that relies only on oil, we will encourage our manufacturers to export so that they can drive more foreign direct investment and foreign currency that can help to improve our currency.”
Speaking on Lagos State Government plan to construct Badagry Port as an additional port to the existing Apapa, Tincan Island, and Lekki ports, Governor Sanwo-Olu said “The whole idea is to build strategic infrastructure for our citizens. Lekki is on the Eastern part and Badagry on the Western part so that we can decongest Apapa and Tincan which we have stretched beyond their capacities.
“We need to think forward and I am happy that investors are putting the funding together and all the approvals are being sorted so that in two years, we might also have a brand new port. These are some of the things that will ensure that things can move in and out and we can begin to compete with some of the nice ports we see around the world so that we can improve the revenue earning of government and be able to do any other things.”
Speaking earlier, the Acting Comptroller-General, of Nigeria Customs Service, Mr. Adewale Adeniyi, who lauded the giant strides of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, said Lagos as the economic nerve center of Nigeria, generates 70 to 75 percent of Custom revenue in the country.
He pledged to work assiduously to ensure smuggling becomes a thing of the past in Nigeria to boost Made in Nigeria products and improve the economy of the country.
“Lagos is very strategic to our operations. It is the heartbeat of Customs operations. For us to be able to excel at our full potential, we need a peaceful working environment. I want to assure Governor that as responsible officers and agencies of government, we will live up to our civic responsibilities and more importantly, we will operate within the framework of the law.
“We will be law abiding in our operations. We have followed your (Governor Sanwo-Olu) serious attempt to make Lagos a SMART City and a good working place for all Lagosians, some of us inclusive. We followed the progress you have made. The least we can do as a responsible agency of government is to complement your efforts in terms of sustainable development,” he said.
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