Lagos candidates outline plans for culture, business and public services
Candidates contesting the Lagos governorship have presented differing proposals on Yoruba cultural preservation, business levies, waste management, child welfare and affordable housing. The pledges were made at a town hall organised by The Platform Nigeria for millennials and Gen Z voters.
Candidates for the Lagos governorship have outlined proposals on cultural preservation, business regulation, waste management, child welfare and housing at a town hall meeting with young voters. The event, organised by The Platform Nigeria, featured the African Democratic Congress candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour; the All Progressives Congress candidate, Obafemi Hamzat; the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Funso Doherty; and the National Democratic Congress candidate, Deji Doherty. Mr Rhodes-Vivour said Lagos was Yoruba land and promised to establish a ministry responsible for culture if elected.
He said the administration would examine the state’s history and culture more deeply and criticised the treatment of Yoruba in schools, where he said pupils could be punished for speaking the language. He linked cultural preservation to wider concerns about education, healthcare and living costs, arguing that families with better access to public services would be less preoccupied by those pressures. Mr Hamzat promised to remove unauthorised or untraceable business levies.
He said the state would work with federal and local authorities to harmonise taxes and charges and prevent multiple collections. He also pledged greater waste-processing capacity, including additional trucks, transfer stations, material-recovery facilities and a waste-to-energy plant at Agbara. On child welfare, Mr Hamzat said a dedicated agency should be created for children under 18, separate from the Ministry of Youth and Social Development.
He said children should be in school or learning a trade rather than roaming the streets. Mr Doherty proposed affordable high-rise housing outside the metropolitan area, including in Epe, Badagry and Kosofe, supported by improved transport. He said any acquisition of family-owned property would require negotiation with the owners.
The candidates were responding to questions from millennials and Gen Z attendees about their priorities and plans for governing Lagos.
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