By Tokunbo Ogunsami
Lagos resilience strategy is devised to fix challenges, the Chief Resilience Officer, Lagos State Resilience Office (LASRO), Mr. Gbolahan Owodunni Oki, has said.
Oki, an architect, who spoke on Tuesday in Alausa, Ikeja at the launch of Lagos resilience strategy, noted that the objective of the strategy was to identify the challenges Lagos State was facing and tackled them.
He said: “A resilience Lagos is an innovative, inclusive and prosperous city that leverages the appropriate governance and infrastructure mechanisms to empower the people to thrive, adapt and grow sustainably.
“The Lagos resilience strategy is not an exhaustive and static document. It will be periodically reviewed with the guidance of the Resilience Steering Committee and in collaboration with the Resilient Lagos Forum, which will consist of key local and international organisations and development partners committed to supporting urban resilience.
“We recognise that Lagosians have always been inherently resilient and this strategy intends to cultivate and harness that resilience in a way that improves the resilience capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses and systems within the city as a whole.”
Oki recalled that the Rockefeller Foundation in 2013 pioneered the 100 resilient cities’ programme to help more cities build resilience to the physical, social and economic challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century.
Said he: “In May 2016, Lagos State was selected to join the 3rd cohort of 100 resilient cities from more than 400 city applicants across the globe.
“Sequel to this, LASRO was set up as a resilience strategic planning office. It is saddled with improving the resilience of the state, with technical aid from 100 resilient cities tasked with implementing its mandate in three phases.”
Oki said the objective of Phase 1 was to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for Lagos; and engage with stakeholders to identify areas for further work, using the city resilience framework.
He said the objective of Phase 2 was to research Lagos’ challenges to identify opportunities for collaboration and actions to improve resilience, adding: “The objective of Phase 3 is to implement interventions that lead to more collaborative city governance, build resilience and realise resilience dividends, social, economic and environmental.”
The event was attended by personalities, including Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Sam Egube.
