Lagos reassesses resilience strategy to sustain development

 By Oyebola Owolabi

Lagos State government is reassessing its resilient strategy to sustain its development trajectory.

The government assembled stakeholders across various sectors at the 2024 Lagos Resilience Forum, themed ‘Leveraging Resilience for Lagos’ Development Trajectory’, organsied by the Lagos State Resilience Office (LASRO), to chart the way forward.

The forum discussed current and emerging trends in shocks and stresses affecting the state and the world generally, taking into cognizance opportunities for growth and adaptation, integration of resilience thinking into statewide operations, and the amplification of resilience knowledge and innovations for sustainable growth.

Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget Ope George described the forum is ‘an all-inclusive and collaborative engagement of diverse resilience building stakeholders across various sectors’. He added that the forum was convened to reassess the state’s resilience building efforts with a view to improving the state’s resilience.

He said: “In line with these, the Year 2024 Lagos Resilience Forum is set to identify new opportunities to be integrated into the state’s resilience agenda; identify new conversations on emerging shocks, stresses and other challenges impacting the state. It will also promote the application of a resilience lens to state- wide activity and dissemination of resilience learning at a state-wide level.

“The Forum also focused on the economic resilience of Lagos as a global city in the light of global recession and the youth bulge, how the state can leverage international partnerships, the socio-environmental resilience of Lagos as a sustainable city and the people’s resilience.

“The vision for a Resilient Lagos, i.e an innovative, inclusive and prosperous city that leverages the appropriate governance and infrastructure mechanisms to empower its to people thrive, adapt and grow sustainably was developed through a comprehensive process involving the ideas and perspectives of various stakeholders including academia, Civil Society Organisations, government agencies, local government entities, local communities and business organisations, among others.

“The implementation of resilience building initiatives and evaluation of the same, for better and improved performance, therefore requires shared responsibility and continued partnership of various resilience building stakeholders, which is the purpose of this gathering.”

The Chief Resilience Officer, Dr. Folayinka Dania, said LASRO focuses on 10 goals inherent in transportation, clean water and sanitation, energy, land use planning, innovation and development, community participation, tourism, education and youth empowerment, disaster management, and health to help the state stand in the face of shocks and stresses.

“The resilience strategy however acknowledges that there are three critical success factors that the state must be committed to, to ensure full implementation of the strategy and realisation of resilience dividends.

“The first is mainstreaming resilience thinking and strengthening our institutional structures; collaborative engagements to connect people and resources; and monitoring and evaluation to track progress.

“This forum thus embodies these critical success factors, and the presence of stakeholders demonstrates our collective commitment to ensuring that Lagos is resilient, and continues to survive, adapt, and grow despite any acute shocks, chronic stresses or other developmental challenges it currently experiences or could experience in the future.”

 

 

 

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