TheCable

The governments of Lagos and Ogun have established a joint development commission to tackle insecurity and border challenges affecting both states.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, and Dapo Abiodun, his Ogun state counterpart, launched the commission at the Presidential Lodge, Abeokuta, on Monday.

Ogun is the only state in Nigeria which shares border with Lagos.

In his address, Sanwo-Olu described the commission as a “game changer” that will transform Lagos and Ogun positively.

He said the commission will ensure growth and boost socioeconomic development in the two states.

Sanwo-Olu added that the commission will address issues around security, physical planning, housing, and environment.

“The memorandum of understanding that we are signing here today is a game changer that will transform the urban admiration that exists between Lagos and Ogun,” he said.

“We are driven by the desire to stimulate the socioeconomic growth to bridge development gap and to ensure that while Lagos continues to remain a mega city, Ogun state can indeed help to transform that and help to create another sub-megacity in our region.

“The memorandum of understanding precedes the joint development commission that we’ll establish to mutually tackle some of the issues that are prevalent between the two of us — issues around transportation, environment and urban challenges, physical planning, housing, border issues, infrastructure development, and, of course, security.”

Sanwo-Olu noted that the launch of the joint commission is not due to political affiliation, but about improving the welfare of the residents of both states.

He said the commission will drive trade and investment and resolve boundary issues.

“This is not political; it is about our people; it is about their source of livelihood; it is about the transportation and ease of movement between the two states and ensuring the ease of doing business,” he said.

“At the end of the day, it is not about us. It is about our teeming population that we have given a voice by the signing of the agreement we are doing today.”