The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said the provision of various job skills and additional homes will reduce the menace of women and children beggars across the streets of the state.
The governor stated this on Monday during an interview on TVC News which was monitored by The PUNCH.
Sanwo-Olu said, “These women and children beggars on the streets are citizens that are looking for sustenance and livelihood daily. I tell you, we clear them almost every week but they find themselves there. Is the solution for me to say I want to pack them to another part of the country?
“No. The solution is to continue to build additional homes and continue to give them solutions by which they can become useful to their families. So we want to see how we can train them and give them skills so that they become providers of jobs themselves. It is a national issue and you don’t need a visa to come into Lagos so it is not me that has created that.”
The governor also explained that the state needs private investors with the right funding to embark on waste conversion projects.
“As a mega city, we generate between 12,000 and 14,000 metric tonnes of waste every day, largely domestic wastes, though some are industrial waste. A lot of people will tell you that there is money in waste which we are beginning to see. There is a lot of sorting that is happening and people are recycling, but it still hasn’t answered a huge number of opportunities that are there.
“These are investments that I believe the private sector can take up and I have seen a few people come up but they are never finished through. I am waiting for one that has the funding required to take up the project of waste conversion,” he added.
