Expert tasks Ambode on plight of remote communities

Akinwunmi Ambode

A community relations expert, Mr. Olufemi Adabale, has tasked the Lagos State Government to consider the plight of residents of remote communities who have   yet to be connected to or benefit from its mega city project.

Adabale, who is the Managing Director of FmACL, made the plea during a courtesy visit to The Punch Place, the head office of Punch Nigeria Limited, Ogun  State on Friday.

He said, “No doubt, by now  Lagos State needs the services of community relations experts and needs to be proactive to engage several communities within  the state that are yet to be connected to the mega city project.

“We at FmACL are playing our part by contributing through community tours and sensitisation. Above all, we will be more willing to work with the state government within this capacity.”

Adabale said the firm’s give-back initiative tagged, ‘Community Tours and Sensitisations’, started in 2015 when it worked with the directors of the Ambode Campaign Organisation to conduct a comprehensive issues and needs assessment of 14 local governments areas in  the state.

The expert said a report was submitted to the governor, who promised that most of the issues affecting the communities would be addressed if he was voted into power.

He said the firm was compiling a document detailing the conditions of the communities during the campaign and after the elections.

The document, the FmACL boss added, would be presented to the governor to mark his two years in office.

“The document will serve as a reminder to the governor of all the promises he made and the need to reflect on them and fulfill them before the next election,” he noted.

According to Adabale, while touring communities in Tarkwa Bay, Badagry, Eleko, Ibeju Lekki and others, the team discovered that the communities lacked basic things like water, good roads and other infrastructure that make life comfortable.

“A place like Tarkwa Bay,  which in the past was a tourist attraction has become a hideout for criminals,” he stated.

He said the team also observed that some of the communities were extremely dirty, adding that members of the team had engaged in sensitisation campaigns to raise awareness among the dwellers on the need to keep their environment clean.