It’s just quite fitting!
The execution of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu Agricultural Master Plan is in full swing across Lagos State. Also embedded in it, is the construction of middle-level markets throughout the state, with the first located in Idi-Oro already operational.
Construction of the second of the markets in Abijo, near the Pan Atlantic University (formerly Lagos Business School) on Lekki-Ajah Road, is almost done and dusted. Now this is where the story gets interesting. The bigger plan of Mr. Governor is to build 60 middle-level markets in strategic locations across the state.
So before we process, shall we not say 60 hearty cheers to the man of the moment, the hardworking Chief Executive Officer of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, who is being celebrated as he commemorates his Diamond Jubilee. What a remarkable coincidence!
In the decision making apparatus of the state government under Sanwo-Olu, novel and revolutionary ideas are never in short supply. Once such ideas drop, they assume a life of their own, going through intense scrutinies and rigorous debates before a final decision is taken. Next, comes a ruthless execution of the ideas into projects and policies that deliver for the greater good of the greater majority of Lagosians.
For the governor, the audacity to initiate and execute big and bold ideas is a highly-valued currency. For this write-up, the novel Lagos Central Food Security Systems and Logistics Park will suffice.
A quick flashback to the 2020 Covid pandemic came with its devastating consequences, not the least being the massive disruption in the chain of logistics of food. The pandemic ended, and many leaders simply moved on. No lesson was learnt.
Not Sanwo-Olu. His administration quickly initiated a five-year Agricultural Master Plan plan to ensure Lagos becomes a large-scale food logistics hub to protect the state and its people from food insecurity, a challenge rightly desribed as an existential threat to life’s security.
And the Lagos State Food Security Systems and Logistics Park was born.
The construction of the project, PPP deal between the state government and Origin Tech Group, run by Prince Samuel J. Samuel, began about three years ago. Cited on over 230 hectares of land in Ejinrin-Ketu in Epe, it will be the largest sub-Saharan cold and dry chain storage facility.
The governor is ecstatic about the project. During his last on-the-spot inspection, he assured that it will be delivered in the first quarter of this year. ‘It was after the global Covid pandemic destruction that we came up with a plan that Lagos should be a large-scale food logistics hub to protect itself from food insecurity. Now we can see that, indeed, that move we made three years ago is on the right course. This project is based on our determination to have our destiny in our hands’, he said.
The massive project, which construction is at an advanced stage, boasts facilities, including a weigh bridge, an administrative block of five floors, a cold storage on 15,000 square metres, storage silos of 1.5 million tonnes, a clinic, a truck terminal with a processing and parking capacity of 1,500 trucks per day.
Within the facility, the state government and Origin Tech Group are also constructing a total of 69 km network of roads. On completion, it will be powered with a 4MW gas plant, backed with 27MW of solar capacity.
The Lagos Food Systems and Logistics Park is patterned after the Marche d’Interet Natural de Rungis in Paris, the largest food market in the world. It is designed to sell wholesale products to traders, who then distribute to other networks across the state. The objective, according to the governor, is to ensure market and price stability.
In his six years in the saddle as Lagos’ dutiful servant-leader, Sanwo-Olu has taken his job with an uncanny dedication and exemplary excellence in the execution of his THEMES+ Agenda!
This is what dreams, albeit big dreams are made of.
For Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, the birthday man, only the best is good for the state and its residents!!!