A Strategic meeting has been held between the Lagos State Planning and Environmental Monitoring Authority (LASPEMA) and the Office of Transformation, Creativity and Innovation (OTCI), to strengthen partnership and ensure that the restructuring approval signed off by the Office of the Head of Service to measure the level of compliance and the resultant effect on the agency is achieved.
The General Manager of LASEPA, Tpl Daisi Oso, disclosed this while welcoming the management of OTCI led by its Director-General, Mrs. Toyin Anjous-Ademuyiwa, to his office in Ikeja to evaluate the ongoing implementation of recommendations.
He explained that the restructuring of the core Departments had been done to include Departments of Planning and Urban Design, Technical Services, Enforcement, Monitoring and Compliance as well as Corporate Partnerships and Strategy Unit (CPS) in line with global best practices.
Oso said, “The vision for an organisational structure is due to the collaboration and support of the OTCI. The departments function as one and are interwoven for the identification and documentation of the Informal Urban and Incidental Open Spaces across the State. Thereby making it easy for relevant agencies to achieve their Ministerial mandates which is in tandem with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s THEMES Plus Agenda”.
The LASPEMA Boss made a series of presentations to the OTCI team including some Action Areas around the state showing the existing situation and the proposed re-ordering projections for the use of the informal open spaces while taking into consideration the urban poor.
Oso said the assignment also provides the opportunity for data collection of informal business activities and operators in such informal spaces to enhance the state and make LASPEMA a repository Agency for other MDAs.
The General Manager also used the opportunity to acquaint the visiting team with the rebranding and repositioning ongoing in the Agency with the proposed change of name, which Mr Governor has approved, revealing that LASPEMA will soon transit to the Lagos State Informal Space Management Authority (LASISMA).
The Director of the Technical Services Department, LASPEMA, Tpl Risikat Bello, also enlightened the visiting team that the Monitoring and Compliance Department gathers robust statistics during weekly inspections,s, which is an asset for the State Government for effective planning.
In her remarks, the Director-General of the Office of Transformation, Creativity and Innovation (OTCI), Mrs Toyin Anjous-Ademuyiwa, commended Tpl. Oso for his exemplary leadership, saying, “I am impressed at the level of work done; it shows that if LASPEMA is empowered, the Agency’s mandate will provide a ripple effect to transform Lagos by restoring orderliness and entrenching inclusivity”.
Anjous-Ademuyiwa, however, advised the General Manager and the Management team to continue in their trajectory, saying LASPEMA is an example of an agency run by good leadership, ready to collaborate with other MDAs to achieve their respective mandates instead of working in silos to boost the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s THEMES Plus Agenda.