As governor, I will address the 'agbero' issue in Lagos: Rhodes-Vivour

BY: News Peddlers

Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour

Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Lagos, has outlined his plans for the state if elected in the upcoming election.

On March 11, Rhodes-Vivour will compete for the governorship with Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the incumbent and candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and Abdul-Azeez Adediran of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In an interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo, Rhodes-Vivour stated that his administration will build four rail lines in four years and will invest in water transportation.

He stated that he is committed to improving the state's housing situation, and that resolving transportation issues will "open up Lagos" to a viable housing system.

The architect stated that he will address the state's security concerns by empowering and upskilling touts, also known as 'agberos,' in Lagos.

"When I become governor, we are going to deliver four rail lines in four years. "The plan is that we will need 160 kilometres of rails to make Lagos state work, and we will invest heavily in water transportation to make Lagos state a truly intermodal city," he said.

"Once that happens, Lagos starts to open up because development becomes decentralised. It is now possible to construct housing in Ikorodu, Badagry, Ajeromi/Ifelodun, and Lagos. As a result, nothing is coming to the centre, and we now have self-sustaining cities all over the state.

"And then, we are going to fix the agbero situation across the state. This has become a serious issue; we need Lagos to become a 24-hour city, and security is critical to achieving that goal.

"We are going to work with them as stakeholders because we need to look at this thing holistically and equip them with alternative means of living.

"And because we are not a government that needs people to suppress and intimidate people not to vote, we are going to tell them that that job description is no longer available. So we're going to put them in programmes and skills that will allow that to happen."