Lagos State government says it will pay particular attention to meeting the needs of poor and vulnerable populations as it develops resilience strategy, which is its plan for the city to thrive in the face of growing challenges such as flooding, fire outbreak, homelessness, etc.
The resilience strategy or initiative, which will be a holistic, action-oriented plan to build partnerships and alliances and financing mechanisms, is a follow up to the selection of the state from more than 1,000 applicants from around the world as part of the 100 Resilient Cities network in 2016, along with cities like London, New York, Bangkok, and Buenos Aires.
To this effect, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) admitting Lagos into the 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) in the world.
The MoU signed with the Mayor of Paynesville, Liberia, Cyvette Gibson, as the closest member of the 100 Resilient Cities, would facilitate information sharing around resilience in the two cities with the view to bring about economic development.
The development, according to Ambode, is not only historic in the annals of the state but “a confirmation that the efforts to build a globally competitive state have received international recognition,” just as he hinted of plans to link Ikoyi and Lekki via a rail line.
100 Resilient Cities, pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation, is dedicated to building urban resilience in 100 cities around the world and, by its selection, Lagos is beginning to undertake efforts to become more resilient to the shocks, including catastrophic events like hurricanes, fires and floods, and stresses plus slow-moving disasters like water shortages, homelessness and unemployment, which are increasingly part of 21st Century life.
“This is a historic event for us because we are just one of the many states in Nigeria, but have been admitted into the 100 Resilient Cities of the world,” Ambode said, who spoke at a workshop held by 100 Resilient Cities in Lagos Tuesday, said.
“We are thrilled to formally begin our partnership with 100RC. Today’s workshop is the starting point for the creation of Lagos’ Resilience Strategy – a plan for our city to thrive in the face of growing challenges. Through this partnership, we will address our city’s challenges proactively, inclusively, and holistically,” the governor assured.
100 Resilient Cities (100RC) helps cities around the world become more resilient to social, economic, and physical challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century. It provides this assistance through funding for a Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) in each of our cities who will lead the resilience efforts, resources for drafting a resilience strategy, access to private sector, public sector, academic, and NGO resilience tools, and membership in a global network of peer cities to share best practices and challenges.
Michael Berkowitz, president of 100RC, explained that Lagos was selected to join this group for, among other things, its leadership, explaining that the state is helping to fuel global momentum around building urban resilience, and leading by example.
He added that the workshop was for agenda setting aimed to clarify the city’s needs, its innovative thinking, and also for the organisation to give a blueprint for engaging partners from across sectors to bring Lagos the tools and resources needed to become more resilient.
“The Resilience Agenda-Setting Workshop is Lagos’ first engagement in their partnership with 100RC. The workshop brings a diverse set of stakeholders from across city government and the private sector, non-profits, NGO’s, academia, and civic groups into the planning process. It seeks to uncover all the threats the city is facing, including those previously unknown, while unveiling resilience building tools and plans to address those threats”, Berkowitz said.
Akinyemi Ashade, Lagos State commissioner for finance, said the selection of Lagos among the 100 Resilient Cities represented a new dawn for the state in terms of ability to adapt to some of the risks and shocks it might be exposed to and how to effectively treat and overcome them.
For its member of the 100RC, Lagos will be enjoying the benefit of financial and logistical guidance for establishing an innovative new position in city government, technical support for development of a robust resilience strategy, membership in a global network of member cities who can learn from and help one another, and a CRO who will lead the city’s resilience efforts.
