Lagos to Establish Youth Affairs Department in Councils

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Lagos State Government is set to establish a Youth Affairs Department in all 57 Local Government and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) of the state.

This was disclosed by Mr Saheed Akanbi, Senior Special Assistant on Youth Matters to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the third Annual Media Retreat of Conference 57.

The Conference 57 is a forum of chief press secretaries of all local councils in Lagos State.

The Governor’s aide said that the youth department at council levels would help fasttrack development across the state.

“Effort is in progress as there is need to establish youth affairs department in all local governments and LCDAs to make the job more easier.

“This is because if anything is happening in any council concerning the youth, it will be easier to contact the supervisor on youth affairs in that area to fix the development collectively.

“At the same time, the department will ensure that the plight of the youth are properly taken care of at the grassroots levels,” he said.

Mr Akanbi also said that there was the need to review the remuneration of media aides of all council chairmen in the state.

He said that reviewing their remuneration in terms of salaries and offices would assist in bridging the gaps between the residents and the councils.

Mr Akanbi, however, advised the spokespersons to be loyal to the councils and ensure that its activities and programmes were properly publicised to the residents.

Mr Emmanuel Bamgboye, Chairman, Mushin Local Government, in his remark, urged the media aides to be proactive in disseminating information to the public.

“Your job is very valuable, this is the era of information, we need publicity in all levels of government.

“We appreciate what you are doing but continue doing more of it with loyalty, which is very important and we will continue to appreciate you,” the council boss said.

He urged the media aides to cooperate with their bosses and give adequate publicity to allow the residents know the level of development in the community.

Mr Oseni Ajimomuya, Chairman Conference 57, said measures were in place by the association to curb the menace of fake news in the society.

“Our major crusade in this regard is to enlighten the masses on the negative impact of fake news across various social media platforms.

“That’s why we tag this year’s retreat, Going Digital: An essential move in a Post COVID-19 World and Combating Fake News,” he said.