GOVERNOR’s AIDE EMPHASISES NEED TO HARNESS DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDENDS FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH
The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Adebayo Sodade, has emphasised the need to harness demographic dividends for economic growth in the State.
Sodade stated this during a sensitisation workshop for Directors, Management Staff and Focal Officers of the Ministry titled “Harnessing Demographic Dividend in Lagos State”, held in Ikeja, describing Demographic Dividend as the growth in an economy that is the result of a change in the age structure of a State or Country’s population
He posited that China leveraged on the demographic dividends of its huge population of over a billion people to become a major world producer and powerful economy, adding that Lagos State and Nigeria as a nation can also take advantage of its huge population to grow the economy.
On her part, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mrs. Adetutu Liadi, said demographic dividend has brought into limelight the current population dynamics in the State and its corresponding opportunities that need to be harnessed through active investment in the youth population for sustainable socio-economic growth and development.
She stated that the immediate past Executive Council (ExCo) of the State had already adopted the Demographic Dividend (DD) policy brief and directed that the State planning machinery be expanded to accommodate all known demographic dividends in conformity with the Lagos State Development Plan, noting that MDAs have been advised to incorporate the DD Policy into their mandates to produce a framework for improved planning process and decision making.
Mrs. Liadi averred that the objective is to put Lagos State on the front burner of socio-economic development that will be sustained for future optimal population growth, saying “The roadmap will highlight the identified investment opportunities required to drive the process across MDAs, the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)”.
Meanwhile, the representative of the United Nations Population Fund Nigeria, Mrs. Haroun Amaka, as well as Consultants on the project from the University of Ibadan, Professor Lanre Olaniyan and Dr. Noah Olasehinde, agreed that the State is a leading factor in the response by the International Agency (UNFPA) in the control and adoption of its various calls.
OAS/TMS/OS
