Sanwo-Olu restructures MDA’s for effective delivery

This is coming as Sanwo-Olu is expected any moment to unveil names of commissioner, Special Adviser, SAs, nominees to the state House of Assembly for consideration and approval.

The Head of Service, HoS, Mr. Muri Okunola, announced the restructuring tn a circular dated July 25, 2023.

Muri-Okunola, in the circular, stated that the ministries affected include: Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs; Office of Special Adviser on Education and Ministry of Education.

The erstwhile Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs has been renamed as Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy affairs and office of rural development, while office of the Special Adviser on Education will now be called: Ministry of Tertiary Education, thereby being separated from the Ministry of Education which will now be called Ministry of Basic Education.

The Head of Service, in the circular also noted that the Office of Civic Engagement has been split into two departments namely: Office of Civic Engagement and Political and Legislative Bureau, while Central Internal Audit Department will now be called; Office Internal Audit.

The circular titled: Change in nomenclature of government offices, reintroduction of political and legislative bureau office of Rural Development and upgrade of central internal audit department, reads: ” In view of the need to restructure Government Ministries, Agencies and Departments for improved performance and effective service delivery in the State, it is hereby notified for general information that the following Government MDAs: Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs; Office of Special Adviser on Education and Ministry of Education have been restructured and renamed as indicated in the table below:

S/N: FORMER NOMENCLATURE NEW NOMENCLATURE

i. MINISTRY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY AFFAIRS (a) MINISTRY OF LOCAL

GOVERNMENT, CHIEFTAINCY AFFAIRS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

(b) OFFICE OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

ii. OFFICE OF SPECIAL ADVISER ON EDUCATION MINISTRY OF TERTIARY EDUCATION

iii. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION MINISTRY OF BASIC EDUCATION

iv. OFFICE OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT (a) OFFICE OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

(b) POLITICAL AND LEGISLATIVE

BUREAU

v. CENTRAL INTERNAL AUDIT DEPARTMENT OFFICE INTERNAL AUDIT

2. To this end, the assigned ministerial responsibilities of the affected MDAs are as highlighted hereunder:

A. MINISTRY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, CHIEFTAINCY AFFAIRS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

i. Initiate, formulate, execute, monitor and evaluate policies relating to Local Government and Chieftaincy

Affairs; ii. Coordination of the administration of LGs in the State;

iii. Co-ordination of development plan for Local Government Councils; iv. Monitoring of public utilities under the Local Government;

v. Relations with the following bodies:

(a) Local Government Councils;

(b) Local Government Service Commission;

(c) Office of the Auditor-General for Local Governments;

(d) Valuation Office;

(e) Federal Government Agencies responsible on Local Government matters; and,

(f) Community Development Councils (CDCs) and Community Development Associations (CDAs).

vi. Loans and grants to Local Government Councils; vii. Market registration matters;

viii. Matters relating to Local Government Reforms;

ix. Training elected functionaries and political office holders at the Local Government level in collaboration with the Local Government Service Commission;

x. Chieftaincy Affairs, including relations with Council of Obas and Chiefs; xi. Monitoring of Local Government Councils;

xii. Monitoring and Evaluation of Local Government projects;

xiii. Investigation of petitions received from members of the public concerning activities of any Local Government;

xiv. Monitoring and ensuring the implementation of guidelines from Federal and State Governments;

xv. Coordination of the Statutory Allocation to Local Government Councils; xvi. Serve as Secretariat on Boundary matters in the State; xvii. Coordination of Local Government Chieftaincy Committees; xviii. Supervision of Marriage Registries State wide; and,

xix. Processing of application to execute Local Government Projects;

xx. Any other duty as may be assigned by the Governor.

B. MINISTRY OF TERTIARY EDUCATION

i. Supervision, Monitoring and Investigation of Tertiary Education Matters; ii. Member of Advisory Committee on Education Policy; iii. Matters Affecting Lagos State Education Endowment Fund; iv. Continuing Education Programmes;

v. Policy and Control of Adult Education; vi. Matters Affecting:

a. Agency for Mass Education;

b. Scholarship Board; and,

c. Library Board.

vii. State Scholarship and Bursary Awards;

viii. Liaison with Unions and Professional Bodies of Tertiary Institutions; and, ix. Any other duty as may be assigned by the Governor.

C. MINISTRY OF BASIC EDUCATION

i. Policy Formulation and Evaluation relating to Education matters;

ii. Policy and supervision of Pre-Primary and Primary education in Lagos State except staff matters;

iii. Policy, supervision and management of Secondary schools in Lagos State except staff matters; iv. Approval, Regulation and Monitoring of private, pre-primary, primary, post-primary, vocational and technical Institutions;

v. Advisory Committee on Education;

vi. Technical Education;

vii. Educational Technology with emphasis on educational broadcast and audio-visual aids;

viii. Science and Technology Education;

ix. Guidance and Counselling;

x. Collation of statistical data on Public and Private Schools in the State for overall planning and development;

xi. Special Education, Gifted/Talented and Physically challenged children;

xii. Relations with the Nigeria Union of Teachers and similar organizations;

xiii. Monitoring of special educational programmes;

xiv. State Committee on implementation of the National Policy on Education;

xv. Secondary Schools Board of Governors/Parent Teachers Association (PTA);

xvi. Relations with TESCOM, Education Districts and SUBEB;

xvii. Relations with Voluntary Organizations;

xviii. Matters affecting:

(a) Education Resource Centre; (b) Multilingual Centres; and, (c) Examinations Board.

xix. Investigation/conflict resolution in the School system; xx. Evaluation of Private and Public Schools below tertiary level for quality control and educational standards; xxi. Adaptation and Utilization of National Curriculum in Schools; xxii. Provision and Maintenance of Infrastructure in Schools in conjunction with SCRPS; and, xxiii. Any other duty as may be assigned by the Governor.

3. In the same vein, the need to enhance the performance of Office of Civic Engagement has necessitated the re-introduction of Political and Legislative Bureau out of the present Office of Civic Engagement. Accordingly, the assigned ministerial responsibilities of the Office will be as follows:

D. POLITICAL AND LEGISLATIVE BUREAU

i. Political and legislative issues relating to the Executive and Legislative arms (PLB);

ii. Political engagements and inclusion;

iii. Liaison between the Executive and Legislature on Political Matters; iv. Arrange meetings between the Legislature and the Executive;

v. Advise the Governor on Political and Legislative matters;

vi. Create congenial atmosphere for harmonious relationship of the Legislature and Executive arms;

vii. Liaison between the State Government and Political Parties at National, State and Local Government Levels;

viii. Political Correspondence;

ix. Handle Petitions and Appeals coming to the Governor from the Legislature; x. Political Intelligence;

xi. Mobilize support for State Government Executive Bills at the Public Hearing of the Lagos State House of

Assembly; xii. Evaluate and Monitor Legislative Proceedings at the National and State levels;

xiii. Organize Assent Ceremonies on Bills passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly; xiv. Sensitization / Advocacy of Laws passed by the House of Assembly; and, xv. Any other duty as may be assigned by the Governor.

While that of Office of Civic Engagement will remain:

E. OFFICE OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

i. Initiating, formulating and evaluating policies that would promote social cohesion and inclusiveness of the people in governance.

ii. Serving as social compass to provide feedback from the public on government policies, programmes and plans. iii. Propagating civic participation relating to gender-based issues, protection of right of women and the vulnerable.

iv. Coordinating programmes aimed at enhancing the social welfare of the citizenry by activating civic engagement policy thrusts as the hallmark of social welfare for the wellbeing and general good of the people.

v. Mainstreaming the culture of maintaining public assets/facilities amongst the citizenry and promoting communitybased participation in the delivery of public goods and services. vi. Promoting community responsiveness with regards to being watchdogs of the society through active participation in community-based meetings and programmes.

vii. Promoting stakeholders’ fora with students, religious bodies, artisans and the informal sector towards civic participation in governance.

viii. Supporting core value of citizens’ participation and engagement through programmes, resources and administrative support for campus initiatives.

ix. Creating appropriate liaison with relevant MDAs towards effective and efficient management of Social Services Contribution Levy as a strategy for income redistribution for the general good of the people. x. Promoting informal sector reform and inclusion.

xi. Driving Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a core aspect of Civic Engagement by creating an opportunity for the private sector, civil society organisations and multi-national institutions to participate in public sphere.

xii. Fostering healthy relationships with other MDAs in the State on societal affairs affecting the people.

xiii. Initiating and executing State financial aids to assist citizens/indigents of the State going through financial hardship as an empowerment strategy.

xiv. Any other functions as may be assigned.

4. Similarly, the reorganization has also necessitated the re-introduction of Office of Rural Development as part of the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Rural Development with assigned ministerial responsibilities as follows:

F. OFFICE OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

i. Formulate and evaluate policies relating to Rural Development;

ii. Co-ordination and Liaison with Agencies of State Government and other Government bodies on implementation of rural development programmes;

iii. Co-ordination and liaison with Research Institutions on Community Development and Community Association Self-Help Development matters in Lagos State;

iv. Rural water supply, rural electrification, rural earth feeder roads, small scale rural water jetties, rural concrete foot bridges, rural agriculture;

v. Mobilization of the private sector for active participation in the rural development efforts of the State

Government; vi. Community Development Associations and Neighborhood Watch matters;

vii. Secretariat to the Rural Development Council and the Rural Development Implementation Committee;

viii. Provision of rural housing with locally sourced materials; ix. Leasing/hiring of plants and equipment for rural development programmes; and,

x. Any other duty as may be assigned by the Governor.

5. Accordingly, Accounting Officers of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are hereby enjoined to take note of the contents of this Circular and give it the deserved service-wide publicity.