• Hands-over 484-bed space hostel to Unilag

The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has handed over a 484-bed space hall of residence to the University of Lagos, saying students must be provided conducive environment for learning, comfortable to think about big ideas and find solutions to the many complex challenges of modern age.

Speaking at the commissioning of the hostel by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, Gbajabiamila said: “This 484 bed hall of residence we have gathered here today to commission and to dedicate to the benefit of this institution and the generations that will continue to pass through this campus adds to that long tapestry of joint and continued effort that has sustained this great institution and at the same time honours the work of the visionaries who came before.

“Almost exactly three years ago, in January 2021, I had the honour of delivering the convocation lecture at the 52nd convocation of the University of Lagos. In my lecture, I urged the audience to “through our joint efforts, raise a generation in whose hearts the light of understanding is lit and cannot be put out, who possess both the zeal and the passion for defeating the tyranny of low expectations and making good the life of man here on earth.

“Part of that joint effort is ensuring that we provide conducive environment for learning and collaboration, where students are safe to be themselves, are comfortable to think about big ideas and find solutions to the many complex challenges of our modern age. That is what this hall of residence intends to provide.

“I hope that years from now, some young student here will recount how they solved one global challenge or the other or recall the moment they came upon the big idea that inspired their success in business or academia, in science, politics or industry.”

And in their recounting, they will say it all began here in these halls. I look forward to that day indeed.”

Tajudeen revealed that he would re-introduced the reviewed version of the Constituency Development Fund Bill to the National Assembly to provide a legal framework for the management, disbursement, utilisation and accountability of funds designated for constituency projects.

Aside the 484-bed space hostel at the University of Lagos, the speaker commissioned the National Open University of Nigeria (Surulere campus), reconstructed Bode Thomas Police Station and a mini-stadium facilitated by the Chief of Staff to the President to Surulere Local Council as a lawmaker.

Tajudeen said: “I am personally encouraged by the many success stories that have emerged from constituency projects over the last two decades. Schools have opened doors to education, healthcare facilities that have saved lives and infrastructure that has bridged literal and metaphorical gaps between communities.

“I intend to re-introduce a reviewed version of the Constituency Development Fund Bill to provide a legal framework for the management, disbursement, utilisation and accountability of funds designated for constituency projects. I urge all legislators and Members of the House of Representatives to emulate Gbajabiamila and renew their commitment to constituency projects. We must work with integrity and purpose to bring about meaningful change for our constituents. We should remember that the true measure of our success as legislators is not just in the laws we pass but in the lives we uplift directly.”