A former Lagos State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Rafiu Jafojo, has urged the incoming Muhammadu Buhari administration to look into the possibility of creating a Lagos Affairs Ministry to complement the efforts of other ministries and the Lagos State Government.

Jafojo, who was the deputy of former Governor Lateef Jakande between 1979 and 1983, said this in a statement on Thursday.

He said the ministry would help in managing Federal Government properties in Lagos and put them to good use.

According to him, since Lagos State will be in the same party with the Federal Government from May 29, the Federal Government should make it count by creating a ministry that will oversee Federal Government agencies saddled with the responsibility of maintaining its infrastructure in the state.

The statement read, “The creation of Lagos Affairs Ministry similar to the Niger Delta Ministry will complement the good work the Lagos State Government is doing. It will provide the much needed legal and financial framework to systematically address the infrastructure decay.”

The former deputy governor noted that most of the Federal Government buildings in Lagos were in a bad state while others were underutilised

He said most of the buildings such as the old Central Bank building, Tafawa Balewa Square, the old Foreign Affairs buildings, the old federal secretariat building in Ikoyi and the National Theatre in Iganmu which are in the category of national monuments have virtually been abandoned as they are in a dilapidated state.

He said, “These abandoned buildings are littered everywhere in Lagos State. Most of them can be classified as monuments. The neglect of these buildings has led to their decay, thus they are now soiling the landscape of Lagos State while the edifices suffering from underutilisation are now rotting away.

“In a more developed society, these buildings would have been declared monuments, where the younger generations will have the opportunity to learn about their past.”