A Lagos State governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Otunba Olarenwaju Olalekan Lanre Jim-Kamal, has declared that foreign partners are ready to pour $50 billion into Lagos if he wins the 2027 governorship election, with funds earmarked for healthcare, agriculture, human capital development and critical infrastructure.
Jim-Kamal made the disclosure during a press briefing with political journalists on Monday at Lagos Travel Inn, Toyin Street, Ikeja, Lagos, where he presented his economic transformation agenda as the cornerstone of a future Jim-Kamal administration.
He described the proposed investment as part of a sweeping plan to strengthen social welfare, improve public services and accelerate urban development across Africa’s most commercially active city.
The aspirant pledged to introduce a N150,000 monthly lifetime allowance for Lagos residents aged 60 and above, positioning the policy as a bold social security intervention long overdue in the state.
Nursing mothers, he said, would equally benefit from targeted social support under the expanded welfare programme he intends to launch from day one of his administration.
Jim-Kamal also proposed structured housing support for unemployed youths, describing it as a necessary intervention to address growing youth vulnerability and reduce urban poverty in Lagos.
On education and healthcare, he promised free services across all levels, pledging that no Lagos resident would be denied access to quality schooling or medical care on account of financial inability.
His economic blueprint further includes mechanised agriculture, mass housing schemes, comprehensive road reconstruction and overhauled transportation systems, all designed to ease the notorious congestion that plagues daily life in Lagos.
He turned his attention to the state’s coastline, declaring that control and optimisation of Lagos territorial waters would become the centrepiece of his revenue generation strategy, describing the maritime sector as an untapped goldmine.
“We want to control our territorial waters, which is how we plan to generate revenue. That is the major way we want to generate income,” Jim-Kamal told journalists, signalling plans to engage the Federal Government on collaborative maritime development.
He described maritime operations and waterway management as central to his economic agenda, arguing that Lagos has long under-leveraged its vast aquatic geography to the detriment of state revenue.
On waste management, the aspirant promised modern systems to clean up Lagos, while announcing empowerment programmes targeting youths and women and urban renewal projects intended to decongest commercial centres.
Turning to intra-party affairs, Jim-Kamal described President Bola Tinubu as Nigeria’s foremost democrat, maintaining that the President does not impose candidates within the APC structure, including for the Lagos governorship.
He acknowledged that competition among governorship aspirants within the APC had sharpened considerably, noting that concerns over consensus arrangements had generated considerable tension among party stakeholders.
Jim-Kamal, who brands himself a unifier committed to inclusive and open governance and a loyal foot soldier of the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda, said Lagos deserves a modern, forward-thinking administration in 2027 and he is the man to deliver it.