By Gbenga Salau
Plans data-base for over 10,000 worship centres
Lagos State Government, yesterday, said it registered 400 money-lenders in the state in the last two years to ensure that money lenders are in business, and the public is protected from scammers and people of questionable characters, while also regulating the activities of the companies.
The partnership, according to him, had greatly assisted small-scale business owners in Lagos to keep their petty businesses afloat without having to contend with high interest rates of the big banks, adding that this activity had contributed to the micro-economic growth of businesses in the state.
The state’s Commissioner for Home Affairs, Anofiu Elegushi, disclosed this during the ministerial press briefing to commemorate the second anniversary of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration.nullhttps://a252bbf6f8b23afc654033352aebfc70.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
He also said his ministry received 74 applications for naturalisation on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Home Affairs within the same period.
Elegushi said that out of the 74 applications for naturalisation received by the ministry, 35 applications had been screened and recommended to the Federal Ministry of Interior for approval.
He said that the ministry was also in partnership with foreign business owners who intend to acquire the citizenship of Nigeria via naturalisation, saying that with this partnership of naturalisation and special immigrant status, Nigeria, especially Lagos State, stands to benefit from the foreign direct investment while the immigrant business owners also benefit by growing their businesses in one of the biggest markets in the world.nullhttps://a252bbf6f8b23afc654033352aebfc70.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
IN the same vein, the commissioner said that the ministry was in the process of imputing data of every place of worship in the state on a centralised database to allow the state government have a reliable data of churches, mosques and their locations, with a view to carrying them along with government’s policies.
He gave the assurance that the policy, because of effective resource allocation and efficient management inherent in it, would bring about extended benefits to more churches and mosques in the state, saying that at present, the website designed for the enumeration purpose, has over 10,000 data of both Muslim and Christian religious organisations in the state.
On the readiness for 2021 pilgrimage by intending Christians, Elegushi said that the permanent secretary in the ministry had led a six-man delegation to Jordan ahead of the proposed May 2021 pilgrimage to ascertain the preparedness of pilgrimage grand handlers and to also have a better and clearer view of historical sites in Jordan.
He noted that more improvements on the activities of the ministry would be implemented while also deploying new methods of delivery excellent service to residents of the state in the areas of its ministerial mandates.
