The Lagos State Government has begun installing boundary signposts along its borders with neighbouring states to prevent encroachment, clarify territorial limits and ensure border communities are included in its infrastructure and welfare programmes.
The exercise, being carried out by the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Rural Development, is also intended to reduce disputes between neighbouring communities and improve peaceful coexistence.
The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Kikelomo Bolarinwa, disclosed this in a statement obtained by The PUNCH on Monday.
She said the state had resolved to follow the official boundary specifications of the Office of the Surveyor-General, adding that the signposts would provide clarity on disputed or ambiguous boundary locations.
Bolarinwa said the initiative was also designed to ensure residents of border communities were adequately captured in government welfare programmes and infrastructure planning.
She said improved access to government services and infrastructure in the communities would also support local economic activities, improve living conditions and reduce rural-urban migration.
The permanent secretary urged residents to protect the installed signposts, warning that anyone found demolishing them would face sanctions.
She said the government would not tolerate actions capable of disrupting social order, peaceful coexistence and business activities in the state.
Bolarinwa added that the government would continue to extend its THEMES Plus Agenda to communities across Lagos, particularly rural areas, to ensure they benefited from infrastructure development and other government programmes.
She said the initiative was part of efforts to strengthen Lagos’ development as a 21st-century economy and achieve a greater Lagos.
The ministry said signposts had been installed at Eredo-Epe, around Mojoda, Itokin-Ijebu Ode Road, Ikorodu-Shagamu Road, Ojodu-Alagbole Road, Owode-Apa Road and the Seme border.