Lagos State Residents have been urged to register now and obtain their residency cards before the exercise winds down in June next year.
Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN), gave the charge at the unveiling of the Lagos State Resident’s Card in Alausa, Ikeja organised by the Lagos State Residents’ Registration Agency (LASRRA).
He stated that the whole essence of the registration is to generate accurate data to assist the government in proper planning and execution of its projects.
The Governor, who noted that no worthwhile development planning could be done without reliable data, stressed that data is necessary in planning for education, health services, food and housing among others.
According to him, “Those countries where things work are not by magic or even prayers. It is simply because they know how many they are and how many to plan for at any time. Can anyone effectively host a party when he does not know how many guests are coming? This is our own big step into the future for more effective science delivery to the good people of Lagos State”.
Earlier in his remark, the State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr. Adebiyi Mabadeje, noted that no nation or state can achieve their full potentials without effective planning and proper allocation of resources to satisfy the citizenry; this according to him informed the establishment of (LASRRA).
Mabadeje expressed confident that the task of administering a cosmopolitan State as Lagos has now been made easier and the benefits of good government more evident to the people with the availability of the database developed by LASRRA.
He stressed the need for participants to encourage residents of the State to participate in the ongoing residency registration exercise, adding that thousands of the Lagos State Residents Cards would soon be distributed to those who had earlier registered.
The General Manager of LASRRA, Ms. Yinka Fashola, on her own part, noted that over 2.5million persons have so far been registered since the commencement of the exercise in 2013.
Ms Fashola, who recalled that the agency was established in June 2011, stressed that it now has more than 200 registration points in the local government and local council development areas of the state.
On the registration procedure, the General Manager, explained that an adult resident is required to provide his address and identity-supporting documents like employee identity card, voters card, passport or utility bills for water, electricity or LAWMA among others, adding that children aged between 0 and 15 years, can be registered without being physically present at the registration point.
On the replacement of lost, stolen or damaged resident card, she said that a LASRRA, replacement form would have to be completed and returned physically or on-line to LASRRA office with the identity-supporting documents attached.
While urging Lagosians to use the opportunity of Christmas holiday to register at the nearest point to them, she disclosed that over 2000 Lagos State permanent residency cards will be issued out to those who have registered.
