Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Friday said the Lagos State Government was still interested in taking over the National Stadium, Surulere and the National Theatre for the purpose of reviving them to boost tourism in the state.
The governor spoke in Lagos while inaugurating newly rehabilitated roads in Modele and Mathew Streets, Surulere.
He also inaugurated solar-powered street lights on Randle Avenue and Fred Anyiam streets, also in Surulere.
The projects were facilitated by the Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila.
Ambode, in 2017, had requested the Federal Government to allow the state to take over the stadium and theatre, to reposition them to be tourism hubs
Renewing the call on Friday, he said the two monuments had immense potential to boost tourism development in the state, especially the Surulere area.
“The government is committed to the tourism development of the state and creating a great nightlife in Surulere area.
“But it will be difficult to recreate the kind of great nightlife we used to have in Surulere without the government taking over the National Stadium and National Theatre for the purpose of reviving and repositioning them.
“This government is so passionate about tourism development and we believe giving life to these two monuments would further help our agenda for tourism,” he said.
Ambode commended Gbajabiamila for facilitating the roads and street lights, saying he had shown impactful representation through the projects and several others.
He said the state government was proud of him for what he had been doing both at the House of Representatives and in his Surulere constituency.
Gbajabiamila, in his comments, said the delivery of the projects was a redemption of his electoral promise to impact on the lives of the people.
He, however, said the inspiration to facilitate the projects came from the state governor.
“The inspiration to facilitate these projects came from the state governor who had done a lot in the area of infrastructural development.
“What we have just done today with these roads and street lights is to complement what he is doing.
“The governor always preaches thinking out of the box and I had thought after doing all sorts of empowerment programmes in my constituency, it would not be a bad idea to facilitate the rehabilitation of these roads and provision of street lights.
“Mathew and Modele roads had been deplorable for such a long time and I thank God that the story has changed with the rehabilitation,” he said.
