See Governor Sanwo-Olu & Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed’s Speeches at the Global Citizen Live in Lagos

Artiste, Tiwa Savage, performing at the Global Citizen Live concert in celebration of frontline and essential workers in the battle against COVID-19 at the New Afrika Shrine, Ikeja, Lagos on Saturday

As part of Global Citizen’s 2021 global campaign, a ‘Recovery Plan for the World’, Global Citizen Live is part of a once-in-a-generation day of unity with artists, celebrities and world leaders coming together to create change and impact climate and poverty.

The 24-hr broadcast event featured performances and speeches from locations around the world, including Lagos, London, Los Angeles, New York City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, Sydney and more.

A-list Nigerian artists, Femi Kuti, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Made Kuti and Seun Kuti all performed at the Lagos show hosted by TV personalities Ebuka Obi-Uchendu and Nancy Isime.

Artiste, Davido, performing at the Global Citizen Live concert in celebration of frontline and essential workers in the battle against COVID-19 at the New Afrika Shrine, Ikeja, Lagos on Saturday

The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed have backed the international advocacy organisation on its Recovery Plan for the World, which is focused on ending COVID-19 for all, ending the hunger crisis, resuming learning for all, protecting the planet, and advancing equity for all.  The duo made commitments at the Global Citizen Live concert in Lagos on Saturday.

“Vaccine equity is the only way for the pandemic to end for all of us. To do this, we must ensure that vaccines are available to all, especially poorer countries that have had to struggle with supply,” noted the Lagos State Governor while addressing the global audience.”

“In Lagos State, 405,000 persons have received the first dose of Astra Zeneca and of these, 289,000 have had their second dose. For Moderna, we have administered the first dose to 230,000 persons. This gives us about a 1.2% herd immunity, which is far below the minimum WHO target of 60% of the population.”

“At the current rate, it would take about three years to achieve our herd immunity target of vaccination at least 60% of our population. We cannot continue at this speed if we seriously want to beat this virus.”

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu with Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, at the Global Citizen Live concert in celebration of frontline and essential workers in the battle against COVID-19 at the New Afrika Shrine, Ikeja, Lagos on Saturday

On what the government would do to ensure vaccine equity among its citizens, Sanwo-Olu said:

We plan to partner with the private sector—once again—to procure, store, distribute and administer vaccines across the state under the guidance of Federal and State Government
laws. Our proposal is to reserve and administer 50% of the vaccines procured in partnership with the private sector to be made available free of charge at government health centres.

With this approach, we expect to vaccinate 30% of the population of Lagos State within one year. This will put us on a better and more sustainable path towards herd immunity.

In her address, the Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, noted: “The world is facing several challenges that impact our collective social development, wellbeing, and inclusive growth. As we work towards pandemic management and recovery, it is clear that our progress relies on recognizing the intersectionality of these challenges.

“From working towards more inclusive societies to defending the planet against the impact of climate change, we all must work together to ensure we build back better. We must also put our people and planet at the heart of our public policy and fiscal reform agenda.”

Speaking on concrete steps being taken by the Federal Government, Ahmed said:

Recognizing the role of responsive public financial management, we have prioritized entrenching processes that are more gender-sensitive and are responsive to the needs of those who are amongst the most vulnerable in Nigerian society.

Through various initiatives, we have deployed tools to scale social safety net programmes, to mitigate the risk of children – particularly girls—not returning to school, and to support small businesses and safeguard jobs.

But we know that there is still a long way to go and much to do. This is why today we are committing to promoting double mainstreaming of gender and climate-responsive policy making in our public financial management processes by 2025.

Working with our relevant agencies, we will also institute climate budget tagging by 2023 to raise awareness and highlight climate change-related policies across all sectors and to assess gender and climate inclusiveness in fiscal policy implementation.

Afrobeat legend, Femi Kuti, performing alongside his brother Seun Kuti and son Made Kuti at the Global Citizen Live concert in celebration of frontline and essential workers in the battle against COVID-19 at the New Afrika Shrine, Ikeja, Lagos on Saturday

The Global Citizen campaign is supported by a corporate coalition, including Access Bank in Nigeria, alongside global partners Accenture, Cisco, Citi, The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Air Lines, Google, Live Nation, P&G, Salesforce, Verizon, and campaign partners Hilton, WW International, and World Wide Technology who will engage support from the private sector in driving new commitments toward the campaign’s policy objectives.

Global Citizen Live has received in-kind support from leading media companies, including AIM Group, BellaNaija, Branded Cities, Brut Media, Captivate, Clear Channel Outdoor, Curb Media, Forbes, GSTV, iHeartRadio, Interstate Outdoor, JCDecaux, Arise TV, Newscentral TV, Accelerate TV, Outfront Media, Six Flags Theme Parks, The New York Times, Vanguard Media, Big Cabal Media, Cool FM, Nigeria Info, Wazobia FM, and Wazobia Max TV.

Global Citizen is the world’s largest movement of action takers and impact makers dedicated to ending extreme poverty by 2030. With over 10 million monthly advocates, our voices have the power to drive lasting change around sustainability, equality, and humanity. For more information, visit GlobalCitizen.org.