We’ve looked at the policies, projects and priorities behind transportation, healthcare and the environment, education and technology, economic development, entertainment and tourism, and security and governance.
The final question is perhaps the most important one: what can actually be measured?
The answer isn’t as simple as counting the number of projects announced or the amount allocated in a budget. Some projects have been completed, some are still being developed and others are ongoing programmes whose impact will take longer to establish.
The State’s own 2025 fourth-quarter Budget Implementation Report provides one useful starting point because it shows what was budgeted and what was spent during the year. Lagos State 2025 Q4 Budget Implementation Report
From Plans to Projects
Transportation is one of the clearest areas where the agenda can be seen through physical infrastructure. Rail development, road construction, public transport and water transportation have all formed part of Lagos’ long-term transport strategy.
The State’s Public-Private Partnership Office lists the 37-kilometre Red Line among its major infrastructure projects, alongside other transport and infrastructure initiatives. Lagos State Office of Public-Private Partnerships
The question now isn’t simply whether these projects exist. It’s how effectively they improve travel times, connectivity, reliability and access for residents.
Healthcare provides another measurable area.
In its 2025 budget implementation report, Lagos recorded 99.4% performance against its final recurrent Primary Healthcare budget and 99.4% against its capital budget for primary healthcare. Lagos State 2025 Q4 Budget Implementation Report: Primary Healthcare
Those figures show a high level of budget implementation within that particular area. They don’t, by themselves, tell us how many residents received better treatment or whether health outcomes improved. That requires a different set of measurements, including access, waiting times, quality of care and health outcomes.
Education, Skills and Opportunity
The 2025 budget report recorded 97.9% performance against the final capital budget for Basic Education. Lagos State 2025 Q4 Budget Implementation Report: Basic Education
Across the wider education agenda, Lagos has also expanded its higher education structure. In 2025, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu stated that the State had increased its number of state-owned universities from one to three during his administration. Lagos State Government: Education Development
These are tangible developments, but education cannot be judged by infrastructure and institutions alone. The longer-term measures include student enrolment, retention, learning outcomes, employability and whether graduates acquire skills that match the economy around them.
Building the Economy
The M for Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy pillar is perhaps the most difficult to reduce to one figure because economic development involves investment, jobs, infrastructure, business growth and government revenue.
There are, however, concrete examples of investment taking place. In April 2025, the State commissioned a pipe-coating and concrete-weights plant in Ikorodu, with the facility expected to contribute to industrial development and job creation. Lagos State Government: Monarch Alloys Plant in Ikorodu
Lagos has also continued to use public-private partnerships to finance infrastructure and services. In July 2026, the State signed four concession agreements covering areas including healthcare, digital government services, transport administration and public asset management. Lagos State Office of Public-Private Partnerships: July 2026 Concessions
These developments demonstrate economic activity, but the eventual test will be whether investment translates into sustainable businesses, productive jobs and improved opportunities for residents.
Entertainment and Tourism
The E for Entertainment and Tourism pillar also has figures that show the scale of Lagos’ creative economy.
The State reported that more than 1.2 million people attended the 2024 Detty December period, including visitors from Nigeria and the diaspora. It subsequently announced plans for stronger music-industry training and talent development. Lagos State Government: Detty December and Music Industry Development
The State has also recorded spending on tourism infrastructure, including the Lagos Heritage Centre, tourism theatres and heritage projects in its 2025 budget implementation report. Lagos State 2025 Q4 Budget Implementation Report
Here again, attendance figures and completed projects are only part of the picture. The deeper measurement will involve jobs, visitor spending, creative-business growth and whether tourism continues beyond major event periods.
Security, Environment and Governance
The same principle applies to the remaining pillars.
Under Security and Governance, Lagos has invested in police facilities, security equipment, emergency response infrastructure and digital channels for citizen engagement. Lagos State 2025 Q4 Budget Implementation Report
Environmental progress can also be measured through specific targets. As of June 30, 2026, Lagos reported that 13,401 trees had been planted, representing 67% of its 20,000-tree target for the year. Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency: 2026 Tree Planting Progress
These figures provide evidence of activity and implementation. They don’t automatically establish the final impact on crime, emergency response, air quality, flooding or residents’ quality of life. Those outcomes require longer-term data.
So, Has THEMES+ Worked?
There isn’t one figure that can answer that question.
What can be established is that the THEMES+ agenda has produced measurable projects, budget implementation, infrastructure development, new programmes and continuing investment across all six pillars.
What cannot yet be reduced to a single conclusion is how much those developments have changed everyday life for Lagos residents.
A completed road isn’t the same as reduced journey time. A renovated hospital isn’t the same as better health outcomes. A new school building isn’t the same as improved learning. An investment isn’t automatically a job. A tourism event isn’t automatically a sustainable tourism industry. A security facility isn’t automatically a safer neighbourhood.
The real measurement therefore has to move from what government has done to what residents experience as a result.
That is the next stage of accountability for any long-term development agenda.
The Bigger Picture
THEMES+ was designed as a broad development framework, and the evidence shows that its implementation has taken place across infrastructure, public services, economic development, creative industries, security and governance.
There are clear areas of progress, ongoing projects and areas where the final impact is still developing. The available budget and project records can tell us what has been funded and implemented, while longer-term indicators will tell us whether those interventions produced the intended results.
After six pillars, that may be the most useful conclusion to draw.
THEMES+ shouldn’t be measured only by how much Lagos has built. It should ultimately be measured by how Lagos works for the people who live in it.
Keep Reading with Exquisite Magazine
For the past several weeks, Exquisite Magazine has followed the THEMES+ agenda from transportation to security, examining the policies and projects behind each pillar.
Now that the six-part series has come to an end, the conversation can move beyond the agenda itself to the evidence of what happens next. The real value of development is seen in what changes afterwards.
