By Kazeem Ugbodaga.
Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has vowed that his administration will defend the state against insecurity, saying security remains his topmost priority. The governor who spoke on Tuesday night at a dinner organised in honour of outgoing and incoming members of the Board of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria assured that security remains an important area of focus for his administration.
Ambode appealed to the private sector to scale up their support towards government’s effort to tackle insecurity, saying that with the reality that there were not enough security operatives to secure the State, the next level was to invest in the right technology which will help in the fight against crime.
According to Ambode, the State needed close circuit cameras in all public places and data of all suspected criminal elements, stressing that it was important for the police stations to have technology to access data from all over the world so as to make the tracking of criminal elements easier.
He said that to police a State with over 21 million people required a lot more than just additional policemen, urging both members of the Trust Fund and the private sector to help in the area of investing more on technology, which he admitted is not cheap, hence the need for massive support for government.
The governor commended members of the outgoing Board of the LSSTF for a job well done and recalled that since November 2007 when the Board was inaugurated after the passage of the law establishing the Fund, a strong partnership had been forged between the government and the private sector to address the security challenges facing the State.
“This fund has generated over N4 billion as well as donations of patrol vehicles and other security equipment by individuals and corporate organisations. This fund has contributed significantly to improve operational capacity of our security agencies particularly the Nigerian Police, thereby increasing the safety of our State and residents.”
“I commend the outgoing Board, led by Mr. Remi Makanjuola and the indefatigable, Fola Arthur-Worrey, for the strong foundation they have laid and the establishment of the Fund as a credible institution worthy of support by the private sector. Due to your diligence, commitment and dedication, the Security Trust Fund has become a template of private sector participation in security funding for other States of the Federation to emulate. You have made the task of the present Board easy as they will be inheriting a well-established structure and their objective will be to build on what you have done,” he said.
Ambode also expressed confidence in the ability of the new Board to build on the achievements on ground with the view to keeping Lagos safe and secure, saying that the assignment before the new Board was enormous, but assured the members of the support of the government to succeed.
The new Board is made up of Mr. Oye Hassan Odukale (Chairman), Dr. Abdulrazal Balogun (Executive Secretary), while members are Mr. Herbert Wigwe, Mr. Opeyemi Agbaje, Mr. Yemi Idowu, Mr. Philip Oduoza, DIG Israel Ajao, Mr. Gbolahon Lawal and Prof. Ademola Abass.