Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Monday stated that his administration is spreading economic opportunities around the State to ensure even development and reduction in crime.
The Governor, who spoke through the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Tunji Bello when a team from the United Kingdom Royal College of Defence Studies visited him at the Secretariat, Ikeja, noted that the strategy is aimed at ensuring that the city centre is not congested due to overpopulation and influx of people in need of a better life.
He explained that the present administration in Lagos has also ensured that the towns and cities in the hinterlands are provided with the basic necessities of life and fully secured to keep criminals at bay.
The Governor said, “The Government is putting more infrastructure in place at all the divisions of the State - Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos and Epe - so that people can work in any division they live as this will reduce the population of people coming into central Lagos. In the last few weeks, the State Government has commissioned bridges and roads in all the divisions and I want to assure you that this will be a continuous exercise”.
Ambode said despite the fact that Lagos is the smallest in size and the commercial nerve centre of West Africa with over 20 million people, the administration has invested enormously in the provision of logistics support to the various security agencies to make them better prepared to confront criminals and criminal elements.
He advocated a restructuring of the present revenue allocation and power sharing system to devolve more powers to the States to enable them to function effectively like true component States in a federal system.
He reiterated that the present administration believes that only a secure State can attract foreign investment, adding that the administration has left no stone unturned in its quest to secure life and property by putting in place a State Security Trust Fund to attract assistance from the Organised Private Sector.
In his remarks, the Head of the Delegation from the United Kingdom Royal College of Defence Studies, Major General Craig Lawrence said the team was in Lagos as part of its visit to Nigeria to learn about how Lagos has been able to achieve prosperity in security despite the challenges of insurgency and other crimes.
He added that the team would also want to learn a thing or two from the State Government on the strategies being adopted by the security agencies in tackling crimes like kidnapping so that such can be replicated in their home countries.
Earlier in a presentation, the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Security Trust Fund, Dr. Abdul Rasak Balogun said agencies of the Federal Government are in the process of creating security trust fund to provide a viable means of providing funds to assist the security agencies.
He added that the Lagos Government through the Trust Fund has introduced Life insurance policies for policemen in the State, adding that cheques were recently given to next-of-kin of some officers slain in the course of crossfire with criminals.
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