Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode yesterday said the state has become one of the safest cities in Africa.
The governor spoke as the guest speaker at this year’s Executive Intelligence Management Course participants of the Institute for Security Studies in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The event, with the theme: Cultural Values, National Security and Challenges of Contemporary Governance: Perspectives from Lagos State Experience, was attended by participants from across the country.
Ambode said the greatest achievement of his administration in the past three years is the protection of life and property of the residents.
The state, the governor said, had invested over N20 billion on security in the past three years.
With the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corp (LNSC) his administration set up, he said crimes had reduced across the state.
Ambode noted that the problem with the country was problem of discipline and the challenge of attitudes.
He said: “Indeed, I strongly believe that the fight against crime and all forms of criminality would be better enhanced if efforts are geared towards embracing community policing to complement the police and other law enforcement agencies.
“This is what informed the setting up of the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corp Agency of which I shall later speak. However, what we have found in our experience in Lagos State is that intelligence gathering through community policing will be ineffective in the absence of certain germane cultural values in the society.
“Indeed, the security of life and property of citizens remains the topmost pursuit of my administration. Indeed, one of the biggest achievements of my administration in the last three years is the security of life and the property of Lagos State residents. And of course, it is gratifying to note that Lagos State is now one of the safest cities in Africa.”
The governor also said an efficient and effective security architecture would ensure the implementation of other policies and the preservation of investment made.
“After all, that is what really grows our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and that is what makes other people to want to come to Lagos State to live and work and invest,” he added.
Ambode noted that to reclaim the cultural values in multi-cultural and cosmopolitan Lagos State, there were four cardinal values that should be observed: truth, justice, hard-work and character.
According to him, 65 per cent of Nigeria’s population is below the age of 35.
Ambode said security is the exclusive responsibility of the Federal Government, even though the Lagos State government supports the security agencies to protect the citizens.
The Director of the Institute for Security Studies, Mathew Seiyefa, thanked the governor for the support of the state through the Lagos State Security Trust Fund.