By Moshood Adebayo
Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, yesterday admitted that, like most mega city-states around the world, Lagos is grappling with the challenges of huge population.
The governor, who spoke at the commissioning of the Safety Arena, Bolade, Oshodi, enjoined Lagosians to be safety conscious, while going about their daily duties.
Ambode said one of the challenges is the ability to provide security as well as effective safety and emergency management, to prevent unnecessary loss of lives and property.
The Safety Arena, which he described as first of its kind in the country, brings all the departments and agencies responsible for safety and emergency management under one roof.
The complex has the Fire Service Department; Environmental Health Department; Lagos State Ambulance Services (LASMBUS); State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU); Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA); Safety Commission; Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA); Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps; (LNSC) and the Nigerian Legion.
He said: “By providing ‘The Safety Arena’, we are not only institutionalising inter-agency co-operation and collaboration, but we are moving our emergency response mechanism to a new level with a more robust approach to emergency rescue through improved coordination and faster response time.”
The governor said with the movement of the agencies into the Safety Arena, the state will experience better synergy among them and a significant improvement in the response time to most safety and emergency issues.
Meanwhile, Governor Ambode said he would continue to be exemplary ambassador of the Yoruba race as well as uplift its culture and traditions.
The governor spoke yesterday while receiving the 15th Aare Ona Kakanfo-designate, Otunba Gani Adams to the Government House, Alausa, Ikeja.
He assured Adams of his administration’s support to promote the Yoruba culture.
On his part, Adams said his visit was to pay homage to the governor,disclosing that he has been living in the state for more than 40 years.