Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Tuesday inaugurated the state’s Safety Arena at Bolade in Oshodi area to facilitate quick response to emergencies.
Speaking at the inauguration, Ambode said that the Safety Arena comprised of all the departments and agencies responsible for safety and emergency management under one roof.
“By providing the safety arena, we are not only institutionalising inter-agency cooperation 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.
“With the movement of these agencies into the safety arena, we will experience better synergy among them and a significant improvement in the response time to most safety and emergency issues,’’ Ambode said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the complex has the Fire Service Department; Environmental Health Department; Lagos State Ambulance Services (LASMBUS); State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU).
Other agencies in the complex include, Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA); Safety Commission; Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA); Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC), and the Nigerian Legion.
Ambode restated his commitment to create institutions that would continue to serve the people satisfactorily always.
He charged the management and staff of the environment ministry and the various agencies to continue working on the improvement, renewal and sustenance of the existing synergy among the various agencies and players saddled with the responsibility of managing safety and emergencies.
“Members of the public must not be treated inhumanly at any time your duties are being performed. We will not tolerate any professional misconduct or behaviour from our officers in this arena,’’ he said.
The governor, however, urged residents to partner with the government in areas of effective and functional emergency response as it could not do it alone.
“It is not the responsibility of only the government but of every individual in the state.
“We therefore, recognise the need to continue to advocate and promote community participation in emergency management.
“All citizens must continue to conduct themselves responsibly for us to serve you better,’’ he said.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Mr Oluseye Oladejo, said that the complex was strategically located at Oshodi to satisfy the yearnings of the people and to further ensure continued improvement on response time.
Oladejo said that the second phase of the safety arena project had been awarded to accommodate the Lagos Command of the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps, Vehicle Inspection Service, Vehicle Maintenance Workshop and a Fuel Dump. (NAN)