Ambode unveils Safety Arena to tackle security challenge in Lagos

LAGOS State governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, on Tuesday unveiled a world-class safety arena located in Bolade area of Oshodi, saying that the edifice was designed to effectively tackle the problem of emergency management in the state which has attained the status of Africa modern megacity.

Speaking at the official commissioning of the Safety Arena, Governor Ambode said Lagos was currently grappling with the challenges of a huge population like most mega city-states around the world, contending that one of the challenges facing it was the ability to provide effective safety and emergency management.

According to him, this was needed in order to prevent unnecessary loss of lives and property, adding that it was in continuation of the state government’s commitment to ensuring a safe and secure Lagos that the Safety Arena and the first of its kind in Nigeria were being commissioned.

“In continuation of our commitment to ensuring a safe and secure Lagos, we are today commissioning the first Safety Arena in Lagos State and the first of its kind in Nigeria.

“In this Safety Arena, we have brought all the departments and agencies responsible for the safety and emergency management under one roof. This 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.

“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.

The governor said that with the movement of the agencies into the Safety Arena, the state would experience better synergy among the agencies, pointing out that this would be seen in a significant improvement in the response time to most safety and emergency issues in the state.

“Let me assure you that we are not only determined to institutionalise inter-agency collaboration, but we are equally desirous of improving the inter-sectorial cooperation and synergy for Emergency Responders required for an effective Incident Management System,” Governor Ambode said.

He enjoined the management and staff of the ministry and the various agencies to continue working on the improvement, renewal, and sustenance of the existing synergy amongst the various agencies and players saddled with the responsibility of managing safety and emergencies in the state.

This was just as he reiterated the state administration’s commitment to creating institutions that would serve the people satisfactorily always, charging those in the handling of the Safety Arena to ensure that members of the public were not be treated inhumanly at any time their duties were being performed.

“We would not tolerate any professional misconduct or behaviour from our officers in this Arena,” he warned.