By Lukman Olabiyi
Lagos State artisans and technicians have pleaded with aggrieved politicians in the state to express their grievances through the appropriate channel, instead of hitting the polity.
The artisans and technicians, under the umbrella of Association of Nigeria Artisans and Technicians (ASNAT), specifically called on the Labour Party governorship candidate in last Saturday’s election, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, to avoid comments that may cause a breakdown of law and order in the state, stressing that Lagos cannot afford a repeat of the EndSARS saga.
Speaking at a press conference on behalf of the association, National Coordinator, ASNAT, Adeshina Akinyemi, advised Rhodes-Vivour to channel his grievances over the gubernatorial poll through the court of law.
He said: “We must be cautious and vigilant. At this point, we call on the police, the DSS and all other relevant security agencies in Lagos State to be alert.
“We all remember how that inglorious pandemonium called EndSARS ravaged the entire country for almost two weeks, and made it impossible for artisans and technicians to work and earned income; to that event, we lost many of our members to cold hands of death, some went into depression, which cost them mental illness, while some contracted stroke and have not recovered till date.”
The association congratulated Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for his victory during the March 18 gubernatorial poll and vowed to defend the governor’s mandate.
They appealed to the governor to establish an autonomous governmental agency or parastatal that would serve as an overseer agency for the operational activities of all Lagos artisans and technicians.
They also pleaded that one of them, a professional artisan or technician, should be allowed to head or manage the agency or parastatal when created.
Speaking on the need for autonomous agency or parastatal for Lagos artisans and technicians in the state, Akinyemi said its establishment would bring about a rapid development and progress to their sector, and take them out from being a liability to the government to being a great asset and major contributory body to the Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) of Lagos State.