Lagos holds security summit Monday

Moshood Adebayo

Lagos State Government will on Monday hold a security summit with the theme: “Securing Lagos State: Towards a sustainable framework for a modern mega city.”

The venue is Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Addressing a press conference, yesterday, Executive Secretary of the Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), Abdul Razaq Balogun, said the summit was necessitated by security challenges in the state, which he said would be addressed by the summit

He said the summit will design and agree on an overall security system for the state, as well as secure input and buy-in of all critical stakeholders, adding that it will also design a sustainable funding model for security in the state.

While lamenting that the Federal Government has not been able to effectively provide for its security agencies, the LSSTF boss urged state governments to play active roles in the provision of security.

The summit will have four panel sessions on various aspects of security, including cultism, drug abuse, gender-based crimes, arms proliferation, terrorism and trans-national crimes.

Papers will also be submitted by renowned experts to add to the recommendations from panelists, with a report to be submitted to the state government for implementation at the end of the summit.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Oversees Affairs and Investment, Prof. Ademola Abass, who is also a member of the planning committee, recalled a traffic summit held at the inception of the administration, which, to a large extent, helped in developing solutions to traffic challenges in the state. He said the security summit is also designed to come up with acceptable and sustainable solutions to the challenges in the sector.

He said a British-Nigerian scholar and founder of African Leadership Centre, Prof. Funmi Olonisakin, will deliver a lead paper on “Leveraging global best practices for a security network for Lagos State,” while the Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, will present paper on important security data for the state.