LAGOS State stakeholders’ engagement on internal security and conflict resolution across the country has said charlatans among well-meaning youths should be identified to forestall their future destructive antics.
Top government functionaries who spoke at the event agreed that if the charlatans were not checked, they could set the state back several years, as witnessed during the October #EndSARS protest.
This was part of the resolution at the end of the meeting held on Tuesday at Adeyemi Bero Auditorium of the state secretariat at Alausa in Ikeja, the state capital.
The meeting was the third in the engagement series held across the country, having held two others in Maiduguri (Borno State) and Katsina (Katsina State) before the #EndSARS protest.
The meeting was under the auspices of the Lagos State government through the Office of the Secretary to the State Government/Cabinet Office in conjunction with the Federal ministries of Interior and Police Affairs.
In attendance were Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola; his Police Affairs counterpart, Mohammad Maigari Dingyadi; Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat.
Others included Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu; Ayagburen of Ikorodu, Oba Kabiru Shotobi; State Executive Council (Exco) members, permanent secretaries, members of the military, para-military and other security apparatus, traditional and civil society leaders, among others.The meeting resolved to expose youths to counselling about divine knowledge for proper guidance and the need to pay more attention to them as they have ideas that could assist in the formulating of government policies.
While the meeting resolved that Lagos deserved a special status in Nigeria, it also stated that security is a national issue because of its teeming population.
The stakeholders also resolved that it is essential to create jobs to reduce social security challenges, and that government must move from the phase of advocacy on security improvement to the phase of action.
In his key note address, Aregbesola said: “Lagos is the destiny of our race. Lagos is not just a city in Nigeria; it is the symbol of the Black race and the city most representative of our people. It is the city wholly built by the labour, intellect and capacity of the indigenous people of Africa.”
The minister noted that because of the importance of Lagos, security should be paramount to ensure the state remains the pride of Nigeria and Africa to enable it take giant strides in socio-economic development.Read Also: Aregbesola mourns demise of Balarabe Musa
“Our interest in security is actually self-interest. Security is the first condition of life. No development – political, economic and social – can be undertaken outside of security. Our right to life can only be guaranteed in a secure environment. To the government, economic activities and social life can only be possible where there is security of lives and property.”
The minister decried the increase in crime rate in the state, saying: “A dangerous new dimension was added last month with prolonged protests dovetailing into an orgy of killings, looting, vandalism and arsonist attacks on public and private property and, bizarrely, cannibalism.
“Security challenges are of global concern and, therefore, not peculiar to us. The world is increasingly facing insecurity whose main causes are armed conflicts, terrorism, banditry, organised crime, food shortages, epidemics, natural disasters and extreme political contestations, among others.”