By Demilade Aderibigbe
The Lagos State Governor Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu will next Tuesday, host top echelons of banks, captains of industries, high net-worth individuals and Lagosians at the 17th Annual General Meeting of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Fund Dr Abdurrazaq Balogun has said.
Balogun who disclosed this at a pre-AGM Press conference held at the Fund’s Lagos Office, said this year’s AGM which holds at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, will afford the governor to address steps the government has been taking to keep the state safe for investors and other classes of residents.
He said this year’s theme: security complexities and convergence, the Lagos State imperatives, will afford the opportunity to look at the evolving complex nature of crime and the best funding template to adopt in keeping the LSSTF afloat.
Balogun said because the event will be restricted, Lagosians will have the opportunity to follow the proceedings live on all the Fund’s social media handles on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) Tiktok, and people will have the opportunity to contribute through the harshtag #17thtownhallmeeting on its twitter handle, @followlsstf.
He said the event will also provide the Lagos State Commissioner of Police an opportunity to give account of his stewardship and report what he has been doing with the funds/materials made available to it.
Balogun said security is an expensive recurrent expenditure and all hands must be on deck to delivering the best possible and available to the people of the state.
Balogun who observed that the inflationary trends has adversely affected the operations of the Fund said the Fund needed about N15 billion yearly in order to provide the needed intervention for the security agencies and ensure the safety of lives and properties in the state.
He declared that the LSSTF has grown beyond the yearly tokens donated by corporate organisations many of which often goes unfulfilled. He added that with a population of 23 million people, Lagos has the population to sustain a well-funded Security Fund.