Lagos First Lady Counsels Emergency Responders

The wife of the Lagos State Governor, Dr. (Mrs) Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu has advised Agencies of government to shun unhealthy rivalry that would hamper the delivery of quality service to residents of the State.

The First Lady stated this during the quarterly stakeholders meeting on emergency and disaster management organised by Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, with the theme “Sustaining Synergy Amongst Stakeholders In Emergency/Disaster Management: Working Better Together”, held at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Alausa, Ikeja.

Mrs. Sanwo-Olu, represented at the event by a Consultant Anaesthetist in Lagos, Dr. Abiola Ajike-Mafe, underscored the importance of the stakeholders meeting, saying that the gathering provides the unique opportunity of bringing critical stakeholders in Emergency Management in the State together to brainstorm on fostering a working relationship of trust and mutual respect.

She advised all relevant agencies to know their specific roles during emergencies and adhere to them, stressing that, “The bottom line is that all the agencies must know their duties and cooperate with one another. The paramount thing should be saving lives and not any unhealthy rivalry”.

Earlier, the Director-General of LASEMA, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyitolu stated that in line with the THEMES agenda of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, there is a need to have a centralised meeting point where the relationship among different stakeholders can be enhanced for efficient service delivery.

He said that the theme for the meeting was chosen to provide workable strategies on how to renew confidence among emergency responders and also review their performances in the past years, adding that the agency is now positioned to take her pride of place as the foremost emergency response organisation in the country.

In his words, “Now more than ever before, the relationship between LASEMA and its stakeholders should be strengthened for the purpose of making the State a safe haven”.

He added that the agency had now decentralised its operations such that respite can come to anyone in distress within ten minutes of calling any of the emergency free-toll lines.

“As part of several measures to tackle these challenges, the repositioning of the Command and Control Centre, which is the nucleus where all emergency calls are activated at ensuring that communication and coordination between responders are handled effectively, regardless of agency affiliations or event types or size, has been done”, the DG reiterated.

The LASEMA boss also said that the Agency is proposing capacity building/simulations to ensure that all its stakeholders become sufficiently sensitised and enlightened on issues of emergencies/disasters prevention, response and management.

While allaying fears of some residents plying the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Director-General said that there is a solid collaboration between the agency, the federal government as well as the Ogun State government to ensure that commuters on the route are not exposed to any danger or made to suffer any untold hardship.

There were presentations from stakeholders/agencies like the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Rapid Response Squad (RRS), LASTMA, NEMA and Fire Service amongst others at the event.