By Olasunkanmi Akoni,  Monsur Olowoopejo & Oamen Areguamen
LAGOS — Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, yesterday, said there was urgent need for true federalism for the country to achieve its potentials as a nation, even as he said the state government would in the next few months commence house numbering exercise, as part of measures to improve security in the state.

This came as the governor said irrespective of tribal affiliations, language and cultural background, he would ensure  every Lagosian had equal access to justice.

From right: Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Deputy Governor, Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos; Mr. Ade Ipaye, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice; Senator Oluremi Tinubu, and Justice Inumidun Akande, Chief Judge of the state, during the opening of Office of the Public Defender in Surulere, Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

The governor, who spoke while inaugurating the Lagos State Security Command and Control Centre, Alausa, Ikeja after commissioning the first Lagos State Records and Archive Bureau (LASRAB) and the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) in Lagos, said “these constitutional deficiencies of our federation that I think that we must correct urgently rather than later.

“The Federal Government cannot continue to believe that they can police the entire country from a central command in Abuja. It is not possible. It is illogical. It is an exercise in futility. And the quicker we depart from it, the better the country will be. Every state that has power to give judgment through its state high court, through its own magistrate, make law through its assembly and legislature must have the concomitant power to enforce his law and police its state.”

On the OPD, the Governor said irrespective of tribal affiliations, language and cultural background, he would ensure  every Lagosian has equal access to justice.

He said over 34,000 people had so far benefited from the OPD cases, adding: “Citizens must be rest assured that in whatever part of the country they come from, what ever tribe and language you speak, I will ensure everybody gets justice even if the heaven will fall. Never in the history of this county has there been such a public commitment and dedication of men and resources to the pursuant of justice like the Lagos State has done since 1999.”