By Olasunkanmi Akoni

The wife of the Lagos State Governor, Dr. 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.

Mrs. Sanwo-Olu stated this, yesterday, during the quarterly stakeholders meeting on emergency and disaster management organized by Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA with the theme “sustaining synergy among stakeholders in Emergency/disaster Management; Working Better Together,” held at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Alausa, Ikeja.

There were presentations from stakeholders/agencies like the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, National Emergency Management Authority, NEMA, Fire Service among others at the event.

Lagos parades two LASTMA officers for alleged extortion(Opens in a new browser tab)

The wife of the Governor, represented by a medical practitioner, Dr. Abiola Ajike-Mafe at the event underscored the importance of the stakeholders meeting, saying, “This gathering provides the unique opportunity of bringing critical stakeholders in emergency management in the state together to brainstorm on how to be on the same page with regards to fostering a working relationship of trust and mutual respect.”

Sanwo-Olu advised all relevant agencies to know their specific roles during emergencies and to keep to them.

According to her, “The bottom line is that all the agencies must know their duties and cooperate. The Paramount thing should be saving lives and not any unhealthy rivalry,” she stressed.

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

He said that the theme for the meeting “…Working Better Together,” was chosen to provide workable strategies on how to renew confidence among emergency responders and also review their performances in the past years.

Osanyitolu stated that the agency has been positioned to take her pride of place as the foremost emergency response organization in the country.

“Now more than ever before, the relationship between LASEMA and its stakeholders should be strengthened to make the state a haven,” he said.

Osanyintolu, added that the agency had now decentralized its operations such that respite could come to anyone in distress within 10 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 agencies affiliations or event types or size,” the DG reiterated.

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