Security Fund: Fashola Seeks Support from Senior Lawyers

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola

By: Gboyega Akinsanmi

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, at the weekend charged the Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) practising in the state to join hands with the state government in fighting crimes and impunity, which he said, had become prevalent.

He also appealed to the senior advocates to get involved in supporting the State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), noting that the fund was set up in 2007 to pool resources together to help finance security agencies in the state.

He explained the need to support security agencies at a recent meeting with senior members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Lagos, where he said the fund “is a much tested and validated idea that we should be involved.”

Fashola, who addressed the meeting alongside the state

Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeola Ipaye, and the LSSTF Executive Secretary, Mr. Fola Arthur-Worrey, said the Fund came into existence at a time when people were murdered recklessly and banks robbed on daily basis with no capacity to respond.

Fashola added that since the state government could not impose any levy on citizens, it had “to appeal to the conscience of the people to donate to the fund. The fund does not support the security apparatus in the state in any way to suggest that we have abdicated our responsibility.

“On the contrary, what it does now is that it provides institutional support that complements the work that I do. So, maintenance of vehicles mostly bought by us and partly supported by the fund, is now managed more efficiently through the fund.

“So, we have the Armoured Personnel Carriers, which would have been scrapped, but are given constant maintenance, constant repairs, and constant check. The fund has raised the level of commitment among the security agents.

“If we do not inspire those people we cannot expect them to be fully committed to the job we have given them to do. But if we inspire them, they will do the job with passion and be ready to lay down their lives to protect ours,” he said.

He appealed to the senior advocates to be meaningfully involved in supporting the fund, acknowledging that it was an appeal “to conscience because we saw a lot of people with bullet proof vests, bullet proof doors, armoured this and armoured that.

“We said we could talk to them that we could protect a lot more people if we put this money in a pool. In any event, if your house is bullet proof and your car is bullet proof, what about your staff, your relations, and your cousins?”

He acknowledged that Lagos “is safe, but there are some things that we should not do. There are places in the safest cities in the world that I would not go alone at night. There are times of the day when it is not sensible to go out. There are certain types of fashion or dresses that make us vulnerable to certain types of crime.”

Also speaking at the meeting, Arthur-Worrey said as a result of the effective and prudent use of the fund, violent crime has reduced tremendously, adding that because of the effective deployment and maintenance of the APC, there have been no successful daylight robberies in the state since 2008.

Ipaye said the interactive meeting was aimed at briefing the senior advocates and other dignitaries who also are resident and doing business in Lagos on the progress being made in the maintenance of law and order in the state.

He said: “As legal practitioners in Lagos, I am aware that what joins all of us together as a matter of mutual interest, legal practitioners or those off the Bar but nonetheless living and doing business in Lagos, is law and order because it is the most necessary ingredient for peace and stability in a mega-city such as Lagos.”

The meeting was attended by members of the state security council including the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Mohammed Manko, first Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mrs. Funke Adekoya (SAN), Principal Partner Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe & Belgore, Mr.

Olusegun Sofunde (SAN), former NBA Secretary-General, Chief Obi Okwusogu (SAN), Mr. Tani Molajo (SAN) and Mr. Toyin Pinheiro (SAN) among others.