The Chairman of Agege Local Government, Hon. Vinod Obasa, has identified the area’s strategic location, cultural diversity and growing investment in youth development as critical assets in building a safer community, insisting that sustainable security must go hand in hand with opportunities for residents to prosper. Obasa spoke at the Agege Community Security Summit on Thursday, October 8, 2026, which featured the official launch of the Agege Security Trust Fund and brought together traditional rulers, security agencies, community leaders and other stakeholders to strengthen grassroots responses to insecurity.
Presenting Agege as a community with significant economic and social advantages, the Chairman said its transport links and accessibility positioned it strategically within Lagos and beyond. “We are less than 10 minutes from the airport. We have a train station that takes us cross country. We have the red line that takes us to Marina and Iddo. Through the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, you can easily exit to Oshodi and then to Third Mainland Bridge,” he said.
He also highlighted Agege’s multicultural character, noting that its population includes people from different parts of Nigeria and West Africa. “We are also a diverse local government area. The Arewas, Igbiras, Igbos, Nupes, Ghanaians, Togolese, Guineans, and people all across West Africa and Africa as a whole,” Obasa said, underscoring the need for an inclusive approach to community development and security.
Beyond infrastructure and diversity, the Chairman placed youth empowerment and education as the thrust of his administration’s development agenda, outlining initiatives designed to equip young people with practical skills and pathways to entrepreneurship. “Youth empowerment and skill acquisition is on the front burner for us. We have the leather hub, content creation hub, videography hub, photography hub, and places where young people can learn skills like welding, plumbing, piping, electrical, computer science, and so on,” he said.
Obasa added that the council was supporting young people with skills, grants and loans to help them become entrepreneurs and productive members of society, while also building sports centres across the local government area.
In education, Obasa disclosed that the Council had renovated 17 nursery and primary school blocks and provided writing and other school materials for 10,000 pupils across 26 schools. “We are investing in the future as well as we are investing in the present,” he declared.
The Summit’s security focus was reinforced by Dr. Ayodele Ogunsan, Executive Secretary/CEO of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), who donated a brand-new operational vehicle to Agege Local Government and pledged 10 each of ballistic helmets, bulletproof vests, raincoats and operational boots to support security operations.
Ogunsan emphasised that effective security requires a sustained partnership among government, security agencies, the private sector and residents. He advocated prevention, intelligence-led operations, technology, transparency and public trust as essential elements of a stronger security architecture.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Fatai Tijani, also stressed the importance of community participation, noting that security agencies faced manpower constraints and needed the cooperation of residents. He further underscored the importance of protecting schools as the foundation of society.
Area G Commander, ACP Veronica Ameh Akpa, disclosed that joint patrols involving divisions in Agege are already holding across the council since an earlier security summit, demonstrating the importance of translating discussions into practical action.
Former Orile-Agege LCDA Chairman, Hon. JS Babatunde, urged stakeholders to ensure that the summit’s communiqué produced measurable results, with security initiatives extending from the local government to wards, zones, landlords’ associations and individual households.
The launch of the Agege Security Trust Fund marks a further effort to mobilise public and private support for local security priorities. A safer Agege will depend on accountable leadership, informed residents, empowered young people and a community willing to share responsibility for its collective wellbeing.