The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, CP Olanrewaju Ishola today paid his first official visit to the funding agency, Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF). He noted that the Lagos State Police Command has been a beneficiary of the LSSTF since the inception of the agency.
Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command
The CP recalled his personal experience with the LSSTF. ‘I remembered that in the year 2015, I came here directly from my division as DPO to pick up a vehicle. Since then, I knew that this place is a repository of welfare for us, the Police. So I give it to you. Thank you so much, sir, for always having our back. I am here today to tell you that we appreciate you. We thank you for what you are doing.’
CP Olanrewaju Ishola also used the opportunity to make their request. ‘Without being mindful of the state of the economy, the Police is an Oliver twist. We still need your help. And please don’t say no to us because if you say no to us, where do we run to? I have some programs in place since I resumed. I told the state that traffic will flow. I take it upon myself to make sure traffic flows because wherever I see a roadblock, I come down to ensure traffic flows. My rank doesn’t stop me from making the traffic flow.’
‘To make my policemen very efficient, I need to train and re-train them. If we do it at our level as senior officers, we need to cascade it down to the officers. So I have in place training and training programs for my men. Training is expensive.The resource persons will come and take their dues. I need your help in that regard.I need you for these things and maybe logistics.’
‘We need vehicles. The Commissioner of Police uses his own personal vehicle to do official work. Because to me, excuses are no reason for not doing your job. In 2008, I was using my personal car to police around the division. But that I don’t give excuses doesn’t forbid me from asking for help. I’m asking for help.I need more vehicles, maybe new vehicles, maybe refurbish some old ones, maybe tires or as little as batteries but I’m really going to need vehicles.’
The former CP of Western Ports Command noted: ‘Lagos is surrounded by water, and a lot of crime cases are committed on waterways.We have marine boats that are also expensive to maintain. I really want to ask for more boats to be bought for us, if it is convenient. I also want to ask for parts for the boats to maintain the ones we have on hand.’The former Area commander in Ilase added: ‘I solicit for support to the Marine Corps by way of buying boats, replacement of the engines of the old ones, and fueling the marine engine boats. Most of the filling stations don’t sell to us in jerrycans and you know we can’t take boats to the filling stations to get fuel.’
In his response, the Executive Secretary/CEO of LSSTF, Dr. Abdurrazaq Balogun thanked the Commissioner of Police for his visit. He hailed the new CP, ‘I have worked with a lot of police officers in Lagos and have also lost count. I didn’t even know that I have met you before in your journey to being the head of the Police Command. But again, like you rightly said. I am sure your antecedents and your good work speaks for you. That’s why you are here today.’
‘I am happy you also noted that we have always been assisting. We also wish to do more. But, as I always say, water pass Garri is the Nigerian situation. The needs are enormous. I am not sure how we can fill that void but like you rightly said, we will continue to try. It’s better to continue to try and for beneficiaries to appreciate those little efforts.”There are some basic necessities that will make you efficient that is lacking. How does a policeman walk without armaments? They’re not different from me. The difference is the wearing of uniforms. A policeman is going to buy fuel with jerrycans, that is not acceptable. A policeman wearing a boot that is not uniform with his peers, I have never seen it before.’
‘I think your men should try to take ownership. It’s very important. We are a Trust Fund. We always liken ourselves to beggars. All these resources that are donated to us, it takes a lot of effort to get them out. There are big, high and mighty donors that will just put it on paper, they won’t donate. So it’s not everything you see in the newspaper that is the actual thing you find. It’s tough trying to get donations here.”You see what you call Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) vehicle, you will be seeing rice and beans inside, those things are not acceptable. Please tell your men to take ownership. It’s also very important that those ones at the local level, the divisions, and police stations.’
‘Your men and officers should also try to build relationships with their local government chairmen. This is because I know that the assets they have at those local divisional levels are grossly inadequate.You can’t have a place like Aguda, for instance, that I know so well, that probably has 70, 80 streets or more and has two patrol vehicles. It won’t do anything. So if they have a good relationship with the Chairman, it will help. We tell the local government chairmen too that they must try to give back to assist this gentleman.”We will try our best to continue to support issues of training and retraining. We are always open to that in this organization as long as it’s going to add value and it’s going to be affordable for us to actualize. We can tell you for free that we will always support training and retraining. On the issues of vehicles, you’ll be hearing from this office very soon, and other assets, including uniforms and accoutrements that we’ve always done from time to time.”Marine Police is a very important aspect of policing anywhere in the world where the place is surrounded by water. I went to Miami.In Miami, And the kind of patrol vehicles I saw on the waterways, some of them 900cc boats, 300cc outboard engines, those things are horses on the waterways. We need to have them. And I must tell you that we have been supporting the Marine Police. We have bought outboard engines severally, we service our fleet.’
On his concluding note, the LSSTF CEO, Abdurrazaq Balogun said: ‘Policing is about collaboration with a lot of stakeholders. The Marine Police, for instance, there are so many private jetties and nightclubs around Ikoyi, Lekki, Admiralty, a lot of things are going on there. They must be able to put something into the basket because the truth of the matter is that no matter the kind of security they have , if the Police are not there to back them up, there’s nothing that will be successful.’
On his part, the Board Member of Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), Dr. Ayo Ogunsan said;’I want to welcome the new Commissioner of Police to LSSTF. Welcome to your family, It’s not a new place for you. Your resume is quite intimidating. It is crystal clear that you understand the terrain that you are coming to work.’
‘I want to emphasize that our resources are scarce. And it’s getting more scarce on a daily basis. What we use a billion naira to procure two or three years ago is not what we use a billion naira to procure now. And I want to support the gospel of the Executive Secretary that the Police Force should take ownership. Any asset we give to the Police at this point, the best thing the Police will do is to ensure that these assets are well managed, not diverted and even those that are on the ground, we should find a way to keep them running.’
‘I want to re-echo it that Sir, you can help LSSTF to generate funds. These big men around, these eminent Lagosians and Nigerians who reach out to you are billionaires. You can tell them to contact the ES at LSSTF or a responsibility officer in the legal department of the command and each of the area command, maybe they’ll put it on the desk of the CP to donate to LSSTF.’When it’s on the desk of the Commissioner, when a big man comes and all that and wants to leave, you will say, please, I’m not asking you for any private money but please, can you help LSSTF with Five million Naira there. You can send the cheque to us. Ten million Naira there’, the Chairman/CEO of Executive Group, Dr. Ogunsan concluded.