It is expected of responsible governments to draw impetus from Section 14(2) of the Nigerian Constitution, which states: “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. Fitting into that mould is the Lagos State Government, which primes crime prevention and environmental safety in its capital city. This time last year, for instance, the state celebrated four years of ” no bank robbery”.
It was shortly before Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu presented the N2.24 trillion 2024 budget estimate to the House of Assembly. From the amount, N84 billion was earmarked for ‘safety and public order’. This year, the state chief executive nudged the allocaton to the sector further.
In his 2025 budget of over N3 trillion, which he presented before the lawmakers last week, a whooping N124.07 billion was voted for Security, Safety and Public Order. The amount shows a difference of N40 billion or 47.6 per cent increase from last year’s figure. This gesture by the Sanwo-Olu-led government can best be described as intentional in a city ranked 56 among the safest in the world.
Critical among the low hanging fruits of government funding of internal security, which is midwifed by the Lagos Security Trust Fund (LSTF), is the downward curve in traffic robbery.
Since the fund was introduced in 2007 by the then Governor Babatunde Fashola, the initiative has provided institutional support, equipment, kits and welfare packages to security arms in the state. Granted Lagos is not yet an el dorado in the area of security, it is widely acknowledged that crime rate in the capital city is declining. We can’t shout eureka yet because traffic robbery and “one chance robbery” is still menace Lagosians like leeches do to humans. However, the strong tactical arm of the state’s security architecture, the Rapid Response Squad (RSS), has offered swift responses to distress calls.
Coupled with that is government’s effort to free the roads from congestion by enabling transportation options like the BRT buses, intra-city train (the blue and red lines) and the water ways. By the time these transportation options relieve the roads of congestion, we may begin to experience the last trauma of traffic robbery.
In a similar breath, Commissioner of Police, Olanrewaju Ishola Olawale, upon resumption in September, promised to improve on the state’s security template even as he identified “one chance” robbery as an evil phenomenon that must be defeated. This is a practice in which robbers operating in commercial buses lure and ambush unsuspecting commuters heading different places s they pursued their legitimate businesses. Inasmuch as the commissioner tasked Lagosians to be extra vigilant, he came up with an interim measure.
He said he would partner officials of the Nigerian Union of Road Transport Employees (NURTW) to curb the threat. It was a partnership built on intelligent gathering and trust. According to him, the drivers union knew its registered members; hence, in they are in a strategic position to fish out the bad eggs among them.
Moreover, as criminal activities drop in Lagos, nightlife in the capital city may witness a boost. For instance, one may conveniently ascribe the recent upswing in social and entertainment activities to the people’s confidence restored in the state’s security network. A panoply of artistic events hosted by Lagos in the past weeks attested to government’s intentions to restore the status of the city as an entertainment and tourism hub. This mission is clearly stated in the 2025 budget tagged ” budget of sustainability” in which Governor Sanwo-Olu reiterated government’s plan to boost tourism. He said, “Empowering our creatives will create new avenues for prosperity, and give added meaning to the lives of multitudes of young people. Our focus on tourism development using our rich culture and historical landmarks will boost revenues, attract foreign exchange, and position Lagos as a truly competitive global destination.”
The governor knew quite clearly that tourism thrives in a safe and secure environment and the time is expedient for the state to start reaping from her huge investment in security.
In January this year, Lagos was ranked 19th among 20 world’s best cities to visit by “Time Out Assessment”, a British Media and hospitality company. Prior to _Time Out_ assessment, a few Nigerians could have pitted the nation’s commercial capital against great cities like New York, London, Tokyo, Chicago, Paris, Cape Town in a ‘Most Livable City’ contest. But amazingly Lagos did the unprecedented.
Few months after, Numebo Data Platform, after considering key indicators in its mid-2024 report, ranked Lagos eighth among top 10 safest African cities. Probably the most important among the factors considered by Numebo is low crime rate. The global platform stated unequivocally that “the ability to freely move around without the fear of attack, whether during the day or at night, greatly determines the safety index of a city” and Lagos fits into that billing.
