Gov. Ambode seeks residents’ support in combating small arms proliferation in Lagos

The Lagos State Government has again restated its commitment to periodically provide opportunities for value sharing and capacity building to sustain the tempo of the reforms encapsulated in the State for the security of lives and properties.
This assertion was expressed by the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode during the opening ceremony of the sensitization forum tagged ‘All Hands on Deck” on the Comprehensive National Small ARMS and light Weapons survey in Nigeria on Tuesday, at Excellence Hotel and Conference Centre, Ikeja, Lagos.
In his address, the Governor who was represented by the Secretary to the Lagos State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello re-echoed that the forum could not have come at a better period than now when unrests and conflicts are plaguing parts of the Nation and indeed the whole of Africa, unfortunately Small Arms and Light Weapons are negatively contributing to such destructive tendencies.
The “Weapons proliferation increases potentials for violence and violent conflicts and by extension, threatens to retard development thereby causing massive human and physical destructions in the process creating chronic atmosphere of instability and insecurity as manifestly obvious in some parts of the country”.
Speaking further at the program, Ambode said that the increasing proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Nigeria and the corresponding upsurge in their accessibility sadly deepens the tendency of the average person to resort to violence as a means of dispute resolution.
He emphasized the readiness of the State Government to build the capacity of its populace to assist them in the understanding of the job and to be more informed about their expected roles and responsibilities to combat the menace, particularly at the grassroots which is a centre piece for good governance and constitutional democracy.
Consequently, “in recognition of the bold initiative of the ECOWAS in addressing the problems, it is my expectation that at the end of this forum the survey will amongst others be one vital source of public information on all aspects of small arms and armed violence. We have no doubt that it could also serve as a resource centre for Governments, Policy–makers, researchers and activists” he said
The highly participatory and interactive sessions, the first in the series examined the cross-cutting issues of increasing proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Nigeria and the corresponding upsurge in their accessibility..
The programme which was attended by Permanent Secretaries, Senior Government Officials, people from both private and public sector commended the Lagos State Government Initiatives and Commitment to building institutional capacity to combat the menace through their security trust funds.