The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA is ratifying it new Five year Plan and developing a framework for an emergency management fund to further safeguard Lagos State from all forms of disasters in the near and distant future.
Towards this end, it has assembled members of the State Disaster Risk Reduction Technical Working Committee for a three day strategic session.
In an interview with newsmen shortly after declaring the session open in Lekki area of the State, the Permanent Secretary, LASEMA, Dr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu who reemphasized his believe in multi-agency collaboration, pointed out that over the years, such joint efforts had yielded positive results in enhancing the capacity and the reach of LASEMA which is in its 15th years of existence.
“While the LASEMA journey commenced from the reactionary stage, it has spanned years to attain the preventive stage of today in it’s efforts to match world standard as a city-state with intents on preserving the lives and properties of residents while sustaining prosperity through ever increasing economic activities and modernisation, it’s path shows clearly that multi-agency collaboration is the ONLY way to go with 847 incidents recorded at end of first half of Y2022”
The Perm Sec who revealed that in the last fifteen years, LASEMA had as at 30th June 2022, coordinated more than eight thousand major and minor incidents in the State and participated in over 20,000 major disaster operations at the state and national levels, noted that effective communication and unity of purpose among all emergency responders had been responsible for the successes recorded so far.
Dr Oke-Osanyintolu explained that the new Five year strategic plan would build on the achievements of the previous plan and assured the State government that the agency and other emergency responders would justify the confidence reposed in them.
A public Health Physician and Consultant to LASEMA, Dr Olajide Sobande said the strategic session would be deliberating on hazard analyses, planning and mitigation to come up with a disaster risk mitigation and policy befitting a smart city like Lagos.
Members of the Technical Working Committee include the RRS, Building Control Agency, the Fire Service, LASTMA, KAI, Physical Planning as well as international agencies such as the IOM.
