Fashola Vows To Sack Erring LASTMA, KAI Officials

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has vowed to sack officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, and the Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI, if they did not stop brutalising members of the public.

The governor was pissed off due to incessant cases of brutality meted out to motorists by LASTMA officials and the confiscation of goods by KAI personnel, saying that he would no longer tolerate this unbecoming act.

Fashola spoke on Tuesday during a prayer session for him and his deputy, Mrs. Victoria Orelope-Adefulire by civil servants at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium at the state Secretariat, Alausa in Ikeja, Lagos , South West Nigeria.

The governor warned them to always respect the dignity of the citizens of the state or be prepared to face the music as acts that would put the government in disrepute must be done away with.

He urged LASTMA and KAI officials to join hands with him in building a team that would prove to the country and the world at large that they were mature and experienced enough to handle theirs duties with little supervision. Fashola stated categorically that it was totally wrong for men of the LASTMA and KAI to confiscate wares of the citizens and brutalise motorists as being commonly done by officials of these two agencies.

“When we ask our people to go out and sanitise the environment, we do not ask them to go and confiscate citizens’ goods; when we ask them to cause the traffic moving, we do not ask them to go and brutalise people.

“This is one of the challenges that all of us must embrace to live long because there is a season and a time for everything.

“You must always remember to discharge your duties within the dictates of the order given to you by the government. You ought to carry out your duties with respect for the citizens’ dignity and passion,” he stated.

The governor urged the over 1, 000 civil servants present at the prayer meeting to forget about what happened in the first term and be focused and start providing services afresh to the people.

He added that irrespective of the strides which the administration recorded in the first term, the people should not be preoccupied with them anymore, saying that “let us resolve to serve the people afresh. Let us serve them with new energy and commitment. We have to be firm but courteous. We must now be ready to serve the people with empathy and passion.”

The governor, who thanked the public servants for responding when he pushed them hard, said the results of their efforts were very visible to all, and urged them to not only do more, but also do it better in this new dispensation.

“The Civil Service is made up of a little over 120, 000 people; just about 0.05 percent of the population which continues to grow by the day, but on the shoulders of this 120,000 public servants rest the hopes and aspirations of the 18 million population. “We must acknowledge the privilege that it is to be in the position to influence the prosperity, the security, health, education, feeding and nutrition of 18 million people. I seek your understanding on why we must work extra hard to make it work,” he added.

Earlier, the Head of Service, Prince Adesegun Ogunlewe had congratulated the governor and his Deputy for their successful assumption of office.

He expressed the appreciation of the Lagos State public service to the Governor for all he had done for the workers, adding that the prayer session was organised in recognition of the efficacy of prayers in the affairs of men.

—Kazeem Ugbodaga