10th December, 2013
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) Tuesday launched a Law Enforcement Training Institute. He also presided over a ceremony graduating 3311 people from the institute.
Fashola at the ceremony, which took place at the Sir Molade Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere announced the creation of a Law Enforcement Cadre in the State Public Service to ensure career progression for all the officers of the two agencies who have been absorbed as permanent staff.
The Governor added that the new public servants will be entitled to all the benefits every public servant has including pension rights under the contributory scheme.
“We have created a new cadre of employment in the Lagos State public service. We have created the law enforcement cadre for you alone. As I said, it has been two years of brutal work but I think we have arrived at a safe destination from which to take off and so people will come in with a right of election into the public service to say they want to be in the law enforcement cadre and as such after the training, the choice of posting will determine whether you go to LASTMA or KAI”.
The Governor explained that the cadre has been designed to take cognizance of the various levels of academic qualifications that applicants may present. “There will be threshold entry levels so that school certificate holders do not lead graduates and we would encourage in service training so that you can rise from rank to rank until you reach the pinnacle of your career”, he reiterated.
Governor Fashola underscored the need for the officers to rise up to expectations noting that as the State Government offers the incentives it also expects the officers to give something in return which is to ensure that they do the job with passion, pride, dignity and fear of God for the citizens who employed them.
He charged the graduating officers to remember the event and the array of guests who have honoured them with their presence ensuring that they resist whatever temptation they come across and not to let themselves and their relations down.