Lagos engages perm sec in traffic management
To ensure effective traffic management across roads in Lagos State, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, on Thursday, inducted all permanent secretaries across all ministries as traffic mayors.
Speaking at the induction ceremony held at the Conference hall of the Debt Management Office in the Alausa area of Ikeja, the state capital, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transportation, Olawale Musa, stressed that the traffic mayors initiative was part of the state’s traffic management law which seeks to include individuals from both private and public sectors in the management of traffic across the state.
He noted that the mayors would be designated under a zonal command to ensure effective management of traffic within the various zones.
According to Musa, the initiative would also be extended to individuals in the private sector to ensure robust traffic management and enhance the efficiency of LASTMA.
He said, “Under the traffic laws of Lagos State, we have provisions for engaging members of the public to assist LASTMA officers in the control and management of traffic. It has been at the lowest stage before so we are reinvigorating the process.
“We are starting with the body of permanent secretaries which is the highest civil service body in Lagos State. What this does is that it brings a bit of authority to traffic management and control considering the calibre of people who control traffic.
“Not just civil servants alone, we are going to include captains of industries and people who can give it more impetus. We need as many people as possible to assist us because LASTMA cannot be everywhere.
“The LASTMA is divided into different zones, each LASTMA mayor will be working under a zone and the control of a zonal officer irrespective of your level or status.”
In his remarks, the Special Adviser to the state governor on transportation, Sola Giwa, noted that the initiative was a move to strengthen the agenda of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on effective transport management.
He noted that the inclusion of civil servants into the traffic management of the state would improve the traffic situation across the various traffic corridors.
In his words, “Why we are here is to bring the people who run the ministries, the engine room of the civil service. In essence, we are trying to do inclusive traffic management.
“These set of people are the ones who set the course of what we do in the civil service and we know that the governor’s THEMES PLUS agenda starts with traffic management, so, if we are driving the agenda of the governor they should be fully involved in traffic management.
“Onboarding civil servants into traffic management means that we will see more positive responses to traffic management.”
In his reaction, the Lagos State Head of Service, Olabode Agoro, lauded the initiative while stressing the shortage in manpower of LASTMA personnel.
He urged the permanent secretaries to see their induction into the initiative as a privilege that must not be abused.
“This is a fantastic initiative because we do not have enough people to manage traffic in Lagos State. It is a fantastic initiative where members of the public can also be involved in traffic management of the state.
“We only have a finite number of LASTMA officials and they cannot be everywhere at the same time, so where we have permanent secretaries observing issues on the road, they can come down and direct traffic or put a call to sector commanders.
“I want you to take this as a privilege that is not open to just anybody and this privilege must not be abused,” Agoro concluded.
