LASTMA officers
By Gboyega Akinsanmi
Lagos State Government Wednesday said the Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and Kick against Indiscipline (KAI) are currently undergoing major reforms, which it said, would no doubt help effective enforcement of laws in the state.
Senior Special Assistant on Transport Education, Dr. Miriam Masha, expressed the view at Idi-Araba Children Transit Home, one of the homes for the less privileged, which some LASTMA and KAI officers currently undergoing training at the Public Service Staff Development Centre (PSSDC) visited Wednesday as part of their training.
Masha, who also visited Heart of Gold Children’s Hospice in Surulere, Old People’s Home and Modupe Cole Memorial Child Care and Treatment Homes in Yaba along with about 200 LASTMA and KIA officers, described the on-going training as parts of the state government’s effort directed at making a life-time change in the agencies.
Masha explained that the state government had outlined different programmes for the agencies aimed at improving their relationship with the people and communities in the course of discharging their core responsibilities.
The special assistant further explained that the programmes “are designed to make them realise that they serving every day. It is another way of doing their jobs with a clear sense of community service and human dignity.
“The on-going reform is to enhance capacity of the traffic and environmental operatives. Our central goal is simply tailored at making a life-time change in the state law enforcement operatives as well as agencies. And the effort will continue. We are not going to stop after this reform programme is utterly implemented.”
Sharing their experience, one of the LASTMA participants, Mr. Ganiyu Akinola told journalists that the on-going capacity-building programme would make definite impact in the manner he would henceforth discharge his responsibilities.
He said the programme had brought leadership qualities out of every participant, noting that all the participants had been taught on how to do their jobs without fear and favour as well as without emotion and sentiment.
Also speaking at the event, Mr. Olalekan Adebayo, who is a KAI participant, said the programme had availed all the participants the new way of enforcing law contrary to the old-fashioned application of force and emotion in law enforcement.
According to him: “We have been made to realise how go about our core responsibilities in a way that serve public interest better. We are to service the people and communities first and foremost. We are not supposed to terrorise them. We are taught to educate and enlighten them whenever they flout law and breach public order.