The Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode and Commander, Rapid Response Squad in Lagos State, Olatunji Disu, among other prominent Nigerians at the weekend converged o brainstorm on the security situation of Nigeria.
Among other speakers at the security symposium organized by the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, Lagos State Area Unit were President, Women Arise for Change Initiative, Dr. Joe Odumakin and Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Prof Ishaq Akintola.
Ambode urged Nigerians to pay a serious attention to the security situation in the country, adding that the job of security belonged to everyone.
He advised parents to monitor the activities of their children, noting that those causing insecurity in the country were wrongly enlightened.
Ambode represented by Commissioner for Home Affairs, Abdul Hakeem Abdul Lateef said, “Parenting is a profession. It is the greatest job of every one of us. We have a job to build leaders. We must dedicate time to learn and build the type of children who will guarantee security.
“Contentment is very important. Teach your children to be contented. Let us not promise our children what we won’t fulfil. Let us walk the talk. When we make a promise, let us deliver. We must all be sensitive to the current security situation by playing our roles adequately.”
Disu, who delivered a lecture on the theme, ‘Nigeria Security Challenge: How It Concerns You’, suggested that people should develop security codes with family and friends.
This, he said, would make communication easy with friends and family in times of distress.
He said, “Let us all learn some gestures and codes to send messages to our family, especially our children to warn them to be careful with a person or in a place. It could be a handshake, or a gaze or a pat on the back.
“We should also learn to keep details of our lives away from social media. When we were young, our parents warned us not to talk to strangers. We forget that when we share our lives online, we are sending vital information about our lives to strangers all over the world.
“Keep your houses secured, we can do this using CCTV in our various homes. It’s a security measure to know what goes on when we are not around and to know who is watching us. Also, protect your ATM cards, cheque books and SIM cards, especially the one you opened your account with, some thieves are not interested in your phones now but your SIM cards.”
Speaking on the topic, ‘Role of Women in National Security’, Odumakin encouraged women to step up their roles as key security agents.
She said, “It is high time women took seriously the job of protecting their children. There are so many evils in the world today, contributing to the emergence of heightened crime rate in recent time.
“Recruiting women in security agencies is also essential as we should build a sustainable relationship and be conscious of people’s needs.”
Akintola explained that it was important for government at all levels and institutions to ensure the protection of rights by promoting equity.
The Amir (President) of the MSSN Lagos, Dr. Saheed Ashafa, said the symposium was organised to find a solution to the security challenge in the country.
“We are also affected by the security challenge in the country. In fact, recent condemnable occurrences have shown that students are the worst hit by the challenge. We hope that government will intensify effort on its move to ensure security in Nigeria,” he said.