SCAM ALERT: In Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Corps

OLUWAMAYOWA LALA(C)

On Wednesday, November 23, 2016 Gov. Ambode of Lagos state launched a job scheme - LNSC (Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Corps) as planned. This scheme was designed to absorb about 5700 people into Lagos State payroll. Logically, the governor designated DIG Israel Ajao (Rtd.) to head the scheme, and to that extent, successful applicants were made to fall within four batches (A, B, C and D) as a means, I think, to manageably coordinate them to go for the training before operations begin. As expected, overwhelming grade of applause and commendations must have followed this feat done by Mr. Ambode, Thanks to God, Ambode is working.
But on the contrary, information reaching us is that our ‘great’ Lagos state government (which is believed to be a fiscal model for other Nigerian states) is yet to pay a dime to those in batches C and D, who have kept on working, for the past 8 months. And naturally, series of complaints were lodged by this body of citizens, it’s sad that no positive response was yielded save loads of empty promises. Barr. S.O. Azeez out of concern, on behalf of these affected people, decided to address an appeal letter to Mr. Ajao, the man whom I earlier stated as the person in charge of the scheme, in order to bring to his notice this grim situation, but yet nothing was done. The said letter, for ease of reference, is hereunder reproduced fully and it states:
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We the Batch C and D Corps of the Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Corps greet you Sir the Chief Servant of this magnificent State. It is with hearts filled with admiration and gratitude for your steadfast commitment to the vision of redefining the Lagos Dream, that we co-servants approach you this memorable day. It is no longer news nor fairytale that indeed Lagos State is led by a leader with an understanding of what governance and government entails, and it is on this premise that we bring our plight to your notice. We were recruited and trained from April the 29th to May the 8th of 2017, and were deployed immediately to our respective Local Government Areas to resume work, but sadly have not been mobilized nor paid our salaries till date.
We have been working tirelessly round the clock with great enthusiasm and dedication ever since we were commissioned during batch A training and deployed to our duty posts, and we still carry out our job as at this moment even though we have not been paid. Your Excellency, we also wish to let you know that we have done all that was officially required of us to do in record time and these include data profiling and documentation, measurements and Bank Account activation. We are yet to get our official uniforms, kits and gadgets till date and have been working on mufti. We have been pacified by our officers and officials over the months and they have incessantly promised that we would be paid fully and kitted too but all that seem to be more of empty promises.
Sir, we prevail on you to use your good office to look into our plight and to mandate that the delegated Authority should pay us our dues immediately and give us our kits as soon as possible so as to restore our depleted confidence in the sincerity of purpose of this laudable government which you personify
Thank you, your Excellency.
CC: DIG (RTD) Israel Ajao, Chairman
To the whole world, it seems as if the LNSC scheme is running perfectly, probably because of the sweet talks on media. Well, for me, these questions naturally arise as to whether:
1. DIG Israel Ajao (Rtd.) to whom the appeal letter was addressed is aware but hasn’t brought it to the awareness of Governor Ambode or,
2. Governor Ambode is already aware of this callous act but he’s doing nothing.
So to this extent, as I think, a public engagement such as this is in order, maybe it’s time to bring everything to the public space so that everyone including the governor himself, if he hasn’t gotten any wind of it, can see the unattractive situation that these people have been subjected to under Lagos state Government.
Every time an intellectual has the chance to speak out against injustices, and yet remains silent, he contributes to the moral paralysis and intellectual barrenness that grips the affluent world. – Frida Laski
Of greater concern to me is the fact that batches A and B are consistently being paid uninterruptedly since the start of operations, while the other duo are left unpaid throughout 8 months under the same scheme! Something smells fishy here. How can we claim to have egalitarian institutions in Lagos state, with this? How anyone seeks to shield himself from the consequences of such barbaric action still eludes me, this is an expressive show of mischief that the whole world should see.
Oluwamayowa Lala is an essayist and a programmer,
mayowalala@gmail.com