Ogun governor, Abiodun, pledges support for police anti-crime crusade

• Says security masterplan near perfection
• Decries dearth of reading culture among youths
• Donates land to build National Library

Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun yesterday said that with the communication components being “mainstreamed” into the state architecture, security arrangement would be near perfection in the state. Abiodun pledged that when in operation, criminals would have no hiding place.

“Not only would the tracking devices ensure smooth communication among the security outfits in the state, they would also ensure that all patrol teams are where they claim to be,” the governor stated. He spoke when he received the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Zone 2, Ahmed Iliyasu, in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the state capital.

According to him, his administration was on the verge of completing its communication set-up, which would avail security outfits in the state the opportunity to monitor activities of their patrol teams. Abiodun said that his administration was also not unaware of the community policing initiative of the police, aimed at making the community more secured, noting that his administration would do all in its power to ensure the initiative is a success in the state.

The governor stated that his government had confidence in the capability of the Assistant Inspector General of Police to succeed in his task of policing Ogun and Lagos states.He also commended Iliyasu for his doggedness and diligence as the commissioner of police in the state.

Iliyasu, while commending the governor for his concern for the security of the state, noted that since his emergence as governor, he had improved on the security architecture of the state with the provision of basic security infrastructure for the use of the command in the state.

In another development, the governor has expressed concern over lack of reading culture among the youths, saying that the trend was capable of affecting negatively the standard of education.He also acquiesced to request by the National Library of Nigeria to have a piece of land to build a branch of the library in the state to reverse the trend. Abiodun made the assertion in his office while receiving the National Librarian/Chief Executive Officer of the National Library of Nigeria, Prof. Lenrie Aina.

He noted that it was important to inculcate in children the ability to read since they are generally no longer interested in reading. Aina, while stressing the importance of a functional library in an academic environment, said many Nigerians who study abroad excel as a result of availability of standard libraries, adding that the aim of the National Library of Nigeria was to have standard libraries all over the country.