Lagos — Governor Babatunde Fashola pledged on Tuesday to "think outside the box" in solving security problems in Lagos, promising to hasten the installation of surveillance cameras statewide to ensure the safety of lives and property.

Installation of the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras is being executed under the Safe City Project, financed through the Security Trust Fund.

Fashola said when he inspected the facility at the Lekki temporary control unit that the project would enable the security agencies to combat crime as well as improve their capacity to respond to emergencies.

"This used to happen in movies," he noted.

"We are here to demonstrate what we are doing while we are waiting for the completion of the Central Security and Command Centre that would house all these facilities as well as house heads of departments that comprise ambulances, the traffic, rapid response."

He said the government realises the difficult challenges and the terrain in which it operates, but is determined not to be fazed, and "we will think outside the box" since "the 18 million people (living in the state) cannot be protected and policed by 33,000 (police officers).

"This is impossible. And no matter how hard we try to increase the number of officers, it is evident we cannot continue to do the same things and expect different results."

As the world advances in technology, he argued, the use of cameras, sensors, and tracking devices would assist police officers and fire service personnel, among others, to carry out their duties more effectively.

"This is only one step in the whole platform.

"Lagosians must recall that the platform started with the signing and naming of streets, providing directional signs for responders to get to crisis centres on time with the deployment of the emergency number, 767, which is toll free.

"With this initiative, we are determined to make a difference."

Fashola explained that the Security Trust Fund would enable everyone to contribute to security.

"It is not tax; we ask you to lend a hand to take our city away from law breakers and criminals. If we get more money we will certainly do much more."

For effective operations, all the heads of the security agencies - Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS) and Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) - to be stationed at the command centre would be equipped to pass information down the chain.

"If you do a comparative analysis in the last two years, there is an increase not only in the number of fire disasters but in the number of accidents and other disasters in this state.

"Not only are we responding but we are advocating the need to be more careful. Each season comes with it's own challenge.

"More importantly, this will enable us to improve our capacity to respond to emergencies. The 767 telephone line is still functional. These cameras on their own cannot do anything unless people call 767 to set the process in motion."