Lagos State Government has called for concerted efforts to achieve zero fire incidents in the marketplaces in the state with the inauguration of Safety and Emergency Marshals.
The State Government, through the Safety Commission, said it has become important to have market representatives that will ensure emergency preparedness in Lagos Markets to prevent fire disasters.
Speaking at Obanikoro Market Lagos Island, the Director of Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr. Lanre Mojola, stated that the training was designed to avail the participants of the hazard identification, prevention, recovery and response around the markets.
He recalled what the past fire disasters had caused the state in terms of compensation to the victims and insurance costs to the market men and women. This has made the agency recalibrate its programme by consistently sensitising the people and training them on how to identify hazards.
In his words, “Safety is a collective responsibility and what we have decided to do is to take samples of market men and women and train them on principles of safety. Today, we have brought together a team of 50 people who were being trained in market safety, and they will be the first set of market safety fire wardens in this market.
“We are trying to enlighten them so that we do not have any fire disaster. We are taking them through the causes of fire, the idea of leaving the electric sockets on after work, the placement of the generator inside their shops and the lack of fire extinguishers is improper. But beyond the fire, we still have risks in the market; we have others, like running and flying cables and all that. So, It is a holistic measure of how we can have safer markets and ensure a sustainable market with zero fire incidents going forward in Lagos State.”
Mojola stated that the delay in the convocation of the safety team in the Lagos Island market was to put the necessary measures in place.
According to him “It is not difficult getting the people together, we have done this in several smaller markets across the state, but the reason why we have delayed the one for Lagos Island is that we wanted to get our model right and I believe we have our model right now because now, we have involved the Locals, CDA, CDC, the Head of Markets, among others, so we are applying top-down and bottom-up approach. They will be the first line of whistle-blowers who will identify some of these infractions, and we are empowering them to report directly to us. They have become a board where they can also regulate activities in the market to check against smoking, cooking, and the use of generators in the markets”.
Earlier, the Technical Adviser of the Lagos Safety Commission, Mr. Seun Awojobi, explained that markets are vital to the economic development of the State and remain the hub of commerce, and they must be protected from hazards such as fire outbreaks, accidents and others.
Awojobi, who spoke through a staff of the Agency, Mrs. Omowunimi Ibraheem, stressed that accidents could be brought to zero if everyone takes responsibility, assuring that the programme would go a long way to foster a culture of safety and ensure a safer Lagos that will be envious of all.
A facilitator at the training, Mr. Adeyinka Adebiyi, exposed the participants to hazards in the markets and revealed comprehensive principles of safety.
Adebiyi mentioned that the Agency had inaugurated the Safety Marshals as a form of preventive mechanism to ensure there are no infractions in the market and that people are not endangered, as they will serve as the mouthpiece of the government.
He urged them to monitor other market users to ensure they always switch off the electric sockets before leaving the markets and comply with all safety standards to avoid any form of accident.
The Chairman of the Community Development Association of the area, Mr. Sunday Ogunlana and the leader of Obanikoro Market, Mr. Lateef Iyaniwura, both commended the initiative by the state government towards ensuring fire incidents in the marketplace are eradicated or reduced to the minimum.
