Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, has declared its readiness to partner with Lagos Traffic Radio in a bid to ensure that its impact is been felt at the grassroots.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to Lagos Traffic Radio at Ikeja, LASEMA Director General/CEO, Femi Oke-Osanyintolu commended the Station for its activities and role in effective information dissemination in Lagos State.

He noted that effective and efficient communication is key to disaster management because it creates the right perspective as well as help the citizens to understand the situation better.

According to him, “In an emergency, there will always be a panic situation, as well as difficulties in terms of response and the outcome. So your organization is very germane to our work and we need to work as a team”.

“If you recall what happened on 27th January, 2002 when we had the bomb blast at Ikeja Cantonment, the main problem that we encountered was uncontrolled panic by the people and lack of effective dissemination of information which resulted in the death of about 1000 people”, he added.

Oke-Osanyintolu, however, averred that with the creation of Traffic Radio, information and news reports are being disseminated effectively to the nooks and crannies of Lagos State, adding that a partnership between the two organisations will enormously benefit all residents of the State.

Responding, the General Manager, Lagos Traffic Radio, Tayo Akanle concurred that partnering with LASEMA would bring more progress and development to the State, stressing that the Station through its social media platforms has in the last one year being proactive in the dissemination of emergency-related information to Lagosians.

“We’ve been doing the work for like one year now, we have tried to expand the scope of the work and that expansion has a direct bearing to the kind of work you do, we try to be at scene of incidents, we do live reports and also give alternative routes when there is a disaster and traffic gridlocks”, he stated.