Lagos State Government has kicked off the enlightenment of ithe public on the enforcement of its rights in order to get succour during distress.
The programme took off in Epe Local Government Area of the state last week, with staff of the Public Advice Centre (PAC) holding road shows in some markets.
Speaking at Oluwo and Aiyetoro markets and Lagos motor parks, PAC’s Director, Mrs. Magareth Asuma said Governor Akinwunmi Ambode desires peace and development of its citizens.
Mrs. Asuma said the Governor does not want a situation where a Lagosian will be cheated and does not know how to go about fighting for his or her rights and get succor for misdeeds meted on them.
She explained that PAC serves as the first port of call for citizens in distress and those seeking information and advice on their rights and responsibilities, stressing that that was why the governor directed them to go and enlighten them on where to go when in distress and how to attain justice.
She told the people that PAC would not only attend to human rights issues but all complaints brought before the centre and advice them on the agency of the government that will take up and prosecute their complaints free of charge.
Mrs. Asuma urged the people to bring cases of rape and child defilement, wife battering, child abuse to the attention of the government and to desist from sweeping such acts under the carpet, promising that official intervention would give them peace of mind in their families.
She listed other areas that PAC can be of free assistance to the people to include environmental and other related matters, relationships – legal rights and responsibilities, work benefits and pensions, employer and employee matters, social welfare and child rights, family and inheritance; land title registration and ancillary matters, domestic violence and sexual offences, social exclusion and discrimination, debt and monetary claims, among others.
She explained, for instance, that where an issue brought before the centre requires mediation, it would be referred to the Citizens Mediation Centre (CMC) and that Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) agreed upon is enforceable at Multi-Door Court House.
Mrs. Asuma described the Ambode administration as caring, urging the people to bring their problems forward to feel the impact of its machinery in their life and get succour.
Source : The Nation
