LSSTF-CACCOV, YABATECH Forge Stronger Alliance Against Cultism, Crime on Campus • Rector, Adedotun Abdul Hails LSSTF CEO Ogunsan for Championing Security in Lagos
By Oki O. Samson, Trek Africa Newspaper
If education is the engine of national development, then security must be one of the rails upon which that engine must travel. The pursuit of academic excellence cannot happen in an atmosphere where students live under the shadow of violence, cultism, drug abuse and other social vices. For institutions such as Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), where thousands of young Nigerians are being prepared for the future, protecting students from influences capable of derailing their academic and personal trajectories is therefore both a security responsibility and a national development imperative.
This formed the background for discussion when the Governing Council and management of YABATECH led by the Rector, Dr. Engr. Ibraheem Adedotun Abdul hosted the leadership of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund Campaign Against Crime, Cultism and Other Vices (LSSTF-CACCOV) at a special appreciation and partnership meeting. This meeting is subsequent to the initiative’s recent sensitization programme for more than 1,000 fresh students of the institution. The engagement, which also explored a deeper institutional partnership, underscored a shared conviction that preventing crime among young people must begin before criminal tendencies take root, with education, mentorship, advocacy and strategic security interventions deployed alongside conventional policing.
The meeting brought together the leadership of the college, members of its Governing Council, Alumni representatives and the LSSTF-CACCOV team, with the college expressing appreciation for the impact of the earlier programme and the special significance of having an alumnus, Dr. Ayodele Ogunsan, at the helm of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, LSSTF. The college leadership also lauded the Pres. Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR for his support in championing quality education and academic excellence in the Federal Government-owned institution. They also thanked the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Gov. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu for promoting peace, security and safety in Lagos State which has made the institution a top choice for students.
Leading the YABATECH delegation was the Rector, Dr. Engr. Ibraheem Adedotun Abdul, who described the initiative as a timely intervention in the protection of the institution’s most valuable assets, which are the students. Abdul said the college regarded its students as “diamonds” that must be protected, polished and prepared to shine, warning that deliberate attempts to destroy the youth could ultimately undermine the future of the nation. “If you want to attack the future of any nation, just destroy their youth. Once their youth are destroyed, then you know they have no hope,” the Rector stated, stressing that the battle against cultism, drug abuse and other vices was therefore much bigger than the immediate security of the campus.
He commended the passion behind LSSTF-CACCOV and its decision to commence its intervention at YABATECH, describing the initiative as a catalyst that could help management achieve its objective of protecting students from destructive influences. According to him, the college was particularly encouraged by the fact that the initiative was being championed by an alumnus of the institution, Dr. Ogunsan, whose leadership of the LSSTF had provided an opportunity to connect the college’s alumni network with a broader public-security mission.
Abdul also expressed the college’s desire for stronger security support, including enhanced police presence and patrol vehicles, noting that the location of the institution exposes it to security challenges associated with its surrounding environment. The college, he said, would welcome deeper collaboration capable of improving security on and around the campus. “We sit at the center of a quadrangle of cultism. The Jimbo boys are around the corner, the Valley boys are there, the Afro-Belgian hoodlums are there, and warding them away is a big task which we have been confronting frontally but we need additional support to make this place safe. This is one of the things that will make the alumni to be proud when they hear good news about the institution,” he said.
The Rector’s position was reinforced by the LSSTF-CACCOV State Coordinator, Dr. Moses Oladimeji, who described his presence at YABATECH as particularly meaningful because he is himself an alumnus of the institution.
“I see you as my fathers and mothers, alumnus of this same college. You trained me, and I’m here today, and I’m one of your success stories,” Oladimeji said, describing the opportunity to return to the institution in a different capacity as both an honour and a responsibility.
Oladimeji explained that LSSTF-CACCOV was established under the broader security intervention of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund to strengthen the preventive dimension of security through education, advocacy and mentorship.
He stressed that while security agencies remained indispensable to crime response, society must also invest in preventing young people from becoming perpetrators in the first place. “We believe in empowering young people before they become actual perpetrators of crime,” he said, adding that the initiative could not achieve its objective without strategic partnerships with educational institutions.
He recalled the recent YABATECH freshmen orientation programme, where more than 1,000 students were reached with messages on the dangers of cultism, drug abuse and other social vices, alongside the distribution of instructional materials and food packs. But Oladimeji said the intervention should not end with freshmen. He proposed extending the campaign across ND1, ND2, HND1, HND2 and part-time programmes, while establishing sustainable CACCOV structures within the institution.
Among the proposed interventions are the establishment of LSSTF-CACCOV Clubs, strategic Anti-cultism Billboards and other awareness signages across the campus showing the official LSSTF Security Tips Lines through which students and members of the college community could provide information on security threats which would get immediate response within 3 minutes. He explained that the proposed reporting mechanism would be linked to relevant security agencies, enabling information received through the designated LSSTF channel to be promptly transmitted to the appropriate agency for action. “It’s a WhatsApp line that within 1-3 minutes that a message gets to our office, it will be redirected to the appropriate security agency that will take the matter up. Within 3 minutes, we have a security agency coming into the school campus and attending to the situation.”
The LSSTF-CACCOV team also emphasised the need to confront drug abuse, which Oladimeji described as one of the major threats capable of destroying the future of young Nigerians.
On her part, the Asst. Coordinator Uzezi Akinwoleola remarked: “At LSSTF-CACCOV we believe in empowering young people. Our mandate is very clear about educating youths against the dangers of crime. We believe youths should be empowered before they become perpetrators of crime. We recognize that we cannot do it alone, and that Yabatech is not just a stakeholder but a strategic partner in achieving our shared objectives. That’s why we were here some weeks ago for a freshers’ orientation where we were able to address over 1000 students.”
The President of the YABATECH Alumni Association, Otunba Bldr. ‘Yemi Osibajo commended the initiative and disclosed that the partnership was facilitated by Mr. Salvador Olakunle Olatunji, Deputy Registrar and Chairman of the Students’ Affairs and Education Committee of the Alumni Association. Osibajo praised Salvador for “hitting the ground running” in building the relationship between the alumni association and LSSTF-CACCOV, which subsequently resulted in the CACCOV intervention during the students’ orientation. He expressed optimism that the relationship would continue to generate student-focused activities capable of keeping young people positively engaged and reducing their vulnerability to criminal influences.
The meeting also featured extensive participation from the college’s Governing Council and management. Present were Dr. Ismail Badmus, Deputy Rector (Academic); Arc. Adefemi Lawal, Deputy Rector (Administration); Barrister Sakib Kazeem Babatunde Wahab, Acting Registrar, representing the Registrar, Mrs. Henrietta Adebola Gbemisola Badejo; Dr. Achonna Andy Umunna, representing the Polytechnic Librarian; Dr. Olusola Dada, Bursar; Engr. Ogunrinola Oludele, Sub-Dean, Students’ Affairs Unit; Dr. Tairu Onawale, Chairman, Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit; Mr. Adekunle Adams, Acting Director, Centre for Information and Public Relations; and Mr. Salvador Olakunle Olatunji.
The alumni delegation included Mr. Anika Jackson, Associate Director of the National Body of the Alumni Association; Mr. Peter Bassey, an ex-official; Mr. Babatunde Olutomileyin, Public Relations Officer; another alumni ex-official, Mr. Babatunde; and Mr. Oshabiyi, Treasurer of the association.
Also acknowledged were the college’s Personal Assistant to the Director, the Deputy Registrar of the Alumni Relations and Fellowship Department, Mr. Sade Ekundayo, Mr. Gbenga Adigun, and other representatives of the institution.
The engagement ultimately moved beyond appreciation to a shared blueprint for sustained collaboration. Its message was unmistakable: securing the campus is inseparable from securing the future of its students. For YABATECH, the partnership offers an opportunity to strengthen its security architecture while creating a culture in which students are empowered to recognise, resist and report threats. For LSSTF-CACCOV, the institution provides a strategic platform from which preventive security can reach thousands of young people.
