By Constance Adaurie
The Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) is set to launch a statewide youth advocacy campaign designed to steer young people away from crime before they become entangled in it.
The project, to be implemented through the LSSTF Campaign Against Crime, Cultism and Other Vices (LSSTF-CACCOV), will commence with Agege Local Government before expanding to the remaining 56 Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas (LGAs/LCDAs) across Lagos State.
The campaign is designed as a preventive, non-kinetic intervention that seeks to reduce crime by promoting positive values, discouraging illicit drug use, combating cultism, and empowering young people to become agents of peace and community development.
Speaking on the initiative, the Executive Secretary/CEO of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, Dr. Ayodele Ogunsan, said sustainable security cannot be achieved through enforcement alone but must also involve deliberate investments in prevention and youth engagement. “Security is most effective when we stop crime before it happens. Through LSSTF-CACCOV, we are taking a preventive, community-driven approach that empowers young people with the right values, information, and opportunities to reject crime, cultism, and illicit drugs before they become victims or perpetrators.”
Dr. Ogunsan explained that the advocacy campaign would bring together strategic partners including the Nigeria Police, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Local government and LCDA Chairmen, traditional rulers, community leaders, faith-based organisations, youth groups, schools, and other stakeholders committed to building safer communities.
According to him, preventing crime requires collective ownership. “No institution can build a secure society alone. When government agencies, communities, parents, schools, and young people work together, we create an environment where crime struggles to thrive. That is the vision driving this statewide campaign.”
The statewide youth advocacy campaign aligns with the youth development agenda of Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, whose administration has consistently invested in programmes aimed at expanding opportunities for young people through education, skills acquisition, innovation, entrepreneurship, sports development, and civic engagement.
Through interventions such as the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund’s entrepreneurship support, digital skills programmes, job creation initiatives, youth innovation platforms, and expanded vocational training opportunities, the Sanwo-Olu administration has continued to position young people as partners in governance and drivers of sustainable development rather than passive beneficiaries of government policies.
LSSTF-CACCOV is the Lagos State Security Trust Fund’s flagship community engagement initiative established to mobilise residents, particularly young people, as partners in crime prevention and public safety. Through advocacy campaigns, sensitization programmes, stakeholder engagement, volunteer mobilisation, and strategic partnerships with security agencies and community institutions, the initiative promotes civic responsibility, intelligence sharing, anti-drug awareness, peaceful coexistence, and community resilience.
The statewide campaign will be coordinated by the State Coordinator of LSSTF-CACCOV, Dr. Moses Oladimeji, who has led the initiative’s grassroots advocacy programmes across tertiary institutions and communities in Lagos.
Under his leadership, LSSTF-CACCOV has become one of the state’s foremost preventive security advocacy platforms, reaching thousands of students and youths through sensitization programmes against cultism, drug abuse, cybercrime, rape, gang violence and other criminal activities.
At the 2026 Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) Freshers’ Orientation Programme, Dr. Oladimeji challenged newly admitted students to reject destructive lifestyles and instead embrace discipline, diligence and purposeful living. Using the life story of Executive Secretary/CEO of LSSTF, Dr. Ayodele Ogunsan who is an alumnus of the institution who rose from humble beginnings to become a respected business leader and public servant, he demonstrated that success is shaped not by one’s background but by one’s choices.
