The Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau (LASRAB) on Sunday pleaded with Lagos residents to bring their high-value records and archives of enduring value to the bureau for management and safekeeping.
The Director-General of LASRAB, Mr Biodun Onayele, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Onayele said the appeal became necessary in view of the fact that many families did not know that high-value documents should be kept in archives.
“Record keeping engenders in you a spirit of patriotism, self-belief and determination.
“We want individuals and organisations to not only learn to keep records but to actively keep records.
“This will help to educate our children on the history of our families, our forefathers and what they did as well as the contributions of the family to the society at large.
According to Onayele, keeping records will help society to know the extent of sacrifices people made to get their generations to become what they are in life.
“If we do not keep these records and pass on the necessary information, it leads to quarrels and problems where there should be none.’’
The director-general said the poor record keeping culture of Nigerians was responsible for the decadence found in the society.
He regretted that this had also led to criminality among people who could neither understand nor project good image of themselves or their families.
Stressing the importance of record keeping, Onayele said that a lack of record-keeping was the reason for so many anomalies in our society.
“Someone of questionable character can aspire to a top position in the society if nobody keeps the proper records.
“One of the things that people do not understand is that corruption has been with us for a long time and people have really stolen more money in the past than now.
“People do criminal things and get away with them when proper records are not kept.’’
The director-general listed records that could be kept with the bureau as files of decided court cases, receipts of transactions of any kind, photographs, plans for development of property of any kind, newspapers, documents and certificates.
“One of our functions is that we provide documents for people with cases in court, either land or chieftaincy problems, which are the two main problems common in Lagos.’’
According to him, the bureau, which was established in 2007, has records dating back to hundreds of years.
He said that some of the records with the bureau include policy files, security information and videos, programme of events and brochures.
Onayele disclosed that plans and drawings of all Lagos State-funded projects like road constructions were kept with the bureau in hard copy and compact disc.
The director-general said that the services of the bureau were open to individuals and organisations seeking research or undertaking projects and other interests.
He advised that people should not allow their cultural tendencies of suspicion and secrecy to hinder them from doing the right things in keeping valuable records. (NAN)
Leave a Reply