Resuscitating Fire Service, Rescue Operation in Lagos

The Lagos State Government recently commissioned its resuscitated Fire Service and Rescue Operation headquarters in Alausa, Ikeja. F&M ACME, a real estate and construction company, handled the reconstruction. The firm also provided state-of-art equipment for the headquarters, under the supervision of the Lagos State Infrastructure Asset Management Agency (LASIAMA). This is a pointer to the state government’s commitment to safety of its citizens and property. Funke Olaode reports

For five decades, the Lagos State Fire Service and Rescue Operation founded on 31st August 1972 has been providing succour to Lagos residents. The infrastructure, which first operated under an expatriate Chief Officer, Sir Allan Flemming alongside three-man crew members was under the   mandate to protect lives and property within the Lagos Metropolis. And over the past 50 years, the sprawling building located in Alausa, Ikeja is noted for its efficiency and vibrancy in the discharge of its responsibilities.

It was with pump and pageantry when on October 26, 2022, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu led his cabinet members and dignitaries to the commissioning of the newly resuscitated building.  Among the dignitaries present were the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Director, Lagos State Fire Service; Mrs. Margaret Adeseye; Project Contractor/ Group CEO F&M ACME, Femi Olukotun; First Female Chief of Prince George County Fire fighters, Maryland USA, Tiffany Green and Commissioner of Physical  Planning and  Urban Development; Tayo Bamigbose.

Renowned for its standard and ethical practice, the project executor, F&M ACME Limited, a subsidiary of BrookHeritage Holdings Limited, is one of the fastest growing indigenous construction and real estate firm in Nigeria. The recent arrangement between the state and the construction giant to reconstruct the building with the state-of-arts equipment, under the supervision of the Lagos State Infrastructure Asset Management Agency (LASIAMA) is a pointer to the state government’s commitment to the safety of its citizenry.

There has been massive but haphazardly coordinated expansion in economic activities across the country, the development has made fire incidents a major source of danger to public safety and property. 

Recurring fire incidents at petrol loading bays, tank farms, pipelines and other similar sources are good examples of such dangers. Again, most of the poorly developed market clusters across the country annually go up in flames; while fire at multi-storey buildings, petro-chemical industries and crash sites always constitute embarrassments to outdated fire equipment. 

At the commissioning ceremony, Sanwo-Olu expressed his delight at the excellence of execution of the project. He said, “I was personally impressed yesterday when I saw the pictures of the completion. I want to thank our contractor, Femi Olukotun for this great edifice.  

“We have four new Fire Stations that were commissioned today. And this is the headquarters. This shows the level of our preparedness to combat emergency and fire disaster; to save lives and properties of Lagosians. For the first time in the history of this state, we will see some new sophisticated equipment to be handed over for use by Lagos State. We want to compete with global citizens in the world. It is indeed what we meant by wanting to be a 21st century state. And am happy we are responding to and fulfilling what a mega city should look like.”

Olukotun said: “As a contractor,  we are very proud to be part of this laudable achievement of Governor Sanwo-Olu, especially in relation to various fire stations that were upgraded, newly built  and in particular the headquarters  which was reconstructed by our company. It is quite a very encouraging opportunity for us and we have decided to take up this job very diligently and constructed a well befitting fire service headquarters for Lagos State.”

On the state-of-art facilities added to the building, Olutokun said “It was formerly a 20 rooms building but we have been able to reconstruct and ensure that is now enlarged and can accommodate over 60 offices including, the gym, the sick bay, the officers mess, two different section of conference rooms, executive conference room and general conference room. Other amenities include the communications room, standard slide for emergency response, etc.

“The building was constructed with the best of sophisticated equipment and materials. The  aesthetics  is what will deliberately worked on, to ensure that we deliver a project that we can be proud of and indeed we are very proud of this project and with the new redesigning and reconstruction you see that the headquarter is now a complete emergency route in which all visitors  will now have a different entry and exist route which does not interfere with emergency responder that are on standby.”

“We are proud once again to be part of this laudable project; we are also very humbled by series of goodwill messages that we have received in respect of this project and we want to assure the general public that we as a construction firm will continue to do our best to ensure that we give out quality services at every opportunity that we have to serve.”

The Director of Fire Service, Lagos State, Mrs. Margaret Adeseye commended the governor for his vision of providing a world class fire services for the state. “We have been upgraded,” elated Adeseye exclaimed. “Here, we have 20 offices before, but now, I can boldly tell you we have 60 offices in Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service headquarters. With this development, we will be more proactive in terms of response time. Aside that, we can see the morale of the staff, they are all happy, seeing what the Governor put in place for the fire service to make sure our job is easier. It will make us to work even more than we have been working. It will encourage us to do more. To whom more is given more is expected.”

Giving kudos to his team for delivering a first class project, the Head of Engineering and Technical at F&M ACME who was in charge of the construction, Engineer Taiwo Otenaike praised the “commitment of all” in bringing the ideas into reality.

Showcasing his company beyond construction and real estate, Olukotun said other subsidiaries of the company had been creating opportunities and transforming lives. For instance, Agriant Limited, an integrated farm, agro-allied and food processing company with head office in Lagos, is one of the Nigeria’s leading foods and agro-allied companies. It has deep interest in aquaculture with over 150,000 natural pond capacities, which is presently at 70 per cent occupancy (Catfish & Tilapia), Oil Palm, Maize and Pineapple Plantations as well as Animal husbandry.

Continuing, he disclosed that Agriant is a subsidiary of BrookHeritage Holdings, a proprietary company, coordinating business interests in Finance, Energy, Real Estate and Agriculture with a strong determination to succeed in all facets of its business endeavours.

“Our objective is to give agriculture a new meaning by developing each node of the agricultural value chain in the agronomy ecosystem we choose to play, through the use of modern technology from the point of rearing and cultivation to processing and distribution of finished goods for consumption.”

Olukotun said, “local livestock production increases the availability of animal source foods as a source of proteins and micronutrients, necessary for a healthy population. Livestock provide a pathway to women empowerment and gender equality, which are important factors for economic development.

“Sustainable, productive fisheries and aquaculture improve food and nutrition security, increase income and improve livelihoods, promote economic growth and protect our environment and natural resources and that’s what stands us out in Agriant. 

“I am happy that we are contributing our quota in our various farms located at Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States. Our dried catfish and fish filets are certified by NAFDAC. We also export our products to Europe.”