FG Waits on Bill to Revolutionise Nation’s Fire Fighting

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The federal government has said it was waiting for the passage of the Federal Fire and Rescue Service Bill to revolutionise fire fighting in the country and get massive youths employed.

Speaking at the launch of new fire fighting equipment, which included 16 trucks and six vehicles at the Headquarters of the Federal Fire Service in Abuja during the week, the Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, said the bill which was being considered by the National Assembly would modernise Fire Fighting in Nigeria and make it the pride of the nation.

He noted that whenever the laws were ready, the number of fire fighters needed would be highlighted and the need for fire fighters in every public infrastructure in the country would be stipulated, and subsequently allowed for more hands to be employed.

Tunji-Ojo, while noting that the number of fire fighters in a country showed the level of its development, said Nigeria could not be among the top economies of the world and have a small population of fire fighters.

According to him, there was a direct correlation between sophistication, industrialisation and fire service because the more you grew as an economy, the more you’d need to expand the coast of your fire service, adding that, fire service was directly related to development in any nation.

Nigeria with just over 6,000 federal fire fighters ranked among the countries with the least number of employed fire fighters in the world.

The Minister said New York with 255 fire houses, Los Angeles with 160 fire stations give the picture of what fight and rescue operation should be, noting that US has over a million fire fighters both employed and volunteers.

He said the bill before the National Assembly if accented would change the narratives of fire fighting in the country.

He lamented that: “FFS is a sleeping giant. Your response should not only be combating fire but even forecasting danger. You must be pro-active,” adding: “I don’t want your performance to be valued around the buildings or infrastructure you prevented from burning down, but rather preventive mechanism to rescue and prevent hazards.

“For us as a people, we cannot continue to pay lip service nonchalant attitude to the issue to fire. As an individual, I believe that the FFS should be the major employer of labour in Nigeria. All we need to do is put on our thinking caps.

“It is time for the FFS to rise up to her responsibility which is not just about combating fire. It has to do even with forecasting dangers. We have to migrate from the era of corrective activities to the era of being proactive which will lead us to preventive measures that can save us millions of Naira.”