The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, says arrangement has been concluded by the Federal Government to remodel the National Fire Academy, Sheda, to enhance its operational capabilities.
The minister stated this at the groundbreaking ceremony of the project at Sheda on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said the Service has been a sleeping giant, adding that the time to wake up and act as the first responder to emergencies is now.
Tuni-Ojo said, ‘this is because as I always say, tomorrow is a day that will never come. For every day, there is always tomorrow.
‘Therefore, do not sacrifice what you have to achieve today in the hope of a day that will not come.
‘The time to roll up your sleeves to rewrite our history to put the record straight and give Nigerians a fire and rescue service that we can all be proud of is now.’
He explained that based on these reasons, the Federal Government had made rescue service very important as it was a constitutional responsibility of any government to protect the lives and p
roperty of its citizens.
‘Therefore, the Federal Government is not just putting this project in place just like that but to be able to ensure that there is efficiency in service delivery. So, efficiency and productivity are very key here.
‘We will also be working hard to see the repeal and enactment of the fire and rescue service Act because the present law established since 1963 we know is obsolete.
‘You see, the scope of fire service all over the world in 2024 is different from what it was in 1963. And we cannot continue to be held down to the epoch of the past,’ the minister added.
Tunji-Ojo reminded them that their responsibilities was not just to combat, prevent and avoid fire outbreak but goes beyond that being the first responder in case of any emergency.
He added that to be able to achieve that, the Federal Government had gone all the way to ensure that the required knowledge was there.
This, he said, not just for the Nigeria market alone, but to be an exporter of rescue knowledge to the rest of
Africa.
‘You see, President Bola Tinubu is interested in building institutions and the fire serve is not an exception. So, to who much is given much is expected.
‘Believe me it is not going to be business as usual. In the Interior Ministry, government business is our business. We handle government business as we handle our own.
‘With the aim of handing it over as a legacy to the future generations and that is why the government is putting a lot of resources into this project.
‘Our aim is to have at least a fire academy in our six geo-political zones of the country. Everybody cannot come to Abuja to be trained as fire people.
‘We want to make this centre as a trainers’ centre as we strive to bring the private sector into the fire industry.
‘It is only when we do all these that Nigerians can have the type of fire and rescue assurance that they need,’ he said.
Earlier, the Controller-General of Fire Service, Mr AbdulGaniyu Jaji, expressed optimism that by the time the academy becomes really remodeled, no
doubt the country would have one of the best fire training centres in the world.
Jaji added that the academy would enable the personnel of the service to be more acquainted with the modern techniques of fire fighting as tainable in other climes.
The C-G said that the academy would become a one-stop shop for life saving as the centre would be fully automated for modern fire fighting.
‘This centre when it becomes fully operational, no doubt it will go a long way to enhance the operational capabilities of our fire fighting men and women timely.
‘By the time it finally comes on board, the era of late response would have gone because our men and officers would have acquainted themselves with the requisite expertise to respond to any threat timely,’ he stressed.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria