Dambazau seeks review of Federal Fire Service policy

The Minister of Interior, Retired Lt.-Gen. Adulrahman Dambazau, has called for the review of the Federal Fire Service policy for enhanced service delivery.

Dambazau made the call during a familiarisation visit to the Federal Fire Service in continuation of his tour of agencies under the ministry on Monday in Abuja.

He said “I think we need to sit down and look at the Federal Fire Service policy so that we can articulate a position that will meet modern challenges.

“We need to consider and review the policy in order not to only make the service efficient but to also ensure that its objective of public service is met.’’

He promised to ensure that the standard of the service was upgraded through training and provision of modern equipment for it to deliver on its mandate.

“We will do everything possible to raise the standard of fire service to international level in terms of training and discipline,’’ he added.

The minister then urged staff of the service to be honest and disciplined in discharging their duties.

He then stressed the need for the service to prioritise its operations, noting that “I have been briefed by the Controller-General about the challenges, some of them I already know before I was nominated as minister.’’

He observed that some agencies of government not mandated to fight fire were more equipped with firefighting equipment than the service.

He said “there are government agencies without mandate to fight fire yet they are better funded and procuring firefighting equipment than the fire service.

“I think this is a misnomer which must be corrected.’’

He explained that the fire service globally was strategic to fighting fire outbreaks and the Nigerian fire service ought to be better than what it currently was.

Earlier, the Controller-General of the service, Mr Joseph Anebi, said that the service had not been able to access the N2.8 billion approved by former President Goodluck Jonathan for the procurement of equipment.

He explained that the approval followed the recommendation of the then Presidential Inter-Agency committee after the bombing of the UN house by terrorists.

Anebi stressed the need for adequate funding of the service as it was critical to the development of any country.

He called for the review of the 1963 Fire Service Act which had become obsolete and the procurement of modern equipment to enhance performance of the service.

The minister also inspected the state of infrastructure at the Nyanya and Wuse fire stations respectively.