The Federal Government has earmarked N5.5 billion for the procurement of fire fighting machines for the Federal Fire Service (FFS) in order to strengthen operations of the service. Controller General of the FFS, Mr. Joseph Garba Anebi, who disclosed this at the weekend in Abuja, said plans have already reached advanced stage to acquire the fire engines. He said that the service had suffered neglect over the years in terms of equipment. “I can say that the newest equipment we have is 28 years old. That is to tell you that the service was neglected,” he said.
He disclosed that the Service had, however, begun the process of procuring 55 fire engines worth N5.5 billion for effective operations. He said that before he assumed the leadership of the service, there was no proposal in the 2015 budget for the procurement of fire fighting equipment.
Anebi said that the service had embarked on a visit to the manufacturing companies abroad to source for the state-ofthe- art equipment for the service. The Controller General said that the foreign visit was aimed at getting the best and to avoid the procurement of second-hand equipment sold locally in the country. Anebi commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the approval of funds for the service to procure equipment.
He said that officers to man the equipment when procured would be trained by the companies as part of the sales agreement. Anebi said that following the approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the service was opening offices in the six geopolitical zones for effective coverage of the country.
“We have our zonal offices in Kaduna covering the North-West, South-East in Enugu, South-South in Port Harcourt, South-West in Osogbo,”he said. He said that the North- Central and North-East zonal offices would be located in Makurdi and Adamawa respectively.
On staff strength, he said the service currently has 2,000 personnel, which was grossly inadequate for the service to effectively discharge its mandate. He said with the opening of the zonal offices, the service would need more personnel and equipment.
Anebi decried the attitude of Nigerians towards the issue of fire outbreaks, adding that the state governments were most guilty. He said that under his leadership, the management of the service had prioritised the welfare of officers to enhance their commitment.
“We are trying to raise the standard of the service in the country to be at par with their counterparts in the developed world,” he said. Anebi noted that the obsolete 1963 Act of the service was hampering its operations. He said that a bill to amend the act to enhance the operations of the service was with the Ministry of Interior for inputs, from where it would be submitted to the Ministry of Justice.
