9 July 2009
editorial
Abuja — Over the years, the nation's fire service agency has suffered neglect from government at all levels; and this has made Nigerians to lose confidence in the ability of the agency to protect them and their properties against fire incidences. Indeed, the Nigerian Fire Service today cannot boast of having modern fire fighting facilities, like two-way radio communication devices, vehicles as well as trained manpower.
Instead, most of the existing fire service departments across the country can only boast of rustic trucks and outdated facilities as well as a demoralised workforce. That is why victims of fire outbreak who make frantic distress calls for assistance always get frustrated. On the rare occasions that the fire personnel surface at the scenes of inferno, they either complain of either lack of water or fuel in the truck and end up not discharging their duty effectively, thus leaving victims in anguish. In most cases, firemen get booed, beaten and chased away by angry crowds.
The situation with the Nigeria Fire service is so pathetic that Nigerians often have to rely on private companies to come to their rescue on outbreaks of fire. Fighting fire disaster in high-rise buildings is always a huge challenge in major cities. To worsen the matter, fire-fighting trucks only exist in government houses in most states of the federation, while at the local council level, none is provided. The implication of all these is enormous on the nation's economy and the well-being of the society. A recent fire episode in Lagos illustrated the high level of decay in the agency, as firemen failed to put it out at the Ojuelegba barrack of the Federal Fire Service when an apartment was in flame. But for the intervention of some corporate organisations that mobilised their fire-fighting equipment, report said the entire complex would have been consumed by the inferno. Perhaps that was why the Lagos state government threatened to take over control of the agency's office in the state.
Lamenting the situation, the Commandant-General of the Nigerian Fire Service, Olusegun James Okebiora recently disclosed that the country loses an estimated N300bn worth of properties annually to fire outbreaks due to the inability of his agency to effectively fight fire disasters. He attributed the trend to 'the age- long government neglect of the fire service agency'. For instance, in this year's budget, the agency was allocated a paltry N1.7 billion; out of which, the sum of N1bn goes for personnel cost and salaries while the balance is set aside for capital projects which include repairs of the already dilapidated offices and residential complexes of personnel. This is indeed a tip of an iceberg for an organisation which requires total overhauling in all facets of its existence. So far, the federal government has announced plan to establish a Federal Fire Service Academy in Abuja, with a take off grant of N390 million. The project which is expected to gulp N13 billion, according to government, would serve as a training institute and would be well-equipped. Though commendable as the effort may be, such a gigantic project seems to be a long-term solution which cannot have immediate impact on the agency. What is needed urgently is a total overhaul of the Federal Fire Service in such a way that makes it more able to face the challenges of all types of fire incidents in the country. Also the state and local governments need to establish a fully equipped fire service agency and where it exists, should be reinvigorated to meet the challenges of the moment.
We wonder just for how long will Nigerians continue to depend on corporate organisations whenever there is fire outbreak in our major cities; what happens if such philanthropic gestures stop? Therefore, time has come for governments at all levels to wake up to their responsibility of protecting lives and property of citizens. On the other hand, we implore the agency to imbibe the culture of training and re-training of staff in order to bring them in tune with modern techniques of fire-fighting. The general public should also be sensitised on preventive mechanism towards ameliorating the occurrence and recurrence of fire incidence in our communities.
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