Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, the governor of Ondo State has commissioned a newly acquired firefighting truck as part of his administration’s commitment to enhance firefighters capacity so as to combat fire disaster in the state.
The State-of-the-Art Firefighting Truck was donated to the state by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Interior. The Honorable Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was physically present at the commissioning of the new Truck in Akure, the state Capital on Monday.
In his address, Governor Akeredolu said his administration has upgraded the Fire officers’ cadre in the state to Directorate level which is Level Sixteen in the state civil service from the level fourteen where it used to terminate. The Governor added that under his administration, qualified personnel with requisite qualifications have been injected into the cadre from across the civil service.
“First round of training of personnel at the Federal Fire Service Institute has been done and additional training programs are underway in line with the scheme of service for Fire officer cadre.” Gov. Akeredolu explained.
While stressing that his administration met the entire State Fire Service Stations in comatose, Governor Akeredolu lamented that almost all the Fire Stations in the state were not functional due to lack of good fire truck, adding that all firefighting consumables were also not available.
“The spirits of the staff were at the lowest ebb because they were neither motivated nor up-to-date in modern firefighting methods.” Gov. Akeredolu added.
The Governor further stated that the efforts of his administration to improve on the state of affairs in the State fire service have started to yield fruits. He said his administration had earlier facilitated the donation of four new firefighting trucks by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in year 2017, saying it was unfortunate that only one of them functioned for a while.
The Governor disclosed that they were working hard and putting strategies in place to ensure all the fire stations were put in good shape within the shortest period of time to respond to emergencies as and when necessary. To achieve this, the Governor said they planned to acquire new Rapid Intervention Vehicles (RIV) that could convert water to vapour and maneuver through narrow lanes and rough terrains for use by our Firefighters.
He appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari for his intervention at ensuring the safety of lives and property of the citizens of the country.
Governor Akeredolu also thanked the Federal Controller-General of the Fire Services for promptly sending expert mechanics to assist Ondo State in assessing the firefighting trucks in the Yard of the Fire Service with a view to repairing them. “I want to assure you all that efforts are on to put the trucks in good shape for the use of our Fire Officers.” the Governor said.
In his remark, Ogbeni Aregbesola who promised to send one more firefighting Truck to the state soon, warned that fire is a very deadly act.
He urged the people to be careful in handling any appliances and other things that could cause fire incident.
The former Governor further urged the people to be committed to preventing and mitigating fire incidents, adding that it is more reasonable and safer to prevent fire outbreak instead of trying to put it out after it has broken out.
The Controller General, Federal Fire Service, Dr. Liman Ibrahim also commended the Governor’s efforts towards stemming the tide of Fire disasters in the state and strengthening the institutional capacity.
