The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has called for the review of the law prohibiting bush burning and the mechanism for its enforcement in Nigeria.
The Media Adviser to the minister, Mr. Sola Fasure, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
According to him, the minister made the call at the Pull-Out Ceremony of the Retired Controller- General (CG) of the Federal Fire Service (FFS), Dr. Liman Ibrahim, at the National Fire Academy, Sheda, Abuja.
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Aregbesola stressed the need for the review of the law prohibiting bush burning which will be made more relevant to the time.
This, he noted, should include the mechanism for its enforcement.
“I believe strongly that it should be included in the mandate of forest rangers. The economic loss and environmental damage due to this obnoxious practice are huge and incalculable.
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“An end must come to it,” the minister said.
He also urged the service to engage the mass media in educating and sensitizing the public in the prevention and handling of fire incidents.
“It is very critical for the service, therefore, to intensify its advocacy campaign on fire prevention. This, they say, is better than cure.
“Though there are naturally occurring fire incidents, most fire incidents are man-made, either accidentally, negligently or on purpose.”
This, he said, could be prevented mostly if there is enough awareness, adding that Nigerians should be made to know the various categories of fire and what the first responders should do before the arrival of fire officers.
“This is the time of the year that fire incidents occur at a higher rate and most items are combustible.
“The service should therefore engage the mass media to sensitize Nigerians on the need to be careful with handling fire and what to do if there is fire incident.
“Conscious efforts should be made to publicize your contact details so that Nigerians will have handy sufficient information on how to contact the service in case of fire.”
The minister noted that the biggest challenge of fire fighting in Nigeria in recent times was aerial fire fighting campaigns for bush fires or industrial fires like what was witnessed in a departmental store in Abuja recently.
Aregbesola, however, called on the service to intensify efforts at collaborating with other relevant security agencies and other levels of governments in fire fighting.
“For this, the service should accelerate the rapprochement with the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on the use of the airplane for bombing wild and large fire with huge packs of suppressants to kill fire from the air,” he added.
He also called on the state governments to invest more in fire fighting, saying it is a critical social service that must not be neglected.
“The FFS is only complementing state efforts, and not to take over their responsibility.”
The minister congratulated the outgone CG for successfully completing his tenure and etching his name in gold in fire fighting and service to the nation and mankind by his notable contributions in the expansion of the service.
He, therefore, urged the Acting Controller-General and the management of the service to build on his achievements to make FFS the best in Africa.
Liman thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for giving him the opportunity to serve as he encouraged the officers and men of the service to aspire to be the best fire fighting service in Africa.
