The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has advocated an intense and sustained sensitization as panacea to the non-compliance of Ministries Departments and Agencies as well as the general public to fire safety regulations.
NOA Director General, Mike Omeri made this advocacy when he led the Agency’s management team to the Headquarters of the Federal Fire Service (FFS).
Omeri described as alarming the non-compliance of most public and private buildings in the country to the National Fire Code which many property owners and developers deliberately circumvent, pointing out that compliance was in the best interest of all. He identified the need for a more robust public sensitization on fire safety which he said informed the visit aimed at building synergy between NOA and FFS.
He said the State Directorates of the Agency had been directed to work closely with the fire departments in their respective states to ensure that Nigerians are enlightened on how to avoid fires disasters and what to do in the event of a fire outbreak. This, he said, would contribute toward ensuring that the sacrifices of fire men who have lost their lives in emergency responses, to whom he also paid tribute, would not have been in vain.
FFS Comptroller General, Joseph Garba Anebi who described the visit as a well-timed and welcome intervention, disclosed that out of over eighty MDAs and public buildings inspected by the Service in Abuja, only two, representing less than 2.5%, were compliant with fire safety regulations. He noted that the operations of the fire service goes beyond fire-fighting and includes fire prevention through fire safety compliance assessment of properties, safety installations and fire code enforcement. Observing that most fires were caused either by ignorance or carelessness, Anebi urged NOA to step up its fire safety awareness campaign.
The Fire Chief also called on MDAs and public organizations to show example by installing fire safety equipment and taking other necessary safety measures in their buildings while admonishing Nigerians to give away items in their homes which are no longer needed as such constitute impediments to fire fighting and emergency response.
Helen Onuoha
Press Unit
