By Goodluck Ikiebe in Abuja.
The Liberian Fire Service Chief, Colonel Alex Dickson, has visited the headquarters of the Federal Fire Service,Abuja,seeking collaboration with the Nigerian Federal Fire Service and commending the effort of the Nigerian Government in repositioning thr Service.
Col. Dickson, who was received by the Controller General, Dr. Liman Alhaji Ibrahim, conducted him round to see the infrastructures and facilities of the Service, expressed satisfaction in what he saw.
The visiting Liberian Fire Chief expressed delight and also appealed for support from the Federal Fire Service in the areas of capacity building.
Col. Dickson said, “Liberian as a countr recovering from its past civil unrest, had a lot to learn from Nigeria in repositioning its Fire Department.
He said this is so,especially with regards to administrative structure and rapid transformation and seeing how the Federal Fire within a short time had been able to transform from a moribund Fire Service to one of the best in Africa.
Dr. Liman, while responding, told the visiting Fire Chief that between 2015 till date, the Fire Service had moved from a Service with just 3 fire fighting trucks to a Service having over 150 state – of- the – art modern firefighting trucks at the moment.
“The Service has also increased its staff strength to over 5,000 firefighters, manning fire stations across the country. A achieved by the determination of the present leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari,” the CG said.
The Controller General also disclosed that the Service had developed a template for a robust capacity building for its Officers and Men,a developmnt he noted made it possible for frequent training of firefighters locally and internationally.
The CG expressed the willingness of Nigeria íto provide the necessary support required to revamp the Liberian Fire Service.
This collaboration, he said, would be achieved through its parent ministry, the Federal Ministry of Interior in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
