Nigerians feel very apprehensive about fire disasters, especially during the dry season. Their vulnerability is accentuated by the parlous state of public fire fighting agencies in the country. In a bid to ameliorate this situation, the Federal Government has just unveiled 25 new firefighting equipment, comprising 14 fire engines and 11 water tenders. The acquisition, though a step in the right direction, is a mere drop in the ocean in view of the chronic deficit in Nigeria’s fire-fighting architecture.
Although fire disasters occur frequently nationwide, the three tiers of government have failed to do the needful. Since 1901, when the forerunner of today’s Federal Fire Service was established, this is the first time that it would receive such resources, according to Abdulrahman Dambazau, the Minister of Interior, who inaugurated them in Abuja. “We all know the Federal Fire Service has not been given the much-needed attention it deserves for 116 years of its existence, particularly when it comes to provision of fire-fighting equipment,” the minister said.
The earlier effort by the Federal Government to clear the mess was undermined by administrative ineptitude: after the Boko Haram bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Abuja in August 2011, the government approved N2.8 billion for the FSS to acquire modern equipment. Strangely, the money has not been released, according to Joseph Anebi, the FSS Controller-General. As a result, capacity is still very low; personnel morale and training are virtually nonexistent.
The state governments are as guilty as the Federal Government, let alone the local governments. An insight into the quandary was given by Anebi last August, who said that only 15 out of 36 states in the country had functional fire services. This leaves the citizens of 21 states at the mercy of fire disasters and other emergencies. In essence, most of the fire services in many states are hollow. This is alarming.
While the implementation of the national fire code is ineffective, the legal environment to fight fire is also weak. The FSS has been lobbying the National Assembly to amend the Fire Service Act of 1963 to bring it in line with modern realities to no avail. This legal review ought to trigger swift parliamentary action.
It is not surprising therefore, that untoward catastrophe accompanies fire disasters here. In November, the Ogbete Main Market in Enugu went up in flames, consuming 35 shops. Almost instantly, the Enugu State Government coughed up N100 million to establish new fire stations. In part, this is an admission of laxity. Just as the Yuletide festivities set in, a petrol-laden tanker exploded in FESTAC Town, Lagos. The inferno destroyed 21 vehicles.
In an incident described as one of the worst market fire disasters in the country in July 2016, fire engulfed the Sabon Gari Market in Kano, consuming 3,800 shops. Indeed, the financial and human loss was colossal. In 2013, Abba Moro, the then Minister of Interior, put the annual economic loss to fire disasters at N50 billion and 1,000 lives. Similarly, the National Association of Nigerian Traders estimated that in the 17 years to 2016, traders lost the sum of N5.3 trillion to fire incidents.
The dearth of manpower and low capacity of the fire services are exacerbated by the poor attitude of Nigerians to rules and regulations. Fire officers point out that they are constrained in combating some incidents because Nigerians do not accord fire trucks the right of way during emergencies. This engenders unnecessary delays. The fire fighters thus reach fire scenes late, by which time the ruin would have been completed.
The other pertinent feature is the disrespect for the National Building Code. This makes it difficult for fire trucks to gain access to fire locations because of the haphazard nature buildings are erected. However, effective fire fighting is highly dependent on citizen participation. A former governor of Lagos, Babatunde Fashola, harped on this while inaugurating fire-fighting equipment for the state in 2014, saying residents must guard street signs to enable the fire officials to locate them during emergencies.
As the Grenfell Tower incident in England and the raging wildfires in California, United States, have shown, fire disasters can occur anywhere, whether in built up areas or in the hinterland. The disaster in London led to the death of 70 residents and financial loss of about £1 billion; 40 people have been killed, with 5,700 homes burnt, in the American fires, according to officials. Therefore, our federal, state and local governments will have to do more in the revival of their fire services.
The National Assembly should pass the amendments to the obsolete fire Act. As well, it is important to sensitise the public to their roles in preventing and fighting fire disasters, and muster the political will to enforce the law when amended. Citizens should subscribe to the Fire Alert System of the FSS, and equip their properties with basic fire extinguishers.
Development is not only about servicing recurrent obligations to workers; there are salient developmental issues begging for attention, one of which is running an efficient public fire service. State governments should key into this safety initiative by staffing their fire services, equipping them with fire fighting engines and vehicles, maintenance workshops, apparel, and prioritising training.
Obviously, the Federal Government has realised the extent of the rot by purchasing the 25 fire trucks. In reality, it has taken care of only the Federal Capital Territory. Nationally, it is still far short of the mark. To meet the challenges of fire incidents, it should steadily build up strategic capacity in different parts of the country in collaboration with the other tiers of government.
