By CrossRiverWatch Admin
There was pomp and glitz at Government House Calabar on Tuesday as the Cross River Government and the federal ministry of interior spared no expense for comfort to commission one firefighting truck.
The truck is one out of about 44 trucks, about 20 ambulances and some tankers procured by the federal government after the Federal Executive Council approved NGN10.4 billion on March 3, 2021.
And, nearly a dozen luxury sedans and pickup trucks belonging to the Federal Fire Service (FFS) were deployed from Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory and other areas to Calabar to welcome the interior minister, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as well as the Controller of the FFS among others to Calabar for the commissioning of the truck donated to the State.
The Governor, Benedict Ayade who described this as an achievement of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, promised to take a cue from the donation.
“Cross River is known as the tourism capital of Nigeria and as such safety must be our priority. So you will see that we will reflect this in our budget for 2022 to ensure we provide this kind of fire fighting truck in all the local government areas,” he pledged.
Ayade, who noted that emergency response systems have remained a big challenge since fire happen extemporaneously and most times on a state of emergency, disclosed that his government has already placed orders for three fire fighting trucks for the controversial Obudu International Airport which is less than 50 percent complete.
The State which has been plagued with several fire incidents in the past five years has less than 4 functional firefighting trucks across it’s over 23,000 square kilometers of land. And, Ayade pledged to procure firefighting trucks for the 18 Local Government Areas.
For Aregbesola, the deployment of the modern fire fighting truck was to further strengthen safety from unforeseen fires.
While calling on the media to support the effort of government to promote the consciousness of Nigerians in their communities to own the equipment, the former Osun State governor said the federal government has purchased 200 modern fire fighting trucks, distributed 141 and 59 still outstanding.
He pleaded with the personnel handling the trucks to handle them with care as the they do not come cheap.
