The Honourable Minister Of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has urged officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), to be firm yet civil while carrying out their duties, bearing in mind the core mandate of the security organisation which includes securing the lives of citizens as well as aiding in the maintenance of peace and order.
Aregbesola said this at the presentation of report on ‘Standard Curriculum Development For All Civil Defence Training Colleges’, by the Ministerial Committee, which held at the Minister’s Conference Room, on Tuesday, 30th August, 2022, in Abuja.
In his remark titled, “for better training and skills”, the Honourable Minister commended the commandant General, NSCDC, Abubakar Audi, and his Management Team for congregating ideas in a deliberate effort to reposition the Corps for operational efficiency.
“Let me particularly commend the Commandant General for putting my words into action and to applaud him for the assemblage of dedicated professionals which cut across various fields, with everyone bringing on board their wealth of experience and fresh ideas for the attainment of the set targets, which I believe are captured in the final report of the Committee.” The Minister stated.
According to the minister, “it is noteworthy that the Committee deemed it fit to visit existing Civil Defence Training Colleges to have first-hand knowledge and assessment of current realities and existing facilities in order to determine the critical needs required by the colleges to meet up with global standard and further expand its scope to impart the much needed knowledge in personnel.”
Expressing hope that the Corps will be able to provide the best education and training to its staff, that will equal what is attainable elsewhere, the Minister assured the committee that the Government will critically study the report presented, including the implementation strategies, recommendations, and observed lapses in some of the schools visited, as necessary improvement and adjustment will be effected as appropriate.
“I have equally noted the Committee’s proposal for the re-designation of the Training Colleges to deliver on specific mandate and to assure you that this will be critically assessed and studied. Let me equally assure you that the government will look into the observed lapses in some of the schools visited and make necessary improvement and adjustment as appropriate. Ultimately, the goal and objective of the Committee’s assignment is to sufficiently equip the Corps personnel for skill acquisition and professionalism for better performance in the overall interest of national security.” He said.
During his presentation, earlier, the chairman of the Ministerial committee, Professor, Suleiman Bala Mohammed, highlighted key observations and findings made by the committee.
The findings includes; “the absence of C and O and survey plans on the land already acquired, which will give the NSCDC permanent and legal/statutory ownership of the land; inadequate and competent professional instructors and teachers to manage colleges; inadequate facilities such as classrooms, standard generators, training ground, ICT and hostels amongst others.
The committee however recommended that in order to raise the standard of the schools to achieve higher professionalism of the corps, infrastructure, curriculum, staffing and funding should be adequately attended to as soon as possible to ensure smooth take-off of the institutions.