National Fire Safety Code Out Soon – FFS Controller General

Nigeria will soon have a National Fire Safety Code, according to the Controller General of the Federal Fire Service (FFS), Mr Olusegun Okebiorun.

Okebiorun said at a news  forum last Sunday in Abuja that the code, when approved by the Federal Government, would regulate the operations of all fire services nationwide.

“This we have forwarded to the Federal Executive Council and I hope in the next one or two weeks the code would be approved,’’ he said.

According to him, the code will boost the operations of the fire services and enhance the capability of the states to fight fires and prevent any recurrence.

Okebiorun added: “When this code comes into being, it will be mandatory for everybody who is developing a building to get an approval on fire safety regulations.

“The federal government’s projects approval will be got from the Federal Fire Service, while states will get theirs from the state fire services.’’

The controller general said that although the level of fire safety in the country had “developed to some extent’’ in the past few years, Nigeria still had a long way to go.

“When compared with some of the developed nations of the world, you will find out that we are not yet there.

“For an effective fire service to operate, it has to operate in an encompassing atmosphere; it must have good fire prevention activities; it must have a good fire-fighting system on ground,’’ Okebiorun added.