By Seun Adams
The 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.
He added that 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 in Abuja.
The Minister however commended the commandant General, NSCDC, Mr. 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.”
“I must confess that I am impressed by the level of commitment and dedication displayed by members of the Committee and eventual output as elucidated in the Committee’s report. I have every reason to believe that the Curriculum so designed will meet up with the operational needs of the Corps.”
According to him: “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.”
While noting that the Corps requires a Standard Curriculum that will serve as a basis for career progression and further development in the service of the Corps to further enhance the capacity of each cadre of officers in the discharge of their duties, Aregbesola expressed hope that the Corps will be able to provide the best education and training to its staff that will be equal to 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.”
During the presentation, earlier, the chairman of the Ministerial committee, Professor Suleiman Bala Mohammed, noted that the committee’s primary mandate was to develop a suitable and standard curriculum for NSCDC in order to professionalize the corps to meet present and future challenges. He highlighted key observations and findings made by the committee to include 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.
