Cross River State governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, in the company of Minister for Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola have commissioned a state-of-the-art fire fighting truck in Calabar.
Prof. Ayade lauded President Muhammadu Buhari and the minister for the truck, which is one of about 200 acquired by the federal government.
He described the acquisition and distribution of the trucks as one of the silent achievements of President Buhari, Ayade commended the minister, whom he said, “is active and performing, delivering on timelines.”
The governor promised to take a cue from the President and ensure that budgetary provision is made in the 2022 budget for the acquisition of fire fighting trucks for the 18 local governments in the state.
“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,” Ayade said.
Speaking further, Ayade who noted that emergency response systems have remained a big challenge since fires happen extemporaneously and most times on a state of emergency added that his government has already placed orders for three fighting trucks .
“We have already placed orders for three fire fighting trucks for the Obudu International Airport,” governor Ayade said .
On his part, Minister of interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola accompanied by the controller federal fire service, and all the heads of paramilitary agencies in the state said 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 urged the personnel handling the trucks to handle them with care as they do not come cheap.
