Lagos Fire Service trains watch officers in emergency response

The training themed, “Effective Fire Fighting and Rescue Operations: Roles and Responsibilities of the First Line Supervisors” was held in Lagos on September 6 and 7, 2023.

In a statement signed by the Deputy Director, Public Affairs of the Agency, Ololade Agboola, the training program sought to equip the officers to be able to meet up with their 21st-century counterparts.

The training was declared opened by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Relations, Mr. Sesan Ogundeko declared opened by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Relations, Mr. Sesan Ogundeko.

Ogundeko implored the firefighters to project the image of the Agency efficiently and professionally in their call duty in emergency management.

This is as he expressed concern about the public’s wrong perception of firefighters during operations as people usually think they do not do enough to stop fire incidents.

The Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Adeseye Magaret, in her welcome address, said that there had been a series of operational challenges globally.

She however harped on the need to catch up with the artificial intelligence world.

“While we think globally, our learning must become in proficient pari passu with our environment,” she added.

The two-day workshop was facilitated by seasoned administrators who delivered professional papers in line with the agency’s core mandate.

These include the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Teaching Service Commission, Mrs Abidakun Ajibola, who delivered the topic “Public Service Rules and Ethics/Employees Attitudinal Change” while Mr. Sholaja Olufemi from the State Public Service Staff Development Centre spoke on “Responsibilities of First-Line Supervisors for Excellent Service Delivery/Emotional Intelligence.

“From the Ministry of Health, Dr. Odunaye-Badmus Sekinat spoke on Health Tips and Safety of Firefighters, as well as Mrs. Funmi Owolabi from the Office of Transformation, Creativity, and Innovation, dwelled on the Growth Mindset.

“Others are the Anambra State Fire Service Director, Martin Agbili, PhD, Mr. Olokungboye Pascal, Chief Fire Officer (retd.). Commandant of the Agency Technical Training Department, Adesina Semiu; Chief Fire Officer and his colleague, Deputy Commander, Operations, Padonu Sunday; Assistant Chief Fire Officer,” the statement added.