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Emmanuel Iheanacho,
the Minister of Interior, has said that Public Private Partnership
(PPP) is a vital instrument in the quest to reposition the Fire Service
that will meet the standard required in the 21st century.

In a statement by
Timothy Oyedeji, Assistant Director in charge of press, Mr. Iheanacho
admitted that the government and the private sector cannot afford to
sit back and watch the inadequacies in the service, while assets that
citizens have acquired over the years are gutted by fire.

The Ministry of
Interior, through the Federal Fire Service, is already partnering with
the National Assembly in the proposed amendment of the Act that will
give the service regulatory and associate responsibilities, while
actual fire fighting operations are brought closer to the citizenry
through municipal involvement.

Earlier, the leader
of the Lagos Millennium Group, Taiwo Taiwo, informed the minister that
her non-governmental organisation was poised to partner with the
ministry on plans to upgrade Ajele Fire Station, Lagos, as it would
build a state of the art fire fighting structure, in line with
international best practice.

Mrs. Taiwo further said her group, through a Public Private
Partnership (PPP) initiative, has secured a $2 million dollars grant
from Shell for the Ajele Fire Service. She assured that the target of
the group was to change the face of public infrastructure, as it has an
agenda of what it wants Lagos to be.