FG WILL REDUCE FOREIGN EXCHANGE BY STARTING DOMESTIC TRAINING

　　The Federal Fire Service FFS has announced plans to stop sending its employees abroad for training and instead increase the capacity of its training institutes so that they may accept international students as part of measures to save expenses and conserve foreign currency.

　　When he led the Service's senior management on an inspection of fire stations and other facilities around the Federal Capital Territory FCT on Tuesday, Controller General of Fire, Engr. Olola Abdulganiyu Jaji made this statement.

　　Let me reassure you that local training will be provided before the year is through. Because we want everyone to profit, we are delaying our overseas training because the money spent on teaching 10 individuals abroad might be used to train 30 people.

　　Manufacturers want a distinct FX window for importing raw materials.

　　The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) is pleading with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to examine the present foreign exchange (forex) policy in order to give manufacturers access to forex through a designated window for the importation of raw materials.

　　Mansur Ahmed, national president of MAN, said that the current forex regime, in which forex is allocated to both importers of finished goods and raw materials at the same rate in the same window, is a deterrent to the real sector. He made this statement at the MAN CEOs/Managing Directors' breakfast meeting in Lagos.

　　It has earlier this year revealed that due to the progressive devaluation of the naira, currency constraint, and impact of border closure, the cost of raw materials for consumer products businesses traded on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) increased drastically by 40% in 2021 to N451.56 billion.

　　Speaking at the Nyanya Fire Station, Engr. Jaji promised to modernize the facility and mentioned that 13 Metropolitan Fire Stations, including one in Kubwa, Abuja, are now being built by the federal government nationwide.

　　Jaji stated that the Service will continue to collaborate with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps NSCDC to offer fire protection for fire fighters in response to the ongoing assaults on firefighters and attacks on equipment by thugs at fire scenes.

　　Even if we don't start the fires, we make every effort to save lives and property. However, individuals continue to harm us physically and destroy our equipment. We prohibited fire department activities in Nyanya because of this.

　　Therefore, it is the responsibility of the local authorities to urge their constituents to refrain from harming our workers and property. If they are unable to express gratitude, they ought to let us do our task and go in peace. We removed our appliances here because of this.

　　We will put our tanker into service this week at the Nyanya Fire Station so that they may at least use that one until we receive credible guarantees from the neighborhood that there won't be any further attacks on our people.

　　“Until we have guarantees of their safety in the neighboring Mararaba town in Nasarawa state, where they were assaulted last year, I have directed our soldiers there to confine their firefighting to Nyanya alone.”