FFS under Samson Karebo: Building the blocks for rapid transformation

BY ADAGHER TERSOO

The recent news of the appointment of DCG Karebo Samson as the new acting comptroller-general of the Federal Fire Service by President Muhammadu Buhari did not come to many as a surprise given his track record of patriotic and dedicated service to his fatherland.

Karebo succeeds the immediate past comptroller-general of the FFS, Liman Ibrahim. And with his solid professional background, Nigerians could be assured that under DCG Karebo, the FFS as a critical agency of the government will be efficiently repositioned into a value-based and well-performing public institution, which will guarantee the safety standards of citizens with a vision towards the protection of lives and property of Nigerians.

Evidently, Karebo Samson comes to the job as the new helmsman of the FFS with a cognate background of public service where excellence has been the hallmark of his inspiring career over the years. No doubt, the FFS under his watch will become more vibrant, proactive, and innovative as his patriotic zeal, energetic burst, and proven innovative capability to lead the country’s apex safety agency is glaring given his antecedents.

Karebo has commenced the process for the fundamental reforms that will transform the Federal Fire Service (FFS) into a result-oriented public institution that is well-positioned for its mandate as a catalyst for the socio-economic and human capital development of the country. The fire boss, who formally assumed office recently, has continued to inspire internal and external support for the service, by a series of consultations aimed at building consensus around the reforms. In one of these consultations, the leadership of the federal fire service and the Nigerian Air Force have agreed to forge their tactical expertise in suppressing and stemming the tide of incessant fire outbreaks in the country.

According to him, the synergy is aimed at deploying aerial aircraft and other aerial resources to combat major fire outbreaks. The chain of operation will command tactical command on ground and other aircraft in the air. Karebo has maintained that his duty to safeguard and prevent fire disasters in the country is the primary mandate of the Federal Fire Service and vowed not only to meet his obligation but to exceed expectation.

According to him, the consultations are anchored on the tripod of a three-point rebranding agenda; training and reorientation, transparency, and accountability, as well as accelerating the drive for Nigerians to take ownership in the fight against fire disaster.

Born on August 11, 1965, Karebo joined the FFS as a recruit fireman in 1987 emerging as the overall best recruit at passing out. He attended the Institute of Fire Engineering in Leicester, England, where he passed the preliminary certificate examination. Karebo has had a distinguished and accomplished career that has seen him work and delivered sterling outcomes in virtually all units of the FFS. He was a non-commissioned officer instructor at the FFS Training School, Surulele from 1993 to 1995, operations at the Apapa Fire Station between 1995 and 1997. He served as protocol officer to the area commander from 1997 to 2006.

From 2006 to 2009, Karebo served as the public relations officer of the FFS Lagos Command from where he was posted to Abuja. Between 2009 and 2010, he was area commander of the Wuse and Garki stations respectively. By 2014, Karebo was the commandant of the National Fire Academy and was posted to other zones of the FFS and later appointed ACGF federal operations and DCG operations in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

He holds a Bachelors of Arts (B.A) degree in English Language from the Lagos State University and a masters degree in disaster risk management and environmental studies from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Karebo holds fellowship of many professional bodies including, fellow, Institute of Corporate Administration; fellow, Institute of Disaster Management and Safety Science as well as distinguished fellow, Emergency, Crisis, Risk Management Institute among others.
He has received several awards and honours in recognition of his outstanding national service among which are honorary doctorate degree in professional administration from the Institute of Career and Capacity Building of Nigeria as well as an icon of vision and excellence award of the Institute of Corporate Administration.

Karebo has attended different various career development courses nationally and internationally some of which include Low-Intensity Conflict in Internal Security, Protection of Civilians Course, and Disaster Management Course at Jaji and Bournemouth University, UK respectively.

The choice of President Muhammadu Buhari in appointing a forward-looking and futuristic thinking consummate professional in the mold of DCG Karebo to man the FFS will great deal of service to the nation as the new CG is an effective team player that will build on the successes of his predecessors and take the agency to greater heights for the safety of all Nigerians.

Tersoo, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja