Lagos fire service gets first female acting director after 37 years of existence

July 2, 2019 9:16 pm

Men of the Lagos State Fire Service in a demonstration drill with the new Firemen Apparels during the handing over of 34 new Fire Trucks commissioned and built for the Lagos State Government by W.S Darley of United States and handed over to the Lagos State Fire Service by Governor Babatunde Fashola.

The Lagos state government (LASG) has appointed Margret Adeseye as the acting director of the Lagos State Fire Service.

Adeseye becomes the first female fire officer to be appointed into the position of acting director of the organisation, which was established 37 years ago.

The appointment followed the retirement of the director, Rasaki Musibau and 30 other senior officers who were officially pulled out from the service on Monday after they had put in 35 years.

In her address, Adeseye commended the retired director for his good leadership.

She described his Squad 11 of the service as a team that recorded laudable achievements.

“I felicitate with `Squad 11’ of the Lagos State Fire Service, a team blessed with heroes of inestimable values who made sacrifices to succeed their hallmark,” she said in Ikeja on Tuesday.

“They are retiring today from the State public service after long and meritorious service years to the development of our dear state.

“You saw, you fought and today, you have conquered.”

The director urged those still in service to continue to strive for excellence despite the numerous challenges.

Rasaki Musibau, the retiring director, described the 15 months he was head of the Lagos State Fire Service as short but a remarkable period with purposeful leadership.

Musibau said he was fortunate to have worked with brilliant and dedicated senior and junior officers while in service adding that one of his achievements as director was the installation of Radio Network Communication gadgets in seven sub-stations of the establishment.

He said that firemen could now communicate conveniently with each other from different parts of the state.

On the appointment of a woman as the acting director, Musibau said, “whatever a man can do, a woman can do same”.

Musibau, however, said that his saddest day in the service was when he was kidnapped on April 6, 2019, which he described as an `unforgettable day’.

He thanked his family, colleagues and friends who paid the N5 million ransom before his kidnappers released him.