Michael Olugbode in Abuja
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC) has set up a 16-man ministerial committee to upscale and develop a standard curriculum for all its training schools across the country to boost staff capacity and meet global best standards.
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, while inaugurating the committee yesterday in Abuja, said the federal government would continue to support the Corps because it is aware that the training and retraining of personnel is essential in meeting with the dynamism of the 21st century and in revamping and strengthening the Corps.
He said: “As you prepare to improve on the curriculum of the Corps, there are other things that you need to prepare as well such as physical structures. They must be fit and made ready so that when the curriculum is developed, it will not be left in the archives but put into proper use.”
Aregbesola, who was represented by the Director of Special Services in the ministry, Mr. Peter Ekponu, said the committee membership included seasoned individuals from the academia and the security sector.
The Commandant-General of the NSCDC, Dr. Ahmed Audi, stated that the agency is prepared and determined to succeed and chart a new course towards entrenching professionalism, and to build a global elite organisation that can compete effectively with its peers anywhere in the world as well as discharge its mandate diligently with every sense of civility and integrity within the ambit of the law.
He said the present move was a deliberate step towards actualising his vision to reposition the Corps, adding: “I set out to upgrade facilities in our existing training colleges knowing that training is an essential ingredient towards attaining optimal performance, skill acquisition/capacity building and productivity.
“I also initiated the process of developing a standard curriculum for the training schools in order to develop career progression and development courses which will form the basis for future progression in service.”
Audi added: “The Corps that I met on ground had become a shadow of its old self. There was low staff morale, indiscipline and loss of confidence in the system borne out of stagnation, unregulated pattern of promotion among others.
“As a matter of fact, there were no set standards for measuring performance and career progression in the Corps. How then can you get the best in such an unstable system where merit was not given due consideration in determining who gets what? I therefore saw the need to rebuild staff confidence and further boost their morale which was at the lowest ebb.”
The ministerial committee, which is given a four-week timeline, is made up of eminent Nigerian personalities drawn from the academia, the military, police, paramilitary services and other professional bodies, including retired senior officers of the NSCDC and professionals who are experts in curriculum development in the field of education.
The committee is chaired by the Vice Chancellor of Nasarawa State University, Professor Suleiman Muhammed, an expert in crime and sociology while Professor of Law, Ibrahim Adamu, from the University of Jos, is the vice chairman.
