It is with great honour and pleasure that I welcome you all to his National Fire Workshop, with the themes “Fire Safety Management in Nigerian Markets: Challenges and Pragmatic Solutions” marking another milestone achievement by the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute, NBRRI.
This topic is timely and relevant to our national focus and dispensation. Certainly, meeting the country’s economy and enhancing the growth of the country’s GDP, this will require collective efforts, synergies and cooperation from all stakeholders in the built environment. Thus, attending a forum such as this, where intellectuals and professionals gather to chart a way forward for our collective national gain, is always heartwarming to us as an Institute.
With reference to the themes of this workshop, it is worthy to note that, in Nigeria today, the rate of loss of lives and damages to properties due to frequent fire outbreaks is alarming and if not checked, it will degenerate to national disaster. Properties worth billions of naira have been lost in our markets due to incessant fire incidences. Pertinent to note, is the increasing number of lives lost in the outbreak. While traders lament that activities of relevant fire-fighting institutions on the other hand, are of the opinion that traders and market managers have failed to comply with fire safety measures. It was on the basis that this workshop is organized.
I therefore want to encourage all participants and stakeholders present and those connected via the various virtual media platforms to see this as a viable means for learning and contributing intellectually to the issues to be addressed and find solutions that will be beneficial.
I finally want to commend the management of the institute for the efforts towards repositioning NBRRI and making it a global research center that every Nigerian is proud of under the able leadership of Prof. Samson Duna.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I once again welcome you all to this 2-day National Fire Workshop and I wish you all very fruitful deliberations.
Thank you all.
Engr. Dr. Jibrin Sule
Head of Building Research Department, NBBRI.