Senate proposes establishment of Civil Defence Academy

Resolving to create institutions dedicated to providing enduring solutions to Nigeria’s security travails, the Senate is proposing the establishment of a N1.1 billion academy to train personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan made the disclosure in his concluding remarks on three critical pieces of legislation presently before the National Assembly which seeks to establish the academy; a bill to give legal backing to the Nigeria Police Academy and another to establish a commission against the proliferation of small arms and weapons.

According to the Senate President, the National Assembly remains committed to ensuring that the security situation in the country improves.

“For the last two weeks or so or even more, the Senate has been discussing and debating security related motions for days. This is our commitment to our country. We want to see the security situation improve and that is why we are doing this.

“We are dealing with this by trying to institutionalize certain situations that will provide enduring arrangements and solutions to the situation we face today.

“So, we will push this to ensure that we pass all these bills and I’m sure Mr. President will assent to these bills because of all the three or four bills taken today, all are security related; none of them is frivolous or simply a bill trying to play to the gallery.

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“They are bills that are so important to the security architecture of this country and in fact, when you talk about training, it is key and central to getting the kind of competent and qualified security personnel that the country needs,” Lawan said. 

Earlier, a bill seeking to establish the Nigerian Civil Defence Academy, Pandogari, scaled second reading on the floor of the Senate during plenary on Wednesday and was sponsored by Senator Sani Musa (Niger East).