The Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to enhance the welfare of the personnel of paramilitary agencies in the country.
The minister made the reiteration during the unveiling of the camouflage uniform for the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps at the Federal Ministry of Interior, Abuja.
Honourable Olubunmi stated that the additional uniform will boost the confidence of personnel of the Corps in the discharge of their statutory responsibilities especially as they are involved in several joint operations with other services in the country.
While appreciating the contributions of the Corps to the internal security of the country, the Honorable Minister assured of a better welfare package for officers and men of the Corps stating that; “We are working with the salaries and wages commission for an upward review of the salaries of paramilitary officers”.
He added that the approval for peculiar allowances of officers and men was made without budgetary provision and assures that as soon as the budget is approved all personnel will be paid accordingly.
“We will ensure adequate training and retraining and put an end to the era of career stagnation for all personnel of paramilitary agencies… We will have a system that will support the weakest and the strongest personnel…”
“We are working on establishing a paramilitary pension board to ease the trouble of retiring personnel, he added.
The Minister appreciated the Commandant General for his innovative and critical thinking to reposition the Corps and the Corps’ personnel for their unwavering service to the country. In the same vein, he assured Nigerians of the Federal Government’s commitment to ensure a safe Nigeria.
Speaking during the presentation of the uniform for the unveiling, the Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, PhD, mni, OFR stated that, the ministry approved the additional uniform hence the reason he’s come to present it to the minister for commissioning.
The Commandant General stated that the need for the camouflage was necessitated by the involvement of the Corps in various joint operations in the country and to boost the confidence of personnel who participate in such operations.
CG Audi went ahead to shed light on the colour combination of the camouflage saying; “the black and the blue represent the Corps’ service colours and the browns represent the operational ground”.
The uniform will be worn by Special Forces trained personnel and service commanders across all formations of the Corps.