Participants, facilitators and representatives of Matosi Nigeria Limited during the NCDMB-supported Emergency Preparedness and Fire Prevention Awareness Training held at Lekki Grandview Hotel, Lagos
By Danjuma Amodu
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has launched a nationwide Emergency Preparedness and Fire Prevention Awareness campaign to equip Nigerians with practical skills for responding to fire outbreaks, building collapses, workplace accidents and other emergencies.
The Board said the initiative is designed to reduce avoidable deaths and losses by improving safety awareness and ensuring that individuals, businesses and communities know what to do during the critical first minutes of an emergency.
Speaking during the Lagos edition of the training at Lekki Grandview Hotel, the Managing Director of Matosi Nigeria Limited, Mr. Tosan Bolorunfe, said emergency preparedness is now a national priority that requires deliberate commitment from government, businesses and communities.
Matosi Nigeria Limited is the consultant for the NCDMB-supported programme.
Bolorunfe said the rising cases of fire outbreaks, workplace accidents, building collapses, panic during emergencies and poor response coordination have exposed serious gaps in public safety awareness.
“Fire incidents, workplace accidents, panic during emergencies, poor response coordination and lack of basic safety awareness continue to cause avoidable losses across homes, offices, hotels, markets, public facilities and industrial sites,” he said.
He stressed that the first few minutes after an emergency often determine whether lives and property are saved or lost.
“A society that waits for disaster before discussing safety is already late,” he said.
“Many lives are not lost because help does not exist. Many lives are lost because people do not know what to do in the first few critical minutes.”
According to him, emergency preparedness should be viewed not just as a safety requirement, but as an investment in human lives, business continuity and national productivity.
“When people are safer, businesses are stronger. When workplaces are prepared, productivity is protected. When communities understand emergency response, lives are preserved,” he said.
Bolorunfe also addressed what he described as a common tendency for Nigerians to resort to panic and prayer during emergencies due to a lack of practical knowledge.
“Prayer is important, but preparedness is also responsibility,” he said.
“In many emergency situations, people resort to prayer because they genuinely do not know the next practical step to take. People need to know who should act, what to switch off, where to go, who to call, and how to evacuate safely.”
L-R: Engr. Olusola Adio, Mr. Roland Koko, Mr. Tosan Bolorunfe, MD, Matosi Nigeria Ltd., and Engr. Phillips Ejim
He said training must go beyond classroom presentations to include practical exercises and simulations so participants can apply knowledge during real emergencies.
“Training adults, especially on emergency subjects, requires more than reading slides. It requires experience, clarity, discipline and the ability to connect knowledge to real-life situations,” he said.
Bolorunfe commended NCDMB for supporting the campaign, describing it as a practical human-capital development intervention that can strengthen safety consciousness across workplaces and communities.
He urged government agencies, private-sector operators, institutions and community leaders to make emergency preparedness a continuous exercise rather than a reaction to disasters.
“To government agencies, private sector operators and community leaders, safety training should not be optional. It should be deliberate, repeated and practical,” he said.
He called on stakeholders to treat emergency preparedness as a national productivity issue, a community protection responsibility and a fundamental human obligation.
L-R: Mr. Roland Koko, Ms. Ibu Christiana, Mr. Tosan Bolorunfe, MD, Matosi Nigeria Ltd., and Engr. Phillips Ejim
The Lagos training featured classroom sessions, interactive discussions and practical demonstrations. Participants also took part in controlled fire-response exercises, fire-extinguisher handling, first-aid awareness and emergency-response sensitisation.
The campaign comes amid recurring fire incidents, building collapses and other emergencies across the country, reinforcing calls for stronger preventive measures, public safety education and improved emergency-response capacity.
