THE Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Board (CDFIPB) says it has withdrawn the ranking and career progression disparity between HND and Degree holders in the four paramilitary outfits.
Alhassan Yakmut, Secretary of the Board in a memo dated October 16 referenced CDCFIB/1001/vol1/110 issued at the end of a meeting of the Board held between September 24 and 25, 2020 stated that all candidates recruited by the Board with HND will be placed as Assistant Superintendent II CONPASS 08 level and can rise to the highest position in their respective services without discriminatory ceiling or hindrance.
In the letter obtained by The ICIR, Yakmut directed that all Inspectorate ranks from Senior Inspector to Cheif Inspector I are abolished, noting that all these officers would be converted to appropriate superintendent ranks.
“To maintain the level of seniority of officers and ensure discipline, individual level of conversion and the effective date will be worked out by the board and the Services and will be communicated in due course,” he stated.
With this, Yakmut said, all ranks in the Services are hencforth aligned with that of the Nigeria Police, adding that new ranking system and badges of rank would be introduced soon.
This is coming more than two years after The ICIR reported that there was a growing disquiet among officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) over the failure of the authorities of the Corps to implement the directive by the Federal Ministry of Interior to all para-military outfits under its supervision to remove the dichotomy between HND and BSc holders in their services.
Abubakar Magaji, then Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, had on July 13, 2017, issued a statement announcing the removal of the dichotomy between holders of university degrees and Higher National Diploma (HND) in all the services.
According to the statement, Magaji said “the Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Board (CDFIPB), at the end of its meeting held on Tuesday, July 11 2017, under the chairmanship of the Minister of Interior, Lt Gen. (Rtd) Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, approved the regularization of the dichotomy between holders of university degrees and Higher National Diploma (HND) in all the Services.
“To this end, the Board directed that all officers with HND to be upgraded to CONPASS 08, which is the salary Grade Level for holders of Degree certificates at entry point. While the nomenclature for the HND holders will start with the Rank of Senior Inspector, the Degree holders are with the rank of Assistant Superintendent II.”
Also, in March 2018, Winifred Oyo-Ita, Head of Service of the Federation issued a circular directing all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies to remove the dichotomy between HND and BSc holders.
The circular dated March 26, 2018, conveyed the decision of the National Council on Establishment (NCE) to all concerned and solicited their support for implementation.