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UN-OCHA new Head of Office in Nigeria Mr Trond Jensen Friday visited NEMA headquarters in Abuja.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) new Head of Office in Nigeria @OCHANigeria Mr Trond Jensen Friday visited NEMA headquarters in Abuja. He was received by the Director General AVM Muhammadu Muhammed (rtd). Mr Jensen was accompanied by Mr Vincent Omuga also of the UN-OCHA Nigeria, while the Director Planning Research and Forecasting Mr Kayode Fagbemi joined the Director-General in receiving them.
The Director-General of NEMA and new Head of UN-OCHA Nigeria discussed about collaboration between the two organisations with commitment to work towards adding more value for benefit of the distressed.
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Distribution of relief items to IDPs affected by banditry attacks leaving in camping in Basari, Katsina state.

In compliance with directive of President Muhammadu Buhari and subsequent activation by the Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq, the National Emergency Management Agency has distributed relief items to Internally Displaced Persons affected by banditry attacks and living in a camp in Batsari, Katsina State. In addition to the relief items, five cows were provided to the camp in celebration of the Eid-el-Kabir with the IDPs that are mostly women and women. The items distributed were
a.     1000 bags of 12.5 kg rice
b.     1000 bags of 25 kg beans
c.      1000 bags of 12.5 kg maize
d.     50 cartons of Milo
e.     50 cartons of powdered milk
f.       50 bags of 50 kg Sugar    
g.     167 cartons of seasoning            
h.     83 cartons of tin tomatoes
i.        2, 000 pieces of blankets                        
j.       2, 000 pieces of nylon mats                   
k.     2, 000 pieces  of foam mattresses        
l.        100 kegs of 20 litres  of vegetable oil  
m.  50 bags of 20 kg salt                                
n.     50 cartons  of omo detergents  
o.     63 cartons  of bath soap             
p.     3,500 pieces  of women’s clothing  
q.     2,500 pieces  of children’s clothing

The IDPs were excited by the kind gesture and appreciated the President, Muhammadu Buhari for providing them with succour. They also thanked the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq and NEMA for prompt delivery of the relief items and even considering them in the celebration of the Eid-el-Kabir

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Mother, four children killed in Abuja flood

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has expressed regrets over the death of a mother and her four children in Abuja on Saturday, after torrential rainfall in Gwagwalada area council that swept away some houses.

Speaking in Gwagwalada after an on the spot assessment of the damage done by the rainfall, the director, planning. research and forecasting of NEMA, Mr. Kayode Fagbemi advised residents of flood-prone areas to immediately move out to avoid more disasters.

He said, “It is unfortunate, especially because we have lost lives. This is exactly what we have been trying to educate people on.

“There is a culvert over there, it’s likely it has been blocked, and so the water had to find its way above the road and then affected the house or houses.

“We still want to educate people, we are still going to have more rainfalls, we want the people to please clear all their drainages, waterways should be cleared of waste, and people should move, people that are close to waterways like this should move.

“We don’t want to lose more lives, we don’t want to lose people. We want people to know that flood this year has been predicted and whatever we can do to save lives we will do”.

READ ALSO: Nine Dead, 20,000 Affected By Niger Floods

Earlier in the year, the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Retired Air Vice-Marshal Muhammadu Muhammad cautioned Nigerians residing in areas identified as flood risk areas to evacuate their facilities immediately to avert any form of disaster that may arise as a result of flooding.

According to Air Vice-Marshal, Muhammad about 102 local governments are expected to experience a high rate of flooding, he, however, notes that the agency has put in place measures to mitigate the impact.

In a statement, Mr. Muhammad said Kaura and Zaria local government areas in Kaduna state are among the high-risk areas and urged state emergency management agencies to help sensitize residents and prepare to evacuate communities.

The NEMA DG also advised governments to organise state humanitarian coordination forum meetings in order to prepare stakeholders for mitigation and response to floods when they hit.

 

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Community sensitization and preparedness for flood disaster emergency in Jos North, plateau state

NEMA takes steps to avert flood disaster in Plateau communities
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Tuesday held a sensitisation programme in Jos aimed at averting flood disaster in Plateau.
Mr Eugene Nyelong, North Central Zonal Coordinator of NEMA said that the sensitisation was to prepare the people on the challenges of flooding that usually occur during the rainy season.
Nyelong said that there was also the need to develop capacity and build community resilience to help mitigate the challenges that have become recurrent decimal.
He said: “Earlier in the year, the Nigeria Metrological Services Agency and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency had in their seasonal rainfall prediction had revealed the areas that were prone to disaster.
“They projected that some local government areas in the country, and in our case, Barkin Lad is among the highly probable flood risk areas.
“Pankshin, Jos North, Jos South, Jos East, Kanke and Mangu are among the moderately probable flood risk local government areas.
“This timely and important information has helped us to design proactive programmes such as this and will be unfolding subsequently across the three states of Benue, Plateau and Nassarawa.”
He said that even though flood was a universal hazard, what distinguished the badly affected from the completely unaffected was attitude.
According to him, sensitisation would go a long way as part of efforts to mitigate flood disaster. He said that stakeholders have the responsibility to ensure that knowledge, skills or information were adequately and promptly communicated to the intended audience.
“This has greatly informed our change in strategy as an agency from the usual high table meeting to a participatory, grassroots engagement with a view to changing the narrative. “May I state in clear terms that global emergencies will continue to increase but our level of preparedness will help prevent avoidable deaths.
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Two-story building under construction in Dawaki, off Kubwa Expressway, Abuja collapsed

A two-storey building under construction in Dawaki, off Kubwa Expressway, Abuja collapsed today. Search and Rescue team of NEMA, FCT Emergency Management Agency, Nigeria SecurityandCivilDefense Corp (NSCDC), The Nigerian Police and a construction company rescued 10 trapped workers. 3 had minor injuries, 7 were taken to the hospital which one of them was fatally injured having been covered by the rubbles and being the last to be removed.
The Director Search and Rescue of NEMA Air Commodore Edward Adedokun, while addressing media at the site, said “there was a building collapse at the early hours of today 25 Jul 20 at about 1040hrs at a construction site located at News Engineering, Dawaki off Kubwa dual Express way.
“Upon receipt of an alert around 1050hrs, the SAR team from NEMA Abuja Operations Office scrambled to the site. Soon enough DG FCT Emergency Management Agency Idris Abbas and his team, The Nigerian Police led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police Operations FCT Command, Director Development Control FCDA, FCT Fire Service, NSCDC, MOPOL and order responders were at the site along with ERT from HQ NEMA.
“Appropriate equipment were deployed to excavate the rubbles of the collapsed structure in the search for and immediate rescue of any persons trapped within. All hands were on deck for the SAR operation. I was there to coordinate the emergency agencies and stakeholders.
“10 persons were rescued in the morning with 3 of them injured and evacuated to Kubwa Gen Hospital. About 1719hrs the evening one body was recovered and taken to Kubwa Gen Hospital.
The Operation came to close at about 1825hrs and the site handed over to the Police.
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NEMA distributes relief to persons affected by windstorms in Kwara State.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) at the weekend distributed relief materials to 662 households affected by windstorm in three Local Government Areas of Kwara State.
 
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the affected local government areas are Kaiama, Baruten and Edu.
 
The  relief materials made up of food and non-food items which distributed directly to the affected persons in Kaiama, Baruten and Edu Local Government Areas. 
Director General of  AVM Muhammadu Muhammed (rtd), while flagging off the distribution said the relief intervention was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari for the affected persons to ameliorate the impact of the disaster they suffered and enable them to restart their lives.
The DG NEMA who was represented by the Head of the Agency’s Minna Operations Office, covering Niger and Kwara  States Lydia Wagami Madu gave the breakdown of the items as 662 bags of rice (12.5kg), 662 bags of maize (12.5kg), 662 bags of beans (25kg), 66 bags of sugar, 66 kegs of vegetable oil and 1,300 pieces of the mattress.
 
Others, he said were 1,300 pieces of blankets, 1,300 pieces of mosquito net, 1,200 bags of cement, 1,000 bundles of roofing sheet, 175 bags of 3 inches nail, and 350 packets of zinc nail.
 
The Director-General of NEMA AVM Muhammed, who made the presentation of the items, noted that the agency had earlier responded to the disaster when it was brought to its notice.
 
Muhammed appreciated the supports of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Faruq in the discharge of NEMA’s mandates. 
 
He said this informed the current distribution exercise.
 
He said the relief intervention was also to identify with the affected persons in their time of need and ensure they felt the impact of government at the grassroots level.
 
The relief distribution was carried out together with staff of Kwara State Emergency Management Authority, traditional leaders and residents.
Two of the beneficiaries, Jibril Mohammed and Mariam Haruna, who spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries, expressed their happiness and promised to make use of the items judiciously.
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Unveiling the Official Portrait of the Director-General National Emergency Management Agency Air Vice Marshal Muhammadu A. Muhammed (rtd)

Air Vice-Marshal Muhammadu A. Muhammed (rtd) was appointed the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) by President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR with effect from 30th April 2020.
The DG formally assumed duties on 5th May 2020 and has since begun to put in place modalities and processes essential to properly position the agency to effectively and efficiently deliver on its statutory mandates on disaster prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response in Nigeria.
Muhammed comes with a wealth of experience serving in various capacities in the Nigerian Air Force and public service, including as Chief of Policy and Plans at the Nigerian Airforce before his retirement.
He holds a BSc in Political Science and MSc in Strategic Studies and is decorated with the medals of General Service Star, Pass Staff College and Fellow Defence College among others.
The NEMA DG began his professional career in 1981, enlisting in the Nigerian Defence Academy, and was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in 1985.
He took his primary and basic flying courses at 401 and 403 Flying Training Schools, Kaduna and Kano respectively, and subsequently completed Tactical Fighter Training at 117 Air Combat Tactical Group, Kainji.
He was assigned to work in the Nigerian Airways between 21 January 1997 to 16 January 1998, serving as Military Assistant to the Chief Executive of the national airline.
He also served as Security Officer, Wing Chief Administration, Fleet Training Officer and Fleet Captain Air Force One (Boeing 737 BBJ) between 26 January 2000 to 4 February 2013 at the Presidential Air Fleet.
Thereafter, he was posted to the HQ NAF to take up the role of Deputy Director Policy, Director of Transformation and Chairman Air Exposition and International Liaison up until 8 January 2015.
Air Vice-Marshal Muhammadu A. Muhammed (rtd) was also at various times:

● The Senior Air Staff Officer at the Headquarters Training Command

● Managing Director of Nigerian Air Force Investments

● Air Officer Commanding Logistics Command

● Air Officer Commanding Tactical Air Command, and

● Air Secretary.

He also has Limited Combat Rating and United States Federal Aviation Administration License as well as Nigerian Civil Aviation Air Transport License with 5,566 flying hours.
The DG NEMA has flown several aircraft types which include: Air Force One (B737 BBJ), Alpha Jet, Gulf Stream 550, Dassault Falcon 900, Citation Jet, L39 ZA and Bulldog 123.
Air Vice-Marshal Muhammadu A. Muhammed (rtd) is a native of Maiduguri, Borno State and is married with 5 lovely children. When he’s not working, he’s most likely reading, horse riding or engaged in some leisurely football activities.
The DG surely looks forward to a good working relationship with the media as he steers the Agency onwards to its visions and truly impactful service to Nigerians.

Manzo Ezekiel
NEMA Press Unit
Abuja 20th July 2020