Protocols:
It is with great pleasure and honor that I welcome you and your team to the headquarters of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Your courtesy visit at this moment signifies the strong partnership between our organizations in the shared mission of disaster and emergency preparedness, response and relief support to persons in need. Reports reaching me as I took over the stewardship of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) have indicated the UN-OCHA as amongst the most valuable partners of the Agency. Your being the first to pay me a courtesy visit as I resume duty, is indeed an affirmation of the strong partnership already between our two sister organizations.
It is therefore my belief that there is no better time than now to strengthen our mutual support and collaboration as part of renewed commitment to providing timely response to multiple disasters, crises and emergencies across Nigeria in line with our mandates. It is on record that we have worked tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of people affected by disasters and to build the resilience of communities in Nigeria to enable them develop their capacity for adaptation to ongoing and emerging hazards. This we have done through the improvement of our early warning systems, sensitization and awareness campaigns; development and review of plans and policies; regular stakeholders’ engagement and the prepositioning of relief materials for deployment in the event of sudden onset disasters. We have continued to work assiduously with our partner Agencies at State and Federal levels and with the United Nations system to provide search and rescue support in times of emergency, provide relief assistance, psychosocial and livelihood support option tools to complete the recovery cycle. It is our firm believe that recovery is not just about brick and mortar; disaster impacted persons require additional recovery support to get back on their feet and to cater for themselves.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, it is on record that the collaboration between NEMA and UN-OCHA has been instrumental in enabling us to enhance our response capabilities and reach out to more people in need. Together, we have been able to coordinate resources, share expertise, and mobilize support to address complex disaster challenges with significant humanitarian outcomes. I am pleased to share with you the successful conclusion of the first phase of the Training of Trainers of NEMA staff on Disaster Information Management in collaboration with UN-OCHA. The capacity building program brought together dedicated professionals committed to enhancing our disaster response capabilities. The program has no doubt equipped NEMA staff with the essential skills and knowledge to effectively manage and disseminate critical information during emergency situations. The knowledge gained from this training will undoubtedly strengthen our ability to coordinate, deploy and make better use of our human and material resources to save lives, safeguard critical assets and restore normalcy in the event of disasters.
As we continue to face up to constantly evolving threats and emergency situation in Nigeria and beyond, the importance of our partnership cannot be overstated. In this regards, I am confident that today’s visit will enable us strengthen our existing partnerships and explore new areas of mutual support and collaboration. With the rainy season fast approaching, NEMA is putting in place modalities to mitigate impacts flooding across the Nigeria through the development of early warning alerts in line with the Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) recently released by Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and public sensitization on precautionary measures to avert the impacts of floods and associated hazards. In this regards, we have planned to convene expert meeting to analyze the SCP with a view to developing strategies for saving lives and safeguarding livelihoods in the event of floods during the rainy season. Other lined up flood disaster mitigating activities will soon be rolled out by NEMA during our upcoming Emergency Coordination Forum (ECF) meeting.
I want to use this opportunity to thank Your Excellency for all the support granted to NEMA by UN-OCHA and other arms of the United Nations to advance our shared goals of saving lives, reducing peoples suffering, and building safer and resilient communities in Nigeria. In this regards, your commitment to upgrade the NEMA situation room remains quite commendable. An upgraded Situation Room will surely enhance NEMA operational effectiveness in disaster response coordination. The commendable initiative will enable us leverage on advanced technologies and data analysis tools to provide real-time insights, improve our communication system and enable well informed life saving decisions by NEMA. With the proposed upgrade of the Situation Room, we look towards its transformation to a Central Command Center that will guide strategic level decision-making in the event of significant and catastrophic disaster events in Nigeria.
I thank you once again for this very important visit. I am confident that our continued cooperation will make a meaningful difference in the lives of the people we serve.
Thank you and God bless.
