The new Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mrs Zubaida Umar has emphasised the importance of collaborative teamwork in addressing national emergency challenges
The new NEMA boss stated this shortly after taking over from her predecessor, Mustapha Ahmed at the NEMA Headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.
She pledged to lead with focus on excellence, innovation, inclusivity and enhanced staffers’ welfare, outlining plans to deploy technical and human intelligence and ensure early forecasting,
“We should work together as a team with a common purpose and objective to enhance our nation’s resilience to face whatever emergency challenges we face.
“Nigeria, like many nations, faces a myriad of natural and man-made disasters that threaten our communities, security and infrastructure.
“Therefore, the need for innovative and effective emergency preparedness and response has never been more apparent.
“It is therefore incumbent on all of us charged with the responsibility of emergency management to reorientate ourselves through steadfast commitment to excellence, innovation, and inclusivity in service delivery,” she said.
Umar called for concrete suggestions to improve the agency’s operations and emphasised the need for accountability and transparency.
On his part, the outgone D-G, stressed the Agency’s role in disaster management and outlined its functions, including coordinating resources for disaster prevention, preparedness, and response.
Ahmed highlighted NEMA’s structure, with ten departments and six zonal directorates across Nigeria, as well as its collaboration with state and local emergency management agencies.
He expressed confidence in NEMA’s ability to handle complex disasters, such as those caused by insurgency and natural calamities, and called for sustained collaboration with key partners to enhance disaster risk reduction efforts.
The former NEMA boss also noted NEMA’s recent interventions, including the delivery of 42,000 metric tons of grains from the National Strategic Reserves.
Ahmed thanked NEMA staff members for their support during his tenure and urged them to extend the same support to the new D-G.
The Director, General Services, Mr James Akujobi assured the new D-G of workers’ support to assist her to achieve outstanding successes. (NAN)