By Fatima Saka
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has reaffirmed its commitment to leading Nigeria’s humanitarian transition, with a strong focus on coordination, preparedness, and nationally driven response systems.
The Director General of NEMA, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, made this known on Tuesday at the opening of a Humanitarian Transition Workshop organised by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Abuja.
She emphasised that the transition aligns with NEMA’s statutory mandate to coordinate disaster management and humanitarian response nationwide, noting that the agency will continue to provide strategic leadership through anticipatory action, reliable data, and strengthened collaboration across all levels of government.
Umar described the workshop as a critical platform for developing a joint action plan aimed at building a sustainable, people-centred humanitarian system driven by national institutions.
She highlighted that the engagement offered stakeholders the opportunity to design practical strategies to strengthen federal and state institutions, improve coordination mechanisms, and ensure humanitarian interventions remain inclusive, accountable, and responsive to vulnerable populations.
The NEMA boss further assured that the agency would deepen collaboration with key stakeholders, including United Nations agencies, State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs), and development partners to ensure a resilient and nationally owned humanitarian framework.
In his remarks, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard Doro, said the evolving global humanitarian landscape has made the transition process necessary.
He called on state and local governments, the private sector, development partners, and Nigerians in the diaspora to see the transition as a collective responsibility and mobilise resources to support vulnerable communities.
Also speaking, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Dr. Mohamed Malik Fall, clarified that the humanitarian transition does not indicate a withdrawal of the United Nations from Nigeria.
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Instead, he explained that it represents a strategic shift to empower Nigerian institutions to take greater leadership in humanitarian response, while the UN continues to provide technical support, capacity building, and expertise.
The workshop brought together representatives from federal and state governments, UN agencies, civil society organisations, and development partners to chart pathways for a coordinated, sustainable, and locally led humanitarian system in Nigeria.
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