By Fatima Saka
The National Emergency Management Agency of Nigeria and United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on a broad spectrum has revealed partnership plans to Mitigate the effects of disaster in Nigeria.
Director General NEMA Mrs Zubaida Umar on Tuesday in Abuja received the UNOCHA Nigeria Head of Office Mr Trond Jensen at NEMA headquarters on a courtesy visit.
While receiving the teams, DG NEMA Mrs Zubaida Umar appreciated the commitment of UNOCHA and expressed confidence in the sustenance and strengthening of existing partnership between the two organizations towards achieving their mandates.
She also highlighted some of her plans for flood early preparations in a proactive approach to mitigate and respond to the disaster this year.
“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 belief 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.”
In his speech, Mr Jensen said the visit was to reassured the commitment of UNOCHA to partner with NEMA in the areas of disaster management in Nigeria.
The Director Planning Research and Forecasting Dr Onimode Bandele Abdullahi, in a welcome remark highlighted some of the partnership programmes and activities between NEMA and UNOCHA.
