NEMA, ABU strengthen collaboration on disaster preparedness

The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening collaboration with Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria, to enhance disaster risk management, research, capacity building and institutional resilience.

The Director-General of NEMA, Zubaida Umar, gave the assurance on Monday while receiving the Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Prof. Adamu Ahmed, and members of the university’s management team during a courtesy visit to the agency’s headquarters in Abuja.

Mrs Umar said partnerships with academic institutions remain critical to promoting evidence-based disaster management, advancing research and innovation, and building national resilience against natural and human-induced disasters.

She noted that NEMA has continued to reposition disaster management in Nigeria by placing greater emphasis on disaster risk reduction, early warning dissemination, public awareness, preparedness and resilience building rather than focusing solely on emergency response.

According to her, the agency has also sustained nationwide sensitisation campaigns, strengthened collaboration with State Emergency Management Agencies, SEMAs, and supported the establishment and effective functioning of Local Emergency Management Committees, LEMCs, to improve community-based disaster risk management.

The NEMA boss stressed that effective disaster management begins at the grassroots, underscoring the importance of collaboration with tertiary institutions in promoting disaster risk education, climate resilience, environmental sustainability, emergency preparedness and institutional capacity development.

She assured the university that the agency would continue to expand its existing partnership with ABU to address emerging disaster risks through research, innovation and knowledge sharing.

Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Prof. Adamu Ahmed, commended Umar for what he described as her exemplary leadership and the progress recorded by NEMA in disaster management and humanitarian coordination.

He described the NEMA Director-General as one of the university’s distinguished alumni whose professionalism, integrity and commitment to public service have continued to make the institution proud.

Mrs Ahmed said the visit was also to appreciate NEMA’s longstanding support for the university’s Centre for Disaster Risk Management and Development Studies, which has produced professionals now serving in disaster management institutions across Nigeria.

He expressed the university’s readiness to deepen collaboration with the agency in the areas of research, capacity building and disaster risk reduction, particularly in addressing the growing threats posed by climate change, rapid urbanisation and other emerging hazards.

The vice-chancellor also appealed to NEMA to support efforts aimed at strengthening emergency preparedness within the university, especially in tackling risks associated with ageing infrastructure, erosion, fire outbreaks and other potential hazards.