The National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen their partnership in dealing with any potential disasters during the upcoming general elections and floods in 2023.
In a statement, NEMA said that the collaboration would improve disaster management service delivery. The agreement was signed at the NSCDC headquarters in Abuja by NEMA Director-General Mustapha Ahmed and NSCDC Commandant-General Abubakar Audi.
The MoU, according to Ahmed, is a step in the right direction toward the better provision of safety, security, and dignity to Nigerians before, during, and after natural disasters and emergencies.
He was quoted as saying that the partnership has become imperative as we make a renewed resolve to confront the growing complexity of disaster and the attendant humanitarian outcomes in Nigeria driven by conflicts and powered by extreme weather and climatic events.
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Ahmed said that the MoU would further drive a well-coordinated and stronger partnership between both agencies “for the management of disasters, especially as we start preparation for this year’s annual floods and any possible eventuality that might arise during the upcoming general elections in Nigeria in less than a month from now.”
He described the NSCDC as a strategic partner, adding that the corps had consistently provided NEMA with a security and safety cordon to enable a successful lifesaving search and rescue operation.
He said, “The emergency response unit of the NSCDC has always provided a veritable opportunity for sustaining the strong mutual support and collaboration between NEMA and the NSCDC,”. “Under every disaster situation, there are potential secondary hazards that require working together with the NSCDC. As we say at NEMA, ‘every disaster site is a potential crime site,’ and this underscores the need for a better relationship between NEMA and the NSCDC.”
Ahmed noted that NEMA had already provided a desk office for NSCDC at the agency’s headquarters for better liaison between the two organisations and considered the need to partner in building the capacity of employees of both agencies.
This story was adapted from Punch.
