TheCable

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has set a maximum of 20 minutes within which to respond to emergencies and disasters across the country.

Muhammadu Muhammed (rtd), director-general of NEMA, announced this at a one-day retreat for heads of territorial, zonal and operations offices of the agency on Monday in Abuja.

Speaking on the theme of the retreat, which was “Effective and Efficient Service Delivery at Operational Level”, the NEMA DG said the focus of the event was to engage the field officers on improving service delivery.

He added that as disaster managers, they must fashion out measures for intervention and initiate risk reduction strategies suitable for their respective communities.

“Delivering effective and efficient service calls for serious commitment on our part. We are, therefore, setting targets for ourselves,” he said.

According to him, there would be an awareness campaign on reducing the risk of flooding and other disasters, and the development of resilience among communities through the implementation of the Sendai Framework of Action.

According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (Sendai Framework) “recognises that the state has the primary role to reduce disaster risk, but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders”.

Other targets NEMA is focusing on include ensuring that all rescue equipment are functioning; implementation of the humanitarian development nexus; supporting the provision of basic needs for internally displaced persons (IDPs), and the coordination of safe and dignified return of IDPs, in collaboration with other stakeholders.

Muhammed said collective efforts of all staff members of the agency would be needed to succeed in the operations.

Sadiya Umar Farouq, minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, declared the retreat open and charged participants to represent the government well as they carry out their duties.

She said their role as field officers “is not to wait for disasters to happen, but to go for assessment or make a report to the headquarters”.

“You must cascade the policies of the government into the local levels and improve the knowledge of the people in disaster risk reduction,” she said.

“Disaster prevention education provides people with the knowledge and skills needed to systematically recognise hazards and vulnerabilities.

“This is to reduce the physical risks in their environment, make use of capacities and resources, and protect themselves and others from hazard impacts.”

In his remarks, Sam Tende, guest speaker at the event, said there must be a change in attitude in order to render effective service to humanity.

He charged the field officers to develop their abilities and become professionals by taking ownership of each task given to them.