Mustapha Ahmed, Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, says the agency is better prepared to respond to calamities in the country in a coordinated and timely manner.
He made the remarks at the conclusion of an Incident Command System and Emergency Coordination Centre, or ICS/ECC, training in Abuja.
The training was provided by the United States Forest Service, with assistance from USAID, for workers from NEMA and state emergency management organizations.
This was said in a statement released on Sunday by Manzo Ezekiel, Head of NEMA’s Press Unit.
The series of trainings, according to the director-general, has undoubtedly enhanced NEMA’s expectations of establishing incident command systems for effective disaster response.
“I believe we are now in a better position to give a well-coordinated and prompt response to complex catastrophes in order to preserve lives and facilitate rapid recovery.”
“During rapid onset events, the Incident Command System will also enable us to deploy and utilize our human and material assets in a more efficient manner,” he said.
Mr Ahmed, who thanked the training facilitators, stated that the long-term Nigeria-USA relationship has continued to deliver great results, and he praised the staff of the US Embassy for driving the partnership.
He also commended the participants on their successful completion of the program and asked them to apply what they had learned to better disaster management and benefit everyone.
Musa Zakari, Director of Human Resource Management at NEMA and a participant in the training, noted that it was quite rigorous, covering essential components of command and resource utilization in the management of complex incidents and circumstances.
Other speakers included Idris Abbas, Director-General of the Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency, and Muhammad Mukaddas, Executive Secretary of the Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency.
They both thanked NEMA for permitting SEMA participation in the training and praised the resource persons and the United States for their contributions to the strengthening of disaster management in the country.
