NEMA To Support Efforts To Upgrade FEMD To An Agency

By: Nkechi Isa

The National Emergency Management Agency,(NEMA), says it will ensure that the FCT Emergency Management Department, (FEMD) has the legal backing to operate as an agency.

The Head, Abuja Operations Office of NEMA, Mr. Zakari Abubakar, gave the assurance when he paid a visit to FEMD.

Abubakar said, “By the Act creating NEMA, it is our prerogative to ensure that the State Emergency Management Agency, (SEMA), is created, institutionalized and operational in every state in the country.”

He requested for the copy of the draft bill seeking to upgrade FEMD to an agency, with a view to resolving grey areas.

Describing FEMD as a critical stakeholder, Abubakar promised to strengthen the existing collaboration in areas of intervention on vulnerable people and training with a view to taking disaster management to the next level in the FCT.

Responding, the Ag. Director-General of FEMD, Engr. Abdulrahman Mohammed, underscored the importance of a SEMA in the FCT.

According to him, the FCT witnesses huge daily influx of Nigerians, particularly the vulnerable.

His words: “FCT has a lot of vulnerable people, because when they face crises they run to the FCT. But people don’t see this, they only see the city center”.

The DG appealed to NEMA for support in the areas of equipment, training, provision of vocational tools and empowerment items for vulnerable groups.