In its bid to improve on the way it handles emergency situations that often arise in the country, Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has hinted that it is about to launch a software which will provide easy access to the agency by people who are ready to give prompt and useful information wherever they may be. This will enable the agency and other first responders to act quickly and swiftly to save the situation and curtail losses.
Director General of the agency, Engr Mustapha Maihaja, who disclosed this in an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP in Abuja noted that the new software is designed to reduce NEMA’s response time to the barest minimum in line with international best practices.
He said, “In furtherance of our effort to be accessible to all for effective coverage, we now have a software that people can begin to download within the next one month or there about and use in reaching us as quickly as possible in any emergency situation irrespective of wherever they may be.
“We are also working very hard to reduce our response time to the barest minimum and in line with international best practices. In this regard, we have recorded tremendous improvement but that is not to say we have attained our target, even though I know that today we are classified among the best in Africa”.
Maihaja also disclosed that as part of effort to address the plight of victims of insurgency in the Northeast, the process of delivering 1032 trucks of goods to the zone was underway.
He said the process of delivering the trucks to the Northeast had started in earnest weeks back and still ongoing.
“We have 1032 trucks of goods to deliver to the Northeast, the process of which has already kicked off, and from our control centre, we have delivered up to about 200 trucks”, he said.
Allaying fears of diversion of the relief material, the NEMA boss said, “We are adopting a holistic approach to ensure that relief materials safeguarded against against any attempt to divert them by unscrupulous persons”.
Maihaja who explained that NEMA has adopted scientific approach to enhance its operations said the agency now uses modern tracking device to track the trucks of goods going to response destinations
“It is my pleasure to disclose to you that to further guarantee the security of relief materials, all the trucks are now being tracked with tracking devices in addition to the armed security officers’ accompaniment. We are tracking them, even to the discharge point”, he explained.
The DG, while speaking on a wide range of steps being taken to reposition the agency with a view to attaining greater efficiency in line with international standard said NEMA has spread its tentacle everywhere around the country to quicken its response operations by establishing welfare centres within the reach of the people, down to the grassroots “with our men equipped to capacity manning them”.
The NEMA boss who scored the performance of his agency high commended the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government for what he described as unprecedented and overwhelming support the agency has received that has enabled it to record these achievements.
He stated: “I must say that in a nutshell, NEMA is performing very well and far better than what it used be before now, and I must confess that this President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has been of unprecedented support to the agency.
“That is why we have been able to achieve what we have achieved so far and I am not saying we are going to rest on our oars. We hope to improve on our response mechanism to be at par with global best practices”.
