By Miriam Humbe
Director General National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Mustapha Habib Ahmed on Tuesday, visited the Chief of Air Staff at the Nigerian Airforce (NAF) Headquarters Abuja.
A statement from NEMA on Tuesday said that this was in a move to strengthen existing partnership between the Agency and Air Force in the areas of disaster management, including 2023 flood.
Humsimedia gathered that the DG NEMA who led a team of some Directors of the Agency was received at the NAF headquarters by the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Hassan Bala Abubakar along with some his management team.
The DG NEMA said it had become necessary to strengthen the existing relationship between NEMA and NAF, especially in view of increasing occurrence of disasters including the forecast of flood that may affect some parts of the country this year.
He said: “With the current growing rate of occurrence and increasing level of severity of disasters in Nigeria and across the world, it has become necessary for NEMA to strengthen its partnership with the Nigerian Air Force to save lives in times of emergency and to promote Disaster Risk Reduction.”
He reviewed the present situation of the rainy season and said that it had started to confirm the predicted flood, which had started to wreak havoc in some states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
NEMA’s boss therefore said: “The time has come when NEMA will require the support of the Nigerian Air Force in the areas of search and rescue and transportation of personnel, equipment and other life-saving relief items.”
Ahmed reaffirmed confidence in the existing partnership between the two organizations.
He said: “NEMA and the Nigerian Air Force have conducted series of real life simulation exercises to test the level of preparedness of emergency responders and develop common language of communication to foster a better understanding of life saving roles and responsibilities of frontline actors in times of emergency.”
He said that NEMA would always count on the support of the Nigerian Air force as a critical partner especially in the areas of search and rescue operation, medical evacuation and the air drop of relief materials to inaccessible locations during sudden onset disasters and emergencies.
The Chief of Airforce, AVM Hassan Bala Abubakar assured that the Nigerian Air force would continue to discharge its responsibilities in the areas of providing supports to civil authorities whenever it was required.
He recalled the participation of NEMA and the Nigerian Air force in some of past joint simulation training exercises on emergency response and announced that NAF would avail its 22 Disaster Response Units located across the country for deployment to support disaster management activities of NEMA.
The Air Chief said this was in furtherance to the existing collaboration between the two organizations.
He therefore, assured the sustenance and further strengthening of the existing partnership between the Nigerian Air Force and NEMA.
The Director General NEMA was joined on the visit to the NAF headquarters by the Director Relief and Rehabilitation Alhassan Nuhu, Director Disaster Risk Reduction Daniel Obot, Special Assistant to the DG Idris Abubakar Mohammed and Deputy Director Operations Bashir Idris Garga.
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