The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on Monday that it gave humanitarian support in 148 disaster incidents across the country in 2020.
The Director-General of NEMA, retired Air Vice-Marshal Muhammadu Muhammed, made the disclosure in Abuja at the presentation of the agency’s 2020 Annual Report and induction of disaster risk reduction equipment for search and rescue operations.
The equipment donated to Nigeria by the Japanese Government include nine units of rescue vehicles with rescue equipment, and four units of mobile water purifier systems with vehicles.
According to the director-general, recorded incidents were those on which assessments were carried out, approved and relief materials distributed to affected persons.
He said that the support was in addition to the agency’s monthly distributed relief materials to internally-displaced persons living in camps in Borno and Adamawa states.
On the inducted equipment, he said that the agency added value to the specialised equipment by attaching a unit each of an alternative source of light for illumination during night operations.
Mohammed said that the aim was to ensure a one-stop shop for search and rescue operation in assisting primary response stakeholders.
He said that staff of the agency had been trained on usage of the specialised vehicles which would be distributed to its zonal, territorial and operations offices.
Mr Shinozawa Takayuki, Chargé d’ Affaires, Embassy of Japan in Nigeria, said the donated equipment which was part of the country’s commitment to supporting Nigeria, worth 500 million Japanese yen.
“There is one obvious fact: this is that Japan and Nigeria have many things in common, one of which is the occurrences of natural disasters.
“Readily in mind are the past earthquakes that devastated parts of Kansai region and the tsunami in Tokohu region, all in Japan, while Nigeria has to constantly deal with natural disasters such as flooding and erosion.
“Therefore, Japan is strongly convinced that strengthening cooperation with Nigeria in the area of disaster management the deployment of superior and technologically-enhanced state-of-art equipment which Japan has developed over the years, will enhance Nigeria’s ability to reduce loss of lives as a result of disasters,” he said.
In her remarks, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, charged NEMA to reflect on the contents of the annual report and work to sustain successes recorded.
She thanked the Government and people of Japan for the donation, and urged NEMA to make judicious use of the equipment to effectively serve humanity. (NAN)
