Shakeup in NEMA’ll Improve Disaster Mgt, Says Ekiti

Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti

Following the decentralisation of the statutory operations of the  National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) by the federal government, the Ekiti State government, has described the major shake-up as a dexterous and timely way of   boosting  emergency management mechanism across Nigeria.

It added that  federal government’s establishment of Zonal Directorates across the six geopolitical zones of the country, was one policy of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that would make NEMA more effective in the discharge of its onerous tasks.
The Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Chief Monisade Afuye, spoke yesterday while receiving the Zonal Director of NEMA, Southwest, Stephen Adewale, in her office in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State Capital.

Afuye, in a statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Victor Ogunje, commended President Bola Tinubu for the apt and timely restructuring, saying it would help in expeditious handling of issues of disasters bothering the states.
Afuye pledged unalloyed support of her principal, Governor Biodun Oyebanji, to NEMA, assuring them that the federal agency and its state counterpart, Ekiti State Emergency Management Agency, would  collaborate to handle issues of disasters holistically and in more professional fashion.

Commending the federal government for lending supports to victims of disasters in the past, the deputy governor, called on the agency to quickly release the pending relief materials due to the state to expand the scope of  benefit to more citizens.
“Let me on behalf of the Ekiti State Government thank President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for carrying out this restructuring. It will ease the rigour we used to face in dealing with disaster matters.

“Now that we have Zonal Directors in Ibadan and Head of Operations, Ekiti/Ondo in Akure, we can easily run to them while experiencing delay in the handling  of administration of disaster matters relating to Ekiti.

“Ekiti is still having 2023 outstanding  relief materials with NEMA that are yet to be released, with this restructuring, we are hoping that they will be released timely, while also looking up to the ones that we will request for in the future.”
In his submission, NEMA’s Adewale, said the restructuring was undertaken  in such a fashion that each geopolitical enclave of the country now has a zonal director to oversee its affairs.

Adewale revealed  that it was intended to engender quicker decision making process in the handling of disaster  issues, for better delivery to Nigerians.