The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin has reassured the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) that the Armed Forces would remain committed and supportive in achieving its institutional objectives. The CDS gave the assurance during the visit of Director General of the Agency Engr. Engr. Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja to the Defence Headquarters Abuja
General Olonisakin who received the Director General and his entourage observed that the Armed Forces and NEMA were inseparable twins when issues of national emergency and disaster relief are discussed. He appreciated the efforts of the agency in promptly responding to various emergencies across the country and promised that military barracks were available for the Agency as safe haven during emergencies.
Charting the pathway to effective collaboration in disaster relief and other emergencies, the CDS noted that the Armed Forces had put in place in-house mechanisms such as the Defence Response Units which are located across the country. This measure, he said, is to ensure quick and timely responses to natural disasters and other emergencies. The CDS therefore appealed to the Director General to work closely with the Defence Response Units particularly in the area of experience sharing, technical capability, emergency simulation and other aspects of training.
In his remarks, Engr. Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja said his team’s visit to the Defence Headquarters was in furtherance of the strategic partnership between his Agency and the Armed Forces, as stipulated in the NEMA Act. He revealed that through the dexterity and unflinching commitment of Armed Forces personnel deployed as composite force for emergency relief operations, NEMA had recorded tremendous achievements in the execution of its mandate. The DG therefore praised the steadfastness and commitment of the Armed Forces in response to various emergencies across the country in which he observed no military personnel had been found wanting in their personal and professional conducts.
Engr. Engr. Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja said since 2012, the Agency had not recorded any major emergency situation but grappling with the humanitarian issues arising from the insurgency in North Eastern part of Nigeria. He affirmed that the Agency has 17 Disaster response units situated at strategic locations to facilitate emergency responses.
