By Nkechi Eze
To bolster its response to the growing incidence of disasters nationwide, the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mrs. Zubaida Umar, has taken significant steps to enhance the Agency’s effectiveness by equipping Directors and Operation Heads with essential skills for improved leadership and service delivery.
According to a press statement made available to newsmen by the NEMA head of public relations, a management retreat was organized for Directors and Operational Heads over the weekend with the aim of realigning and strengthening the Agency’s leadership strategies amidst rising disaster occurrences in the country.
During the retreat, Mrs. Zubaida Umar urged participants to intensify their efforts to reduce response times to disasters. She acknowledged challenges such as limited resources and the reluctance of some stakeholders to fulfill their roles, but emphasized the Agency’s commitment to revitalizing its responsibilities in proactive disaster coordination and timely incident response.
Dr. Otive Igbuzor, a renowned leadership expert and Executive Director of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development, urged NEMA to aim for excellence as a leading disaster management organization in Africa. To achieve this, he emphasized five key areas for improvement which includes; fostering collaborative leadership, securing adequate funding, harnessing digital technology, engaging with local communities and integrating climate change considerations into the agency’s strategic planning.
In response, Director of Human Resources Management at NEMA, Dr. Umesi Emenike, explained that the retreat, themed “Catalyzing Institutional Excellence through Strategic Visioning and Performance Optimization,” was aimed to align the Agency with modern global trends in disaster management.
