The Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency, Zubaida Umar, has announced significant progress in the assessment process for the National Essay Competition on Emergency Management Awareness, revealing that 1,089 entries have successfully advanced to the evaluation stage following a nationwide screening exercise.
Speaking after the close of submissions on April 15, the NEMA boss said the competition had continued to record strong national impact and widespread participation from young Nigerians across the country.
She disclosed that although nearly 4,000 entries were initially received at the point of submission, the ongoing verification and screening exercise established a total of 1,757 entries across all categories after duplicates, incomplete submissions, and other irregular entries were removed.
According to her, 1,089 entries were subsequently confirmed as valid and progressed to the assessment stage, representing what she described as a highly competitive pool of submissions drawn from across Nigeria. She added that the remaining entries were disqualified for failure to comply with submission guidelines or for being submitted after the official deadline.
Zubaida Umar noted that the tertiary institution category recorded the highest level of participation, followed by the secondary school category and the NYSC Emergency Management Vanguards category, a development she said reflected growing awareness and engagement among young Nigerians, particularly undergraduate students.
She further observed that a substantial number of submissions were received in the final days before the deadline, demonstrating sustained enthusiasm and strong nationwide interest in the competition.
The DG assured participants that the assessment process was progressing steadily under the supervision of an expert panel comprising specialists in disaster risk management and development communications.
She stated that the panel was applying a transparent, rigorous, and merit-based evaluation framework to ensure that every valid entry received fair consideration.
Reaffirming the agency’s commitment to transparency and accountability, she said all qualifying submissions were being carefully reviewed and properly documented, adding that regular updates would continue to be provided until winners are officially announced.
Beyond the statistics, Zubaida Umar emphasized that the competition had reinforced the growing awareness of disaster preparedness among Nigerian youths and highlighted the increasing recognition of emergency preparedness as a shared national responsibility.
