The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is seeking collaboration with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on effective reportage of disaster management in Niger State and across the country.
Malam Hussaini Isah, the newly appointed Head, NEMA, Minna Operations Office, spoke at a familiarisation visit to NAN Zonal office on Friday, January 17, 2025, in Minna, the state capital.
He said the visit was to seek more areas of collaboration and to sustain existing ones.
“The purpose of the visit is to collaborate with NAN and other partners to move disaster management in Niger and across the country to the next level.
Isah said that NAN was an agency known for timely and accurate dissemination of information; hence, the need for the partnership.
According to him, any agency that has a mandate of doing such is an agency that fosters unity in enlightening and engaging citizens.
He said disaster management had taken a new direction with complex threat that could be natural or human-induced.
“The management of disaster has also taken centre stage globally due to the increase in intensity and frequency of disasters, coupled with climate change and global warming.’’
Isah said that NEMA was the coordinating agency for disaster management in Nigeria with the mandate to formulate policies and programmes.
“NEMA is also saddled with the responsibility to sensitise citizens on disaster prevention and control and collect data from key stakeholders.
“Information is key and it is through sensitisation that we can tell people about mitigation and preparedness, risk reduction and global best practices,” he said.
Isah cited the 2024 flood that affected Maiduguri and Niger as an example of the importance of disaster management.
He said that there was need to create more awareness, particularly at the grassroots where most disasters happen.
Isah said that the partnership with NAN would help to counter fake news, especially on disaster reporting.
He said the collaboration with NAN included training and public enlightenment programmes as well as using local languages to reach the grassroots.
Responding, Alhaji Mohammed Bababusu, NAN Zonal Manager in charge of Niger, Kogi and Nassarawa states, pledged the agency’s readiness to collaborate with NEMA to counter fake news.
According to him, NAN is a Federal Government media outfit with subscribers across all media outlets and internationally recognised agencies.
“So, be rest assured that NAN will effectively disseminate disaster management news in accordance with our slogan ‘Talk to NAN, Talk All’,” he said.
He said that NAN was created to ensure peaceful coexistence of Nigerians, which was why the agency avoided reporting news that created confusion.
Bababusu assured NEMA of NAN’s willingness and interest to partner with the agency in disaster management.
By Rita Iliya
