The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, was established via Act 12 as amended by Act 50 of 1999, to manage disasters in Nigeria. It has been tackling disaster-related issues through the establishment of concrete structures.
Mission: To coordinate resources towards efficient and effective disaster prevention, preparation, mitigation and response in Nigeria.
Vision: To build a culture of preparedness, prevention, response and community resilience to disasters in Nigeria.
Functions of NEMA
According to the enabling law; the Agency shall among the other things,
(a) Formulate policy on all activities relating to disaster management in Nigeria and co-ordinate the plans and programs for efficient and effective response to disasters at the national level;
(b) Monitor the state of preparedness of all activities
Geographic Information System (GIS)
The agency has established a functional GIS lab for early warning and precision in response to the management. The lab collects spatial data, analyses and prepares useful information that helps to respond to disasters. It is one of the significant facilities of the agency for its disaster risk reduction program.
Mobile clinics
Time is a crucial element in disaster management. In recognition of this, the agency obtained approval and procured facilities for mobile clinics that are strategically stationed in Abuja, Kaduna, Lagos and Port Harcourt to be deployed in the event of any major disaster. While there are arrangements to acquire more of the clinics, the agency has also procured ambulances stationed in Abuja and all the six zonal offices.
Helicopter for Search and Rescue
The agency has acquired a helicopter for search and rescue. The helicopter is stationed in Abuja and manned by officers of the Nigerian Air Force. Necessary arrangements are being concluded to acquire additional helicopters, so that with time, there would be one for each of the six geo-political zones.
Awareness generation
More than half of the disasters in the country are man-made arising from deliberate intent, error or negligence. Disasters of man-made origin can be minimized by arousing the consciousness of the people through awareness generation. The agency perceives awareness generation against disasters as the cornerstone in building a culture of sustainable resilience to disasters.
Six zonal offices
In its desire to decentralise disaster management and ensure active participation of the grassroots, the agency established a functional office in each of the six geo-political zones of the country as follows: North Central (Jos), North West (Kaduna), North East (Maiduguri), South West (Lagos), South-South (Port Harcourt) and South East (Enugu). These offices provide for quicker response to disaster situations before any action from the Head Office.
