SSDC, NEMA Strengthen Partnership on Disaster Management in South-South
By Ekanem Asuquo
The South-South Development Commission (SSDC) has unveiled plans to work closely with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to improve disaster preparedness, response, and resilience across the South-South region.
During a courtesy visit to the Director-General of NEMA, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, the Managing Director of SSDC, Ms. Usoro Akpabio, commended the agency for its consistent humanitarian interventions and commitment to saving lives during emergencies.
She described the meeting as timely and strategic, noting that the South-South region continues to grapple with flooding, coastal erosion, oil spills, and communal displacements, all of which have disrupted livelihoods and hindered development.
Ms. Akpabio called for a stronger institutional partnership with NEMA, proposing the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and the establishment of a Joint Technical Committee to ensure effective implementation. She listed areas of collaboration to include flood and oil spill management, support for internally displaced persons, capacity building for local emergency agencies, and improved disaster data sharing.
In her remarks, the NEMA Director-General, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, welcomed the initiative and reaffirmed the agency’s readiness to collaborate with the SSDC to promote disaster resilience and sustainable development in the region. She highlighted NEMA’s ongoing training programmes for young first responders at the University of Port Harcourt and encouraged state governments to strengthen their emergency management structures and promote regular environmental sanitation exercises.
Mrs. Umar also stressed the need to address the root causes of disasters through infrastructural planning, inter-agency collaboration, and strict adherence to Environmental Impact Assessment reports before the commencement of major projects.
Both agencies pledged to work together in protecting lives, rebuilding livelihoods, and fostering sustainable development across the South-South through a coordinated disaster management framework.
