The Ekiti State government on Thursday commended the Federal Government for restructuring the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
The Federal Government’s restructuring of NEMA led to its decentralisation and the creation of a zone of the agency in each of the country’s six geopolitical zones.
Receiving visiting NEMA Southwest Zonal Director, Mr. Stephen Adewale, Ekiti State’s deputy governor, Mrs. Monisade Afuye, gave encomiums to the Federal Government for the development.
“We now have a NEMA Zonal Director in Ibadan and a Head of Operations for Ekiti and Ondo states in Akure.
“We can easily reach out to them rather than experiencing delays in the handling of disaster matters relating to Ekiti.
“Ekiti is still having outstanding 2023 relief materials with NEMA that are yet to be released.
“With this restructuring, we are hoping that they will be released timely, while also looking forward to receiving the ones that we will request in the future,’’ Afuye said.
Still commending the Federal Government for lending support to disaster victims, she called on NEMA to release pending relief materials due to Ekiti expeditiously so that more people would benefit.
“Let me, on behalf of the Ekiti State government, thank President Bola Tinubu for carrying out this restructuring. It will ease the rigour we used to face in dealing with disaster matters,’’ she said.
The deputy governor also described the restructuring as a dexterous and timely way of boosting emergency management across Nigeria.
Afuye also noted that the establishment of Zonal Directorates of NEMA across the six geopolitical zones would make the agency more effective in the discharge of its responsibilities.
She commended President Tinubu for the apt and timely restructuring, saying this would help in the expeditious handling of disasters bothering the states.
The deputy governor pledged the unalloyed support of Gov. Biodun Oyebanji for NEMA.
She also assured that the Ekiti State Emergency Management Agency would collaborate fully with NEMA to handle disaster issues holistically and in a more professional fashion.
Earlier, Mr. Adewale explained that NEMA’s restructuring was undertaken in such a fashion that each geopolitical zone now has a zonal director to oversee its affairs.
Adewale explained also that the restructuring was intended to engender quicker decision-making in the handling of disasters for better delivery of relief materials to Nigerians.
“We want to simplify the process by bringing administration closer to the states instead of reporting to the Director-General’s office in Abuja. We know that dealing with Abuja directly might be cumbersome.
“Disaster management is a job that requires collaboration. NEMA cannot do it alone. We need the support of the state governments and that of security agencies,’’ Adewale said.
On Feb. 26, the Federal Government ordered that NEMA be merged with the National Commission for Refugees, Migration, and Internally Displaced Persons.
The decision was taken as part of steps to implement the Steve Oronsaye report on re-engineering the federal civil service.
The Oronsaye committee submitted its report to the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012. (NAN)
