The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NEMA

  • Cameroon castaways

    Cameroon castaways

    In spite of previous efforts by the Federal Government to rescue Nigerians stranded in the Central African Republic (CAR), it is truly distressing to know that the travails of compatriots caught up in the crisis is yet to end.

    According to reports, more than 400 Nigerians who fled from the CAR are now refugees in Kentjou in eastern Cameroon, where their situation is becoming increasingly desperate. Deprived of the basic necessities of life, they have been forced to rely on the inadequate handouts of the already-impoverished indigenes. Many of them have been forced to take refuge in places of worship, playing fields and other public spaces. As their situation worsens, there are growing fears of diarrhea, cholera and other diseases. The rapidly-approaching rainy season can only make matters worse for these Nigerians in distress, many of whom are women and children.

    It is surprising that Nigeria somehow managed to overlook these citizens, especially as it was able to evacuate some 1,200 Nigerians from the CAR earlier this year. Apparently, that effort was not as comprehensive as it should have been: the evacuation should not have ended until everyone who wanted to leave the country was safely back in Nigeria.

    A country that likes to call itself the “Giant of Africa” cannot continue to look on while its citizens suffer intolerable conditions in foreign countries. Over the years, Nigeria’s inability to rescue its own people has undermined its grandiloquent claims to sovereignty and continental pre-eminence. The nation was slow to move when crises erupted in Egypt and Libya at the height of the Arab Spring. Nigerians were victimised during conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire. In contrast, Canada, the United States, the European Union and China are very quick to ensure that breakdowns of law and order anywhere in the world do not have overly adverse effects on their citizens. Indeed, many of these countries embark on the proactive strategy of issuing travel warnings when they deem them to be appropriate.

    Like those nations, Nigeria must develop a comprehensive rescue and repatriation system for its citizens. Very few national crises emerge abruptly: the increase in lawlessness and violence in any society can be precisely monitored and threat-levels accurately assessed. In order to do this effectively, the country’s various embassies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will have to be thoroughly overhauled. There should be a reliable database of Nigerians living abroad, with detailed information regarding their location and circumstances. The country can imitate the travel advisory system used by other nations as a means of constantly alerting its citizens on threats to their safety.

    When crises do erupt, comprehensive plans of action must be on ground to act upon. Emergency rescue and evacuation scenarios should be developed in cooperation with the armed forces, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) so that they can be implemented immediately. Points of assembly should be pre-identified; citizens resident abroad should be informed on what to do whenever a crisis breaks out where they live; contact information should be made available for them to utilise.

    In the specific case of the Nigerians now languishing in Kentjou, the Federal Government must move to quickly evacuate them before their predicament becomes worse than it already is. Arrangements should be made to transport them by road or air to Nigeria. Those with medical conditions should be handled with dispatch. It is time for Nigeria to live up to the expectations of its long-suffering citizens.

     

  • Port Harcourt traders rue mysterious fire

    Port Harcourt traders rue mysterious fire

    There is no right time for a disaster to strike. But for grieving traders of Mile 1 Market in Diobu, Port Harcourt, the mysterious fire tragedy that hit the market on December 17, 2013 could not have come at a more inauspicious time.

    Dozens of them, in anticipation of brisk business during the Yuletide stocked their shops; scores borrowed from friends and relatives. Most of them went to banks, cooperative societies and money lenders, who gave them loans at shylock rates. Hoping that the profit from sales would more than offset the interests, the traders went about their businesses.

    It was when they were ready to reap the bounty of Christmas and New Year sales that the tragedy hit them. Nobody knew where the fire came from. The traders didn’t see it coming. When the smoked cleared, they had nothing but ashes on their hands and unsympathetic creditors breathing down their necks. Goods and cash worth several millions – some traders say billions – of naira were pulverised.

    When Niger Delta Report visited the scene the huge plume of smoke over the skyline mirrored the gloomy mood on the ground. There were tears and frustration everywhere as traders beheld their hard earned money, life time savings and most devastatingly, loans secured at cutthroat rates, some used life-time assets as collaterals, going up in smoke.

    Some of the traders and sympathizers who rushed to the scene as soon as they heard news of the fire watched helplessly as goods worth billions of naira burn to ashes. Quite a number of them were barely restrained from a suicidal jump into the fire.

    Over one month after when our reporter returned to the scene, the resilience of the typical Nigerian had returned for a few who mustered the courage to return. “Life must go on”, one of the traders told our reporter. Others were however still mourning the loss and ruing the cruel hand of fate in their lives.

    “Some of our colleagues have abandoned business are in search of alternative means of livelihood. Others have gone back to their villages. But me, I have no choice than to try and see how I can get my life going again. If a man falls he must rise again,” one of the traders said.

    Meanwhile, the challenge of getting up again is more daunting for some than others. Our findings revealed that the major challenge faced by a number of the unfortunate businessmen was how to repay the loans they took from banks to start their businesses or to prepare for the ‘Christmas rush’.

    Still, those who are picking the pieces of their lives again are contending with a number of challenges. Those who have managed to restart their business said it would take years for them to get to the stage they were before the setback.

    Chigozie Mba, who had returned back to his business, told our reporter that he borrowed N500,000 from bank to start his business. He noted that he was very lucky that didn’t take additional loan from bank to purchase Xmas goods like his follow traders did.

    “Many of our traders in this market are in a big problem of how to pay the money they collected from banks. Some of them are out of business at the moment. The only way some of them can pay their debts is to sell their properties or run to another bank for help. So it is not easy, the only luck I have was that I decided to manage the little money I had during Xmas period.”

    Mr. Ebenezer Chukwu was not as lucky. He lost N7million worth of goods to the mysterious fire last and he is licking his wounds.

    “My brother, God has been sustaining and encouraging me if not for friends I wouldn’t have started this little business this year. Of course the friend I am talking about did not dash me the money to begin this market. But I and my family have to survive, my children are out of school for now. My major problem now is how to pay the loan I took from bank, I have pleaded with my bankers to give me more time.

    “We are still waiting for government promises and we pray that they should come to our aid. Some of the traders who put all their money in business last year December before the fire tragedy are now in the village but I decided that I am not going anywhere , I know my God will assist me to pay all the debt I am owing.”

    While Chukwu was lucky to have shoulders of his friends to lean on, Chijioke Amajuoyi said the devastating fire incident opened his eyes to the reality of the world. He said it made him know that every man is for himself.

    “Nobody wants to sympathise with us; nobody wants to assist us even those who promised to assist us are yet to redeem their promises. Look at what I am selling; it was the same spot I was selling when I lost all my goods on the fire. We need help I didn’t borrow from bank like other big traders but my little goods that burnt here is as painful as that of those who lost millions. So I want corporate organisation and well meaning Nigerians to come to our aid it is not late, we are suffering.”

    The catalogue of woes was the same at the office of the Chairman of Mile 1 Market Traders Association, Deacon Kenneth Eze. He said all was not well with his members. But most painfully for him is that the incident may end the cosy relationship between the traders and their banks over the year.

    “The traders have been passing through serious hardship, because at the time the incident took place the traders have already borrowed money from banks and other money lending institutions to get goods for Xmas business. But at the end everything ended like that, so they are heavily indebted to banks.

    “I don’t think any bank will assist us again because the ones the traders borrowed they are yet to be paid and some of these traders presented their lands, houses and other valuable properties to banks before the loans were given to them. The banks are after their money if it were in the developed countries multinational companies operating in Rivers State would have come to our aids. But here nobody wants to assist us.”

    Deacon Eze slammed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for turning its back on his members.

    He said: “ NEMA whose office is close to Mile 1 Market are yet to pay a special visit to see how they could assist the helpless traders. Instead they are busy refuting a rumour that we said they have not redeemed what they promised. If NEMA has promise anything to traders that could be good, NEMA never promised anything or sympathise to us before we could talk of redeeming. But we are calling on them to come to our aid they can still help us it is not late.

    “As for the traders I believe that as far as one is alive there is hope, they should be law abiding. Government has promise to rebuild the market I know they will do it. They have also given us a temporary place to do our business so by next ,week Mile 1 Market traders will be relocating to a temporary place provided by the Rivers State government.”

  • Three rescued from capsized boat

    Three persons have been rescued from a boat which capsized at Ogogoro village, Boulos, Navy Town, Apapa, Lagos, on Friday, the National Emergency Management Agency, said.

    This information is contained in a statement issued by NEMA in Lagos.

    It stated that the three persons included a child, a woman and the boat operator, noting that they were rescued alive.

    The statement said the incident occurred at about 12:05am and the boat conveying the woman and her child was traveling without headlights when it collided with a bigger boat.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the occupants of the boat were rescued by the Nigerian Navy Special Unit, National Inland Waterways Agency (NIWA), NEMA and the Police Disaster Response Unit.

    The NEMA Information Officer, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, told NAN that survivors were taken to an undisclosed private hospital in Apapa.

     

  • NEMA seeks broader assessment of disasters

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has called for a broader assessment of the economic impact of natural disasters in the country.

    The agency regretted that the limitations to such assessment restrict the level of information available to policy makers on the nature and scale of vulnerability of many economies to natural hazards.

    NEMA’s Director-General, Alhaji Muhammad Sani Sidi spoke in Enugu at a workshop on Economic and Financial Impacts of Natural Disasters – An Assessment and Options for Mitigation.

    Represented by the Assistant Director (Audit), Edosamwan Osaze, the NEMA chief noted that the cumulative consequences of disasters on a country’s development were often ignored.

    According to him, recurrent disasters have cumulative effects on the rate and pattern of development of any country.

    Sidi urged participants at the workshop and other stakeholders to examine the economic and financial impact of natural disasters with emphasis on assessment and options for mitigation in relation to disaster risk reduction and management.

    He said: “The long-term, cumulative consequences of disasters on a country’s development are more difficult to determine and are typically ignored, apart from speculative comments on possible detrimental effects. Yet, in reality, most disasters, being linked to atmospheric and hydrological processes, are recurrent, striking at infrequent intervals.

  • Fed Govt evacuates 1,424 Nigerians from Bangui

    Fed Govt evacuates 1,424 Nigerians from Bangui

    THE Federal Government has evacuated 1,424 Nigerians who took refuge at the Nigerian Embassy in Bangui, the capital of Central African Republic (CAR).

    The evacuation followed the political crisis in the country.

    The Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Mohammad Sani-Sidi, gave the figure yesterday in Abuja in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    He said although the Federal Government had brought home Nigerians, who took refuge at its embassy in Bangui, the evacuation would resume, if more Nigerians appeared.

    Sani-Sidi said the evacuees were interviewed and confirmed to be Nigerians before they were evacuated.

    NAN reports that Sani-Sidi received the last batch of 147 evacuees on Sunday night in Abuja.

    The first batch of 365 evacuees arrived at the Nnamdi Arzikiwe International Airport in Abuja on January 3.

    Two batches of 748 and 311 Nigerians were evacuated on January 4 and January 5, bringing the total number of returnees to 1,424.

    A screening conducted at the Nigerian embassy in Bangui before the evacuation revealed that the evacuees are from 22 states.

    They included Bauchi, Edo, Jigawa, Kebbi, Borno, Ekiti, and Anambra, Zamfara, FCT, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Abia, Enugu, Kano, Imo and Kaduna states.

    NEMA’s Deputy Director, Search and Rescue, Vincent Owan said Benue, Anambra, Delta, Abia, Edo and Bauchi states had collected their indigenes from the Hajj Camp where they were being accommodated.

  • Govt begins evacuation of Nigerians from war-torn CAR

    Govt begins evacuation of Nigerians from war-torn CAR

    Evacuee gives birth to twins

    The federal government has brought back about 360 Nigerians home from war torn Central African Republic.

    They are the first batch of Nigerians to be evacuated from that country since the outbreak of the civil strife there.

    The returnees arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja yesterday.

    Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Nigerian Army and the Foreign Affairs Ministry are handling the evacuation process which will continue for the next five days.

    The United Nations says, nearly one million people have already been displaced from their homes in the clashes between Christian militias and the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel group that overthrew President Francois Bozize in March.

    Over 2000 Nigerians are said to be taking refugee at the Nigerian Embassy in Bangui from where they are taken to the airport for airlifting back home.

    One of the returnees, Mr. Ali Gani, an indigene of Borno State, said that he lost his wife in the crisis.

    “I am in grief,” he said.

    The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi, said that evacuation is continuing.

    Meanwhile, a woman, who was among the first batch of evacuees, gave birth to a set of twins on arrival in Nigeria at the weekend.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the woman went into labour while on board a chatered Arik Airline, which landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja at 8.30 p.m.

    Mr. Munzo Ezekiel, the Public Relations Officer in the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) told NAN that the woman was delivered of her twin baby boys by the agency’s medical team at 11 p.m.

    He said that the woman and the twins were in good condition at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport medical centre.

    Meanwhile, Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who received the evacuees at the airport, said 2000 Nigerians would be evacuated in the course of the exercise.

    Uhomoibhi said that the evacuation became necessary to protect the lives of Nigerians living in Central African Republic following political crisis that has engulfed the country.

    He said that the Federal Government gave the evacuation order in reaction to the political crisis in that country.

    NEMA’s Deputy Director, Planning, Research and Forecasting, Alhaji Alhassan Nuhu, told newsmen at the airport that the evacuees would be accommodated in the Hajj Camp at the airport.

    He said that NEMA was working with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) in the various states to ensure the safe return of the evacuees to their states of origin.

    He said that the SEMAs and Local Emergency Management Committees were expected to ensure the transportation and subsequent integration of the evacuees into their communities.

    Some of the evacuees who spoke to NAN solicited government’s support to enable them start life afresh in Nigeria.

    Mr. Ali Gana, an evacuee, and an indigene of Bama in Borno who said he lost his wife in the crisis, said he returned home with his two children.

    “My wife left the place where we were taking refuge to look for her sister and never returned,” he said.

    Gana, who said he was traumatised, and was seen holding on to his crying three year-old daughter, added that he witnessed human beings being butchered in Bangui before escaping to the Nigerian Embassy.

    He lauded the Federal Government for coming to their rescue and expressed the hope that they would not be abandoned in the future.

    According to NAN most of the evacuees in the first batch were women, children and the sick.

    A NEMA official who accompanied the evacuees told NAN that most of the women were citizens of Bangui married to Nigerians.

  • 300 displaced in Maiduguri attacks

    The National Emergency Management Agency, North East Zone, on Wednesday confirmed that 300 people were displaced during the December 1 insurgent attacks at some military formations in Maiduguri.

    The confirmation is contained in a statement signed by Information Officer of the agency, Mr. Abdulkadir Ibrahim in Yola.

    “NEMA has carried out assessment on the victims of recent attack at the 33 Artillery barrack in Maiduguri.

    “After the assessment, 300 people were confirmed internally displaced and emergency relief materials like beds, blankets and mosquito nets have been given to them.

    “The victims had their residential buildings destroyed in the attack,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Ibrahim as saying in the statement.

    The officer said the gesture was in fulfilment of the agency’s mandate of providing succour to victims of attacks.

     

  • Senate advises NEMA stakeholders

    The Senate Committee on Special Duties has advised stakeholders in disaster management to collaborate with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to always alert the nation to any form of disaster for quick solutions.

    The committee’s chairman, Clever Marcus Ikisikpo, spoke in Abuja during an oversight visit to NEMA office.

    Ikisikpo noted that the devastation of last year’s floods saddened the nation and roused the people’s consciousness for proactive measures against disasters.

     

    He said: “There is need for accuracies, especially on the part of agencies responsible for disaster forecast. They should instantly alert NEMA immediately they see a disaster for quick response. This is why stakeholders’ collaboration on disasters is important.

    “I emphasise the need for disaster forecasting for early actions. But the forecasts should be accurate enough to avoid unnecessary panic.

    “I commend NEMA for its disaster awareness activities and the adoption of other proactive measures to reduce the impacts of disasters in the country.”

    The senator assured NEMA of National Assembly’s support on amendment of the law that established the agency to enable it address some lapses in its operations.

    After the committee inspected some of the facilities at NEMA, Ikisikpo said the agency’s progress should be replicated in the states to step down disaster management at the grassroots.

    Also, the committee’s vice chairman, Victor Lar, urged NEMA to equip its zonal offices with more operational tools to enable it respond faster to disasters.

     

     

  • NEMA distributes relief materials to rainstorm victims in Ondo

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has donated relief materials to victims of rainstorm in the local government areas within the Akoko division in Ondo State.

    The donation was facilitated by the senator representing Ondo North Senatorial district, Prof. Ajayi Boroffice.

    The materials include 150 bundles of roofing sheets, 150 bags of rice, 150 bags of cement, 2000 pieces of planks, 100 bags of nails, 100 packets of zinc nails.

    Others were 300 pieces of blankets, 300 pieces of mosquito nets, 300 pieces of nylon mats and 100 pieces of matresses.

    The materials, which were distributed at the palace of the Olukare of Ikare-Akoko, were for the four local government areas of Akoko Southwest, Akoko Northwest, Akoko Southeast and Akoko Northwest.

    Speaking at the presentation, the Team Leader of NEMA, Michael Adeyanju, said the donation was aimed at providing relief to the affected people.

    According to him, the agency had earlier in the year given relief materials to people affected by a heavy rainstorm in Owo community and its environs.

    Adeyanju said the relief materials handed over to the leaders of the affected areas and communities were brought following request by the Boroffice, who is also the Chairman, Senate Committee on Science and Technology.

    He added that the materials would be distributed based on the assessment conducted by the agency, the State Emergency Management Authority (SEMA), the local government and some Non Governmental Organisations (NGO).

    The NEMA team leader also disclosed that the agency had carried out an assessment of the affected people, adding, “We are doing this in conjunction with other agencies of the state, local government, the fire service and non governmental organisations.”

     

  • NEMA, E U to tackle 2013 flooding

    The Director General, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Mohummed Sani Sidi, said yesterday that the agency is partnering state governors on creating channels to stall the upcoming 2013 flooding from destroying lives and property.

    He said this during the European Union Technical Assistance Mission to Nigeria led by Mr. Kimmo Tuominem in Abuja, stating that the agency has sent out an early warning sign to all the states of the federation and is delighted that a lot of states are putting measures in place to ensure safety when the flooding begins.

     He said: “In the conduct of the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) that was carried out during the 2012 flooding, the EU gave its maximum support and are still ready to assist the Nigerian government in the area of disaster risk  management.

    “The mission of the EU today is a further testimony and affirmation of the commitment of the union to partner the agency and other development partners in building capacity and strengthening the institutional structure and procedure for emergency management and response for Nigeria.

    “It is hoped that the EU will identify gaps that may not have been adequately addressed and has since been improving the preparedness and response architecture with particular reference to flood, mitigation and prevention.

    “With the report being finalized and the disaster risk reduction action plan in its final stage, we are in better position now as a country and as an agency to push forward the collaboration between EU and Nigeria.

    “We hope your visit today will enable you to see some of our efforts in emergency preparedness and the reality on ground, therefore the mission is expected to address certain areas.

    “The areas are the identification of lesson learnt from the 2012 flooding, risk assessment and mapping with specific focus on the hydrological risk and related individual hazards, including emergency planning and procedure, coordination and communication between different regional stakeholders.

    “Another critical area is the information management specifically related to the procedure and early warning system with a great possibility of another flooding in 2013. You will agree with me that early warning time is important.”

    Sidi appealed for speedy action and drive from the assistance of the EU, thereby hoping the support and commitment will be sustained and be of mutual benefit between the two countries.