By RUTH OKETUNDE

Mr Mustapha Ahmed, Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), says the agency is better prepared to provide a well-coordinated and timely response to emergencies in the country.

He said this at the end of an Incident Command System and Emergency Coordination Centre (ICS/ECC) training in Abuja.

The training was facilitated by the United States of America Forest Service (USFS) with support from USAID, for staff of NEMA and state emergency management agencies.

This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Manzo Ezekiel, Head, Press Unit, NEMA, on Sunday.

The director-general said that the series of trainings had, no doubt, advanced NEMA’s expectations of deploying incident command systems for effective disaster response.

“I make bold to say that, we are now in a better position to provide a well-coordinated and timely response to complex emergencies to save lives and enable speedy recovery.

“The Incident Command System will equally enable us to deploy and utilise our human and material assets in a more efficient manner during sudden onset emergencies,” he said.

Ahmed, who appreciated the facilitators of the training, said that the long term Nigeria-USA partnership has continued to yield positive impacts as he commended staff of the U.S. Embassy for driving the partnership.

He also congratulated the participants for successful completion of the training and urged them to utilise the knowledge gained in the improvement of disaster management and for the benefit of all.

In his remark, the lead facilitator, Mr Scott Dehnisch of the USFS, said that the training modules were developed to meet specific expectations to further improve capacities for efficient coordination and utilisation of resources in disaster management.

He also expressed confidence in the sustenance of the renewed partnership between NEMA and USFS.

On his part, Malam Musa Zakari, Director, Human Resource Management, NEMA, who is also a participant at the training, explained that it was very intensive, covering critical aspects of command and resource utilisation in the management of complex incidences and situations.

Other participants that also spoke were the Director-General, Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Mr Idris Abbas and Executive Secretary Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency, Muhammad Mukaddas.

They both appreciated NEMA for facilitating the participation of SEMAs in the training and commended the resource persons and the U.S. for their support towards improvement of disaster management in the country. (NAN)

•PHOTO: R-L; Lead facilitator from United States of America Forest Service, Mr Scott Dehnisch, Director-General, NEMA, Mr Mustapha Ahmed and a facilitator from the United States of America Embassy, Mr Douglas Black, at the end of a training on Incident Command System and Emergency Command Coordination for Staff of NEMA and stakeholders, in Abuja.

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