The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on Tuesday that it would engage 154,800 persons as volunteers across the country on disaster reduction and emergency response.
The agency also revealed that it has established Emergency Vanguards and Executive Volunteers comprising youth and professionals for the programme.
The Director General of the Agency, Alhaji Mohammad Sani-Sidi, said this in a message delivered at a two-day workshop on emergency preparedness and response plan for members of the Bauchi State Emergency Operation Team.
According to him, “NEMA is working on an existing platform of having at least 200 NEMA volunteers in each of the 774 local government areas of Nigeria, thus having at least 154,800 volunteers nationwide and integrating into the NEMA community Resilience Network.
“This will enable members of every community to understand their core values, care for one another, uphold communal peace, harmony and sustainable development.”
“This will enable members of every community to understand their core values, care for one another, uphold communal peace, harmony and sustainable development.”
He further stated that NEMA is partnering with the six federal universities in the six geopolitical zones of the country to provide post-graduate courses on Disaster Management and Development Studies.
Sani-Sidi added that the Agency is also partnering with the media to enlighten the public on disaster risk reduction and support for community resilience.