African nations must prepare against disasters – Gambia VP
Njie-Saidy
The Gambian Vice President and Minister of Women Affairs, Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy, has urged Africa nations to be adequately prepared against natural and man-induced disasters due to various factors that included the climate change and the increase rate of terrorism on the continent.
According to a statement yesterday in Abuja by NEMA’s Head of Public Relations, Yushau A. Shuaib, Njie-Saidy made the remarks at the weekend in Banjul, the Gambian capital, after a bilateral agreement between the Gambian National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) and Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on the area of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).
She said “the key word in disaster management is preparedness and putting in place mechanisms to ward off and prevent disaster from wreaking havoc on humanity and their means of livelihood.”
According to her, “Nigeria is a big brother in Africa which always supports sister countries towards socio-political development in the region.”
Leading a delegation from Nigeria in signing the agreement, the agency’s Director-General, Alhaji Muhammad Sani-Sidi, said “the partnership between NEMA and Gambia in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is a beginning of South-South cooperation that include sharing of knowledge and ideas and provision of logistical supports for disaster management in the sub-region.”
He added: “NEMA would send two technical officers to Gambia to strengthen the capacity of NDMA and we offer placement for disaster managers for studies in any of the six government-owned universities in Nigeria that offer postgraduate programme in disaster management and a Centre for Simulation exercise.”
Present at the occasion were the Nigeria’s Ambasador to Gambia, Mrs Esther Audu, the UN Resident Coordinator, Mrs. Chinwe Dike, Executive Director National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), Mr. Essa Khan and some relevant cabinet ministers and Service chiefs in The Gambia.
Filed Under: Diplomatique
