Vice President Kashim Shettima, has directed the immediate activation of a national coordination platform to combat flooding across Nigeria, as the rainy season reaches its peak.
Speaking on Thursday at a meeting of Anticipatory Action Task Force at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Senator Shettima ordered the operationalisation of the Fusion and Trigger Room concept within the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to serve as a central hub for monitoring, forecasting, and coordinating emergency responses before disasters escalate.
The Vice President, who chaired the task force, stressed the need for a decisive shift from reactive disaster response to proactive preparedness, insisting that approved resources must be deployed without delay.
“To wait until disaster strikes before releasing what we have already approved is to defeat the very purpose of acting early,” he said.
He directed NEMA and relevant agencies to immediately review the budget in line with approved allocations and establish clear implementation priorities.
He also called on state governors to active ownership of preparedness efforts within their jurisdictions, warning that federal coordination alone would not be sufficient.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Dr. Bernard Doro, described the government’s funding approval as timely, while UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Mohammed Fall, praised Nigeria’s commitment, saying the initiative could serve as a model for the rest of Africa.
NEMA Director-General, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, confirmed that early warning signals have already been issued and that priority areas have been identified.
The intervention is backed by an N83.2 billion fund approval by the National Economic Council (NEC) at its last meeting.
