The National Emergency Management Agency has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening collaboration with Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, on disaster risk management, research, capacity building and institutional resilience.
NEMA Director General Zubaida Umar gave the assurance on Monday, 13 July 2026, when she received the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Adamu Ahmed, and his management team at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja. She said academic partnerships are essential to evidence-based disaster management, innovation and national resilience.
Umar said NEMA has been shifting its focus beyond emergency response to greater disaster risk reduction, early warning, public awareness, preparedness and resilience building. She added that the agency has continued sensitisation campaigns nationwide while working closely with state emergency agencies and local emergency committees to improve community-level preparedness.
She stressed that disaster management begins at the community level and said tertiary institutions have an important role to play in disaster risk education, climate resilience, environmental sustainability and emergency preparedness. According to her, this makes collaboration with universities especially valuable.
Ahmed commended Umar for her leadership and praised NEMA’s progress in humanitarian coordination and disaster management. He described her as one of the university’s distinguished alumni whose public service continues to reflect positively on the institution.
The vice-chancellor said the visit was also to thank NEMA for supporting ABU’s Centre for Disaster Risk Management and Development Studies, which has trained professionals working across Nigeria. He said the university wants to deepen cooperation with the agency in research, training and disaster risk reduction as climate change and urbanisation create more complex risks.
He also sought NEMA’s support in improving emergency preparedness within the university, especially in relation to ageing infrastructure, erosion, fire incidents and other hazards.