The Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mrs. Zubaida Umar on Thursday received a high-level delegation from the Liberian National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA).
The delegation led by its Executive Director, Hon. Ansu Dulley paid a courtesy visit to the Agency’s Headquarters in Abuja as part of a week-long technical study tour to Nigeria.
The Director General described the visit as an important step toward strengthening regional cooperation on disaster preparedness, early warning, and emergency response.
She told the delegation how Nigeria has developed a coordinated disaster management framework, with NEMA serving as the central coordinating body for relevant agencies to ensure efficient and effective proactive planning, response, and recovery.
Mrs. Zubaida Umar also expressed NEMA’s readiness to support Liberia in adopting similar models that enhance national and community-level preparedness.
She highlighted Nigeria’s progress in early warning dissemination, sub-national sensitization, annual flood preparedness exercises, and community simulation drills, noting that these initiatives have contributed significantly to reducing disaster losses in recent years.
The Executive Director of Liberia’s NDMA, Hon. Ansu Dulley, expressed appreciation to NEMA for the warm reception and for Nigeria’s longstanding support to Liberia.
He said the study tour was driven by a clear intention to learn from Nigeria’s more advanced disaster management structures and to enhance institutional capacity back home.
He emphasized Liberia’s commitment to deepening collaboration with Nigeria and requested continued support as the country works to strengthen early warning systems, improve decentralized disaster management, and enhance operational readiness.
The visit was facilitated by a former Director General of NiMet, Prof. Mansur Bako-Matazu, who is coordinating the study tour under the framework of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and ECOWAS.
Prof. Matazu commended Liberia for its efforts in validating the Early Warning for All Initiative (EW4All) and underscored the importance of regional cooperation in addressing climate-induced hazards across West Africa.
The delegation also included Mr. Mulira Mashauri of the UNDRR Nigeria Office.
