By Martin Paul
Abuja
Civil society organisations in the country have commended the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Muhammadu Sani-Sidi, for the improved performance and quick intervention in times of emergency in the country.
The group said the great accomplishments, which the agency had recorded in recent times, was a testimony to the greater focus occasioned by the more enabling working environment provided by the present administration.
A statement by the group’s national coordinator, Comrade Ali Abacha, and the Secretary, Zeb Obioma Ijewa, said: “Nigerians might not have known the extent to which the meddlesome politics of the last regime had affected important decisions and implementation of policies and directions of the Agency at that time; for which reason, it was erroneously assumed that NEMA was a mere lame duck.
“The overbearing influence, overwhelming power play, and excessive exercise and demonstration of authority due to opposing interests of leading political actors of the past regime had seriously affected and impacted so negatively on the management and administration of NEMA.”
The Coalition of Civil Society Groups for Transparency and Good Governance (CCSGTGG) commended the present service delivery of NEMA under its current director-general for the roles the agency had played in the circumstance of the Boko Haram insurgency.
It, therefore, called on the federal government to accord NEMA more support and necessary assistance to be able to do more as the population of the IDPs continued to soar.
The group said if given more support, NEMA would go the extra mile to reduce those challenges.