By Philomina Attah
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Saturday held its mid-year route walk for members of staff to enhance efficiency in emergency management operations.
The exercise took place at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja and was led by NEMA’s Director of Special Duties, Mrs Fatima Kasim, who represented the Director-General (D-G), Mrs Zubaida Umar.
It brought together members of staff who participated in the fitness exercise aimed at promoting healthy living and strengthening physical readiness for emergency response duties.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the walk is part of NEMA’s commitment to promoting the health, fitness, and wellbeing of staff.
Speaking on behalf of the director-general, Kasim emphasised that the core objective of the initiative was to ensure that the workforce remained capable of handling the rigorous demands of disaster management.
”The whole essence of this exercise is for us to ensure we are fit and able to carry on our day-to-day activity, which is managing disasters in the country.
“You need to be fit, very fit, to be able to help save the lives and properties of others. That is why the D-G thought it fit to organise this route exercise,” she said.
She further said that Saturday’s exercise marked the second route walk organised since Umar assumed office, noting that the D-G was committed to making the fitness exercise a quarterly event.
“Furthermore, plans are underway to decentralise the initiative across NEMA’s 17 offices nationwide to ensure simultaneous participation across the Federation, ‘’ she said.
Kasim urged the staff to take personal responsibility for their health beyond official agency events.
”We need to be fit at all times because when disasters come you have to be fit to be able to help others.
“In our various homes and corners, let us try to keep fit. There are different forms of exercises we can do on our own to maintain our health, aside from the ones the agency will be organising subsequently,” she said.
The The agency’s Director, Search and Rescue, Air Commodore Usman Bature, said that a healthy workforce was fundamental to achieving NEMA’s mandate of providing timely and effective emergency response services to Nigerians.
Bature encouraged staff to embrace healthy lifestyles and make regular physical exercise a permanent part of their daily routines.
NAN reports that the Mid-Year Route Walk forms part of NEMA’s ongoing staff welfare initiatives.
It is aimed at fostering a healthy, motivated, and productive workforce capable of delivering top-tier disaster management and humanitarian services across Nigeria. (NAN)