Vice President Shettima directs agencies to develop operational roadmap for NEC endorsement
The Federal Government has commenced moves to operationalise the 112 national emergency number as Nigeria’s single, universal toll-free line for emergency services nationwide.
Vice President Kashim Shettima gave the directive on Tuesday in Abuja at a stakeholders’ meeting on the National Emergency Number 112 Project, charging relevant agencies to develop a comprehensive roadmap and standard operating procedures for the initiative.
The Federal Government has consequently constituted a committee comprising the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and other relevant agencies to finalise the operational framework.
The roadmap will subsequently be presented to the National Economic Council (NEC) for formal endorsement.
NEC had recently approved 112 as Nigeria’s single national emergency number, replacing the fragmented emergency response lines currently operated by different agencies. The initiative is aimed at eliminating bureaucratic delays and ensuring that citizens can quickly access appropriate assistance during emergencies such as fires, road accidents, medical crises, security threats and other life-threatening situations.
Speaking at the meeting, Shettima urged the committee to base its recommendations on global best practices and develop a clear and workable roadmap for implementation.
He also stressed the importance of making measurable progress on the project, assuring stakeholders that funding would be made available once a clear implementation framework had been established.
“Let’s make progress so that whatever time we have spent here is worth spending. And most importantly, the engine is finance. It is resources to drive the process. And I want to assure you that we will get the resources,” the Vice President said.
The Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, expressed the full support of the Nigeria Police Force for the adoption of 112 as the country’s unified emergency number.
Disu described the initiative as a significant step towards providing citizens with a simple and reliable means of accessing emergency assistance.
He explained that under the proposed system, Nigerians confronted with armed attacks, accidents, fire outbreaks, medical emergencies, kidnapping or other life-threatening situations would no longer have to determine which agency to contact before seeking help.
According to him, a single emergency number should be capable of connecting callers to the appropriate response agency.
Earlier, the Personal Assistant to the President on e-Governance in the Office of the Vice President, Mrs Lydia Aina, said Nigeria’s emergency response system currently operates across multiple agencies, systems and jurisdictions, resulting in fragmentation in the way emergencies are received, coordinated and addressed.
Aina said the objective of the 112 project was to move from fragmented state-level systems towards a coordinated and eventually fully integrated national emergency response framework.
She said the stakeholders’ meeting focused not only on the emergency number itself but also on the people, agencies, standards and systems required to ensure that the number functions effectively when citizens dial it.
“Our job now is to turn it into an actual working programme with milestones. So, we have identified six immediate priorities. First, governance. We need a clear structure of who’s responsible for what,” she said.
Other stakeholders who pledged the support of their respective agencies included the Director-General of NEMA, Mrs Zubaida Umar; Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Shehu Mohammed; and Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu.
The operationalisation of 112 is expected to provide Nigerians with a more coordinated and efficient emergency response system by creating a single access point through which citizens can obtain assistance regardless of the nature of the emergency.