FG strengthens National Emergency Response, okays 112 as lifeline

…Directs finance ministry to release approved funds for rehabilitation of police training institutions

…Says citizens need urgent response to national disaster, insecurity, not bureaucracy

The National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday, approved the adoption of 112 as the National Emergency Number at all levels and across relevant agencies.

This development is also part of measures to strengthen Nigeria’s emergency lifeline and build a unified and coordinated national response to emergencies.

Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, in a statement, said NEC also approved the establishment of a multi-agency implementation committee and programme coordination led by the Office of the Vice President and National Communications Commission (NCC).

The approval was part of decisions taken against the 157th meeting of NEC held virtually and chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima. The Shettima said the 112 emergency lifeline had become necessary to prevent delay caused by bureaucratic bottlenecks, noting that what the citizens seek urgently when confronted by natural disaster or insecurity is an urgent response and not bureaucracy.

“This is not only a technical reform. It is a test of the state’s humanity. In moments of fire, accident, robbery, medical emergency, flood, violence, or panic, citizens do not need bureaucracy.

“They need response. They need to know one number to call, one system to trust, and one coordinated chain of action that moves quickly enough to save lives,” he stated.

He explained that while Nigeria is not beginning from zero, as the emergency number had been in existence, what is required at the moment “is coordination, adoption, standard operating procedures, public awareness, institutional ownership, and trust.”

He described NEC as the nation’s economic engine room, where the Federal Government and the states must convert the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu into practical outcomes.

“We cannot build our way to a one-trillion-dollar economy by federal effort alone. We cannot create millions of jobs by speeches alone. We cannot expand exports, attract investment, secure communities, or unlock productivity unless every tier of government understands its role and performs it with urgency,” the VP noted.

He also urged the Council members to focus on decisions that would have impact positively on the lives of Nigerians, VP Shettima said, “History will not ask how many meetings we held. It will ask what changed because we met.

“It will ask whether our decisions reached the farmer, the manufacturer, the artist, the investor, the accident victim, the unemployed graduate, and the child waiting to inherit the country we are rebuilding.”

The statement said * NEC also received a presentation on the rehabilitation of Police Training institutions across the country from its adhoc committee led by Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State and commended the adhoc committee for the work done so far.

“It also called on the Ministry of Finance to expedite the release of the balance of approved funds for the take-off of the project and urged the committee to ensure national spread by capturing training institutions in each geopolitical zone in the first phase of the intervention.