The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Saturday held its mid-year route walk for staff to enhance efficiency in emergency management operations.
The exercise took place at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja and was led by NEMA’s Director of Special Duties, Mrs Fatima Kasim, who represented the Director-General, Mrs Zubaida Umar.
It brought together staff members for a fitness exercise aimed at promoting healthy living and strengthening physical readiness for emergency response duties.
Speaking on behalf of the Director-General, Kasim emphasised that the core objective of the initiative was to ensure the workforce remains fit and capable of handling the rigorous demands of disaster management.
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“The whole essence of this exercise is for us to ensure we are fit and able to carry out our day-to-day activities, which involve managing disasters across 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 necessary to organise this route walk,” she said.
She added that Saturday’s exercise was the second route walk organised since Umar assumed office, noting that the Director-General is 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 staff to take personal responsibility for their health beyond official agency events.
“We need to be fit at all times because when disasters strike, you have to be fit to help others.
“In our various homes and corners, let us try to keep fit. There are different forms of exercise we can do on our own to maintain our health, aside from the ones the agency will organise,” she said.
The agency’s Director of Search and Rescue, Air Commodore Usman Bature, said a healthy workforce is 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.
The mid-year route walk forms part of NEMA’s ongoing staff welfare initiatives aimed at fostering a healthy, motivated, and productive workforce capable of delivering top-tier disaster management and humanitarian services across Nigeria.
