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Vice President Kashim Shettima has directed the immediate activation of a national coordination and early-action platform to tackle seasonal flooding, ordering agencies to move from reactive response to anticipatory preparedness as the rainy season intensifies, according to a statement released by his media aide, Stanley Nkwocha.
Speaking on Thursday at a meeting of the Anticipatory Action Task Force (AATF) at the Presidential Villa, the Vice President — who chairs the AATF — instructed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other relevant bodies to operationalise a “Fusion and Trigger Room” within NEMA as the national hub for monitoring, forecasting and activating predefined response triggers.
“This platform should anchor our monitoring, our forecasting, the activation of triggers, the coordination across agencies, and the decisions that follow from them,” Shettima said, adding that Nigeria needs an institutional mechanism to “anticipate hazards, consolidate data, coordinate decisions, and activate action before emergencies escalate beyond our reach.”
He told technical teams to review and update the AATF budget immediately in line with approved allocations and to set clear implementation priorities. Shettima warned that delays in releasing resources undermine anticipatory action, stressing that “resources intended for preparedness and early response must be available at the precise moment they are required.”
The Vice President also urged close collaboration across agencies to speed the deployment of approved funds and to prevent implementation timelines from being “held hostage by administrative delay”. He called on state governments to take ownership of preparedness measures, saying federal co-ordination alone would not suffice: “I call on our state governors and state institutions to participate actively and to lead implementation within their jurisdictions.”
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The meeting took place against the backdrop of a recent National Economic Council decision that approved a ₦83.2 billion intervention fund for anticipatory flood action.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Bernard Doro described the government’s approval of funds as a “timely and bold step”, calling for central coordination of programmes using the national social register and digital payment platforms in partnership with subnational authorities.
United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohamed Fall commended the Nigerian government’s move, saying the funding demonstrates political commitment and national ownership and that anticipatory action has, in past cases, saved lives and livelihoods. “Whenever Nigeria does something of this magnitude, it serves as a blueprint for the rest of the continent,” he said.
NEMA Director-General Zubaida Umar said the agency has issued early warnings and is prioritising affected areas. She added that the NEC-approved funds will both prevent loss of life and safeguard livelihoods.
