Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has called for multi-stakeholder funding to prepare for floods, fire outbreaks, landslides, droughts, and other disasters.
Shettima spoke in Abuja at 2025 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR), with the theme: ‘Fund Resilience, Not Disasters’.
He launched NEMA Strategy Plan (2025-2029) and National Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy (2025-2030) to guide stakeholders and ensure disaster risk management becomes an integral part of planning.
He noted preparing for disasters before they strike is wiser, cheaper, and more humane than rebuilding.
He said every naira spent on preparedness and every investment in resilience is an investment in lives and future.
Shettima noted that Federal Government is developing a National Disaster Risk Financing Framework to guarantee that funding for prevention and preparedness is available.
He said: ‘The theme this year speaks to a truth we often overlook: it is far wiser, far cheaper, and far more humane to prepare for disasters before they strike than to rebuild after they destroy. Every naira we spend today on preparedness saves many more tomorrow on response and recovery. Every investment in resilience is, in truth, an investment in the lives and future of our people.
Speaking on the fund’s importance, Shettima said: ‘We do not have to look far to understand this message. We have seen floods wash away farmlands, erosion swallow roads, and fires raze markets that took years to build.
‘These tragedies happen not in distant lands, but in our communities. They remind us that if we fail to invest in resilience, we will spend resources cleaning up after crises instead of building lasting prosperity.
‘We are integrating disaster risk reduction into every sector; agriculture, infrastructure, education, health, while expanding early warning systems to ensure communities get alerts before floods, droughts, or disease outbreaks occur’.
He said emergency management agencies are strengthened through training, technology, and coordination support.
On funding, Shettima said: ‘We are developing a National Disaster Risk Financing Framework to guarantee that funding for prevention and preparedness is available when and where it is needed. And we are deepening partnerships with partners, private sector, and institutions to drive innovation and resilience building.”
‘To fund resilience is to invest in drainage systems, not relief camps; to build stronger schools and hospitals, not temporary shelters; to support farmers with climate-smart tools, not just food aid after floods; and to train and equip our first responders before the sirens start to wail. This is the shift we must make from reacting to crises to anticipating and preventing them. ”
‘Resilience cannot be guaranteed by government alone. It is built by all of us. It is reflected in how we plan our cities, in how businesses protect their workers, and in how communities share information and look out for one another. This is why our private sector must see itself as a partner in prevention, embedding risk reduction into corporate planning and investment decisions.
‘Our academia and research institutions also bear the responsibility of helping us generate the data, innovation, and practical research we need to prepare for a safer future
He added that the decades of disasters Nigeria and the world have endured must serve as an inspiration to move from sympathy after disasters to strategy before they happen.
‘We must replace reaction with readiness and fear with foresight because none of our efforts will yield results unless we empower and support our communities to take ownership of their safety.
The Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Zubaida Umar, emphasised the need for a proactive and well-financed disaster risk management framework to mitigate the impact of disasters in Nigeria.
She said the country must move from reactive, ad-hoc funding of disasters to a multi-stakeholder financing architecture that supports prevention, preparedness, and sustainable recovery.
She said Nigeria continues to experience increasing frequency and intensity of disasters driven by climate change, conflicts, pandemics, and technological risks.
Umar said the occurrence of disasters is testing the limits of traditional emergency response systems and demanding a more proactive, preventive, and well-financed disaster risk management framework.
She said: ‘We need to collectively rethink how we fund resilience; to move from reactive, ad-hoc funding of disasters to a multi-stakeholder financing architecture that supports prevention, preparedness, and sustainable recovery.
‘Our focus will extend beyond emergency management institutions. Resilience must be mainstreamed across sectors from agriculture, water resources, energy and infrastructure to finance, education, and health’.
The Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal spoke on the need for sustainable funding mechanisms, noting that funding must be available to prepare adequately for disasters.
‘Disaster management is not in a cube or box where you can easily pick the solution. Mechanisms for funding must be available, and it is an economic necessity. So, preparedness and resilience must be funded deliberately. ‘