- As Shettima Directs NCC, NEMA, FRSC, Others To Develop Roadmap For NEC’s Endorsement
The Federal Government has moved to operationalise Nigeria’s 112 national emergency number, with Vice President Kashim Shettima directing relevant agencies to produce a comprehensive roadmap for its nationwide rollout.
The move is aimed at dismantling Nigeria’s fragmented emergency response system and giving citizens a single, toll-free channel to summon urgent assistance during fires, accidents, medical crises, security breaches and other life-threatening situations.
The directive was issued on Tuesday in Abuja by Vice President Shettima at a stakeholders’ meeting on the National Emergency Number 112 Project.
The government subsequently constituted a committee comprising the Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Communications Commission, National Emergency Management Agency, Federal Road Safety Corps and other relevant agencies to finalise the operational roadmap and standard operating procedures for submission to the National Economic Council (NEC) for formal endorsement.
The NEC had recently approved 112 as Nigeria’s single universal toll-free emergency number, replacing the multiple emergency lines currently operated by different agencies.
Shettima charged the committee to draw from global best practices and produce a clear, workable framework capable of transforming 112 from a policy decision into a functioning national emergency response system.
“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.
He stressed that once tangible progress was made and the implementation framework became visible, the necessary resources would be provided to drive the initiative.
The initiative received strong backing from the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, who described the adoption of 112 as a major step towards simplifying emergency access for Nigerians.
According to Disu, the Nigeria Police Force is “fully in support” of the unified emergency number, which he said would give citizens “a simple and reliable means of accessing emergency assistance.”
He pointed out that Nigerians caught in armed attacks, accidents, fire outbreaks, medical emergencies, kidnappings or other life-threatening situations often face the additional burden of determining which agency to contact.
“While the first challenge is to determine which agency to call, one number should provide access to the appropriate response,” the IGP said.
Also speaking, the Personal Assistant to the President on e-Governance in the Office of the Vice President, Lydia Aina, said Nigeria’s emergency response system currently operates across numerous agencies, systems and jurisdictions, resulting in serious fragmentation.
She said the government’s ambition was to move from fragmented emergency handling at the state level to a coordinated and ultimately integrated national framework.
Aina explained that the stakeholders’ meeting was focused not merely on the number itself, but on building the machinery required to make it work effectively.
“It’s the people, the agencies, the standards that make the number actually work when citizens dial it,” she said.
“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 added.
Other stakeholders who pledged their agencies’ full support included the Director-General of NEMA, Zubaida Umar; Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Shehu Mohammed; and Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, Lanre Issa-Onilu, among others.
With the initiative, the Federal Government is seeking to end the confusion and delays that have often confronted Nigerians during emergencies, replacing the maze of agency-specific numbers with a single nationwide gateway capable of rapidly directing distress calls to the appropriate responders.
