The federal government is deepening engagement with state governors and emergency responders to roll out 112 as Nigeria’s single national emergency number, following a meeting between a Nigerian Communications Commission delegation, led by Governing Board Chairman Ibikunle Olorunnimbe, and Vice President Kashim Shettima at the State House.
The meeting came days after the National Economic Council, chaired by Shettima, approved adopting 112 as the national emergency number across all levels of government and relevant agencies, part of a broader push to strengthen Nigeria’s emergency response system and build a unified national response architecture, having earlier approved a multi agency implementation committee to be led jointly by the Office of the Vice President and the NCC. Addressing the delegation, Shettima directed that a roadmap be developed to ensure the country adopts a single, unified emergency number in line with global best practice, and instructed the NCC to work closely with the National Emergency Management Agency given its expertise in disaster management, relief and rehabilitation, assuring the delegation that funding would be mobilised through both the National Economic Council and the private sector, while calling for stronger high level engagement and commitment from emergency responders to drive successful implementation.
Olorunnimbe briefed Shettima on progress made so far, disclosing that the NCC has already established about 35 Emergency Communications Centres nationwide using existing technology, and thanked the vice president for his leadership on the initiative and his assurance that stakeholders including the Nigeria Governors Forum would be engaged to support implementation. Echoing Shettima’s call, Olorunnimbe said the country now needs greater commitment from governors to support and maintain the infrastructure the commission has already put in place so the centres function properly, alongside full commitment from response agencies at every level, since a call for police intervention that never reaches police for whatever reason leaves the caller without the help they need. Everyone is expected to buy into this initiative and recognise its importance, he said, calling it a patriotic duty to ensure anyone in distress can get help swiftly, while also flagging that broader citizen welfare concerns, including the cost of petrol, food and transportation, still need coordinated attention alongside the emergency number rollout.
