Abbas Idriss: The Quintessential Disaster Manager

‘’It is always pleasant to be urged to do something on the ground that one can do it well.’’

-George Santayana 

Photo: Top, Alhaji Abbas Idriss , DG,FEMA Bottom: Vice President  Osinbanjo, middle, FCT Minister  Muhammed Bello , left & Abbas Idriss

By Ahmed Dodo

In an interview he granted SEE Magazine few years ago, Alhaji Abbas Idriss, the Director General of the FCT Emergency Agency (FEMA), made a statement that has remain indebted in my conscious.  Responding to a question on an initiative he was credited to have mused as a professional disaster manager on the need to have a Local Emergency Management Committee with a strong grassroots footing, he said:

‘’ The general belief and emphasis is that emergency management cannot be done by this single agency and it must involve everybody and for you to really meet the requirement and get proper results , you need to go deep down the grassroots. That is the reason why the idea of having Local Emergency Management Committee came to the fore. We believe they are the first respondents. We decided to implement and create Local Emergency Management Committee, so that they can be near the people and also respond before our arrival.’’ He went further to explained, ‘’ You can agree with me that before you fly or go by road to fight an emergency, definitely there would have been some number of casualties before your arrival. But once you have some people trained and stationed there to manage such incidence, you would have fewer casualties.’’

These were the words of this insightful disaster manager whose foray into disaster management in Nigeria has been acknowledged not only in the country, but globally, for his efficiency and effective management of emergency situations as the Director General of the FCT Emergency Mnagement Agency (FEMA). His approach to disaster management is acknowledge as one of the best initiatives in disaster management in the country, given the fact that he has always been proactive in his style and always on ground to fight an tame many of the emergency situations that had threatened the Federal Capital Territory since his appointment.

Abbas Idriss and his team have been noted to always be the first on ground in most of these life threatening scenes. He and his team held the record of being the first government agency to arrive the scene of the deadly EMAB shopping plaza bomb blast that occurred in Abuja few years ago. He was equally on ground with his team at the scene of the Four-Storey building that collapsed in Jabi recently.  His Search and Rescue Team was also on ground to search for the drowned body of a boy drowned in Orozo River, when 12 children went to swim in the river and two of them were drowned. The FEMA team was also conspicuous at the famous Mpape and Maitama earth tremor that occurred not quite long in the territory.

Writing about some of the Director General’s achievements and proactive involvement in disaster management in the country would take much space in this article, but all the same, I think it is logical to enumerate some of his vision and accomplishment as the pioneer Director General of FEMA and equally commend him for a job well done.

One quality that has glued to Abbas Idriss like a second skin is his penchant for always being proactive in his reasoning and actions; part of the reason why FEMA under his care proactively moved to save markets and other structures in the FCT from fire disasters by creating a special Fire Marshal, the first of its kind in the country.

A man who is known to speak his mind frankly, he had during one of his interviews with newsmen emphasized the need for a full implementation and enforcement of laws regulating markets in the territory. He pointed out that markets were susceptible to fire outbreaks because laws were not respected. A clear statement that is visible in most of the markets in the country.

Another attribute of the Director General of FEMA is his public enlightenment drive on emergency management. His zeal to ensure that people are enlighten and informed quickly in emergency situation, by setting up call centres, and giving out safety tips on radio, the social media and other arms of information dissemination is commendable. His public enlightenment drive has been acknowledged as a source of relief to residents of the FCT, who are gradually imbibing Safety Culture by limiting their domestic and environment risks factors.

A case in point was the recent news of earth tremor in Mpape, and Maitama Districts of the FCT. The news came as a shock to many residences of the capital city and across the country, creating a tensed fear among the people. But Abbas Idriss, as the Director General of FEMA, had quickly and professional rise up to the task by quickly dousing off the fear of Nigerians and indeed the world by stating why the tremor occurred. According to him, ‘’ the tremor was caused by sudden breaks along a fault line, resulting in sudden release of energy that makes the ground shake.’’  He pointed out that rock blasting and mining activities in an area could result in the underground rocks to experience stress. He then calmed many nerves by urging the public to remain calm and not to panic by the development. He further assured Nigerians that the likelihood of any earthquake in the country was low as Nigeria is not in an earthquake zone. His agency also patriotically issued safety tips for the public to follow in the event of continued occurrence of tremor.

Abbas Idriss and his agency has also been active and contributed to ease the plights of the various Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the country. The displacement of these Nigerians caused by communal clash and the restive situation in the North-East led most of them to take refuge in Kwali, and Abaji Area councils in the FCT. And as usual with his character, the DG and his vigorous team  were on ground to ensure that the refuges were properly fed and secured in suitable accommodation, with  assurance that the IDPs would be repatriated, hopefully to their communities of origin, in line with international law which stipulates that reparation should be ‘’to place of choice, voluntary and dignified.’’

So it was no surprise that this quintessential disaster guru was recently awarded Fellow of The Risk Managers Society of Nigeria (RISCON), this in recognition of his contribution to risk management and  as a pioneer who has shown and led the way in disaster management  and equally brought some innovation to disaster supervision in the country.

It is the believe of this writer that Nigeria need more of Abbas Idriss professionalism and innovation in disaster management not only in the FCT, but equally at the national level, where his proficiency would benefit all Nigerians across the country. Tackling disaster as he rightly pointed out need to be proactive, and who better to tame this monster than a man whose ideas and innovations have helped curtained and averted many disasters in the nation’s rich capital.

Ahmed Dodo, is the Editor-In-Chief, SEE Magazine