LEADERSHIP Awards Will Push Us To Do More – NNMDA, NEMA DGs

BY PATIENCE IVIE IHEJIRIKA AND EJIKE EJIKE, Abuja

The director-general of the Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA), Prof. Martins Emeje, and the director-general of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mrs Zubaida Umar, have described their selection as LEADERSHIP Newspaper’s Public Service Persons of the Year 2026 as genuine recognition of their contributions to national development, saying the honour would spur them to do more.

Speaking when a delegation from LEADERSHIP Group Limited, publishers of LEADERSHIP Newspaper, led by its group managing director, Muazu Elazeh, paid a courtesy visit to him in Abuja recently to formally present his nomination letter and invite him to the award ceremony scheduled for December 1, Emeje described his selection as one of the most genuine recognitions he had received.

He said the honour had further challenged him to do more for Nigeria’s traditional medicine sector. Emeje said he was “highly honoured,” excited and fulfilled by the recognition, stressing that he accepted the award “with all its dignity and seriousness.”

He said the award was particularly meaningful because, unlike some recognitions, he had neither solicited nor paid for it. “For me, this is the most genuine way to give an award to people. Nobody asked me for anything, and I just saw that I was considered,” he said.

Emeje, who said he had received several international recognitions, added that the LEADERSHIP award had given him additional justification to continue pushing for greater recognition and development of traditional medicine in Nigeria. He commended LEADERSHIP Newspaper for recognising his work, describing the award as an opportunity to deepen the relationship between the newspaper and NNMDA. “I am grateful to LEADERSHIP. I thank you very much, and I hope that this also marks the beginning of a sustainable, more rewarding relationship between LEADERSHIP and the Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency,” he said.

The NNMDA boss appealed to the media to pay greater attention to traditional medicine and the agency’s work, saying that increased public understanding was necessary to support the sector’s development.

Also speaking,  while receiving her nomination letter from the management of LEADERSHIP Media Group recently in Abuja during a different courtesy visit by a team from the organisation led by Elazeh,   the director-general of NEMA, Mrs Zubaida Umar, said her selection as LEADERSHIP’s Public Service Person of the Year 2026 would spur her to do more to strengthen disaster preparedness and response in Nigeria.

According to her, she received the recognition with gratitude and humility, adding that it was particularly meaningful because it came from LEADERSHIP, which she described as one of Nigeria’s leading newspapers. “I received this with a lot of gratitude and humility. As I said, coming from LEADERSHIP, of course, LEADERSHIP is definitely amongst the top in our country,” she said.

According to her, the recognition would further encourage her, the agency’s management and staff to intensify efforts to shift the focus of disaster management from response to prevention and risk reduction. “I am also highly delighted that you recognise the changes that are going on. What we do now is we are concentrating more on disaster risk reduction,” she said.

Umar said NEMA was also focusing on public awareness, simulation exercises and youth engagement to ensure that Nigerians were better prepared to respond when disasters occur. She stressed that disaster management should not be left solely to government agencies, saying individuals and communities also had important roles to play during emergencies. “It’s not about pushing the blame to who should be responsible for it. Even your six-year-old should be able to help when there’s an emergency. We want a NEMA that can change and refocus the country, so that even a four-year-old knows what to do in an emergency. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”

The NEMA DG said she regarded the award as recognition of the collective efforts of the agency’s management and staff rather than a personal achievement. “I don’t consider this as my own effort. It’s the effort of the whole management and staff of NEMA, and that’s why they’re here to receive the award with me,” she said.

Elazeh disclosed while presenting the nomination letter to Emeje that the LEADERSHIP Board of Editors unanimously considered him for the Public Service Person of the Year 2026 Award because of his efforts to reposition traditional medicine and make it more central to Nigeria’s healthcare system. He said Emeje’s work had drawn attention to the role of traditional medicine in advancing universal health coverage and strengthening Nigeria’s health system.

Also, speaking during the presentation of the nomination letter to Umar in Abuja,  Elazeh disclosed that the director general of NEMA was selected as the organisation’s Public Service Person of the Year 2026 following a review by its Board of Editors. He said the award was intended to recognise individuals and organisations that had distinguished themselves in the discharge of their responsibilities and encourage them to do more. According to him, Umar was selected for what the organisation described as her leadership in disaster management, humanitarian coordination and national preparedness.

Elazeh said the award was in its 19th edition and that the formal presentation would take place on December 1 at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja. The LEADERSHIP delegation said the award was part of the organisation’s annual effort to recognise individuals, corporate organisations and citizens whose contributions to national development had distinguished them in their respective fields.