SAEMA 2020: How Winners Bagged Outstanding Security and Emergency Management Awards

SAEMA 2020: How Winners Bagged Outstanding Security and Emergency Management Awards

The Birthing of SAEMA Series for Outstanding Security and Emergency Managers…

The Security and Emergency Management Awards was instituted in 2019 by the Image Merchants Promotions Limited (publishers of Emergency Digest, PRNigeria and Economic Confidential magazines) in partnership with the Centre for Crisis Communication. This is in recognition of the immeasurable and invaluable contribution to the security, peace and development of Nigeria by the military, security, intelligence and response agencies, their management and personnel.

The idea behind the award series is to publicly acknowledge and appreciate the agencies (and the individuals behind them) with a view to creating resilient and professional approach in the management of security and emergency situations in the country. The Awards is an annual event envisioned to celebrate the best of the bests in security and response agencies in Nigeria.

Its noteworthy that some winners in the maiden edition went ahead to clinch global awards which include African Public Relations Award and Golden World Award instituted by the International Public Relations Association (IPRA).

The Backgrounders…

The recurrence of both man-made and natural disasters has over time precipitated insecurity and humanitarian consequences in Nigeria. These tragic occurrences have placed the activities and operations of agencies and departments saddled with the responsibility of managing security and emergencies in the front burner.

The country is currently assailed in all fronts by different degrees of man-made adversities ranging from terrorism to kidnappings, armed banditry, cattle rustling, farmers-herdsmen clashes, banditry, pipeline vandalism, armed robbery, rape, drug addiction, human trafficking, ritual killings, cybercrimes/internet frauds, sectarian tensions, inter and intra communal and political tensions, ethno-religious conflicts, etc. It is also buffeted periodically by such natural disasters as flood, wild fire, erosion menace, desertification, disease outbreaks/epidemics, draught, etc.

Mindful that the priority of any government is to ensure the security of lives and property of citizens, to guarantee safe and secured environment for socio-economic activities to thrive without let or hindrance, Nigeria has a number of agencies and departments whose statutory responsibilities are primarily to take care of security and emergency needs of the people.

These agencies include the following:
i. Defence Headquarters (DHQ),
ii. Nigerian Army (NA),
iii. Nigerian Navy (NN),
iv. Nigerian Air Force (NAF),
v. Nigeria Police Force (NPF),
vi. Nigeria Customs Service (NCS),
vii. Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS),
viii. Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS)
ix. Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC),
x. Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC),
xi. Federal Fire Service (FFS),
xii. Department of State Services (DSS),
xiii. National Intelligence Agency (NIA),
xiv. Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),
xv. National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA),
xvi. Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC),
xvii. National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP).
Given the indispensability of their statutory roles, these agencies of government and the people behind them are constantly on their toes to prevent, tackle or mitigate the impacts of man-made or natural adversities.

Great Patriots…
Without any iota of doubt, the management and personnel of these agencies are great patriots who despite the challenges, hazards and dangers strewn on their job schedules, remain determined and committed towards ensuring that our dear country is safe, secured and peaceful.

A lot of them have paid the supreme sacrifice, many have lost their limbs, some families torn apart, and dreams cut short while carrying out their duties. At the management level, a number of Chief Executives of these agencies have shown uncommon courage, ingenuity and exemplary leadership that deserve encomium and appreciation.

Awards Schedule:

The award series which debuted in 2019 are scheduled to hold annually based on received nominations and adjudged by an independent jury of renowned security and emergency experts. Call for nominations are announced in October each year and award is held in December.

Awards Categories
The Awards is spread into 18 categories recognizing outstanding individuals and organizations. The categories are as follows: …

Eligibility

Awards recipients/awardees must be in the military, security, intelligence and response agencies or may have impacted on the emergency and security sector. Nomination of candidates must be informed by the candidate’s verifiable outstanding performance and track record excellence in the category for which the nomination was made.

Nominations
Upon the formal announcement of the SAEMA on its official website and other media outlets, nominations are welcomed from individuals and organisations. Thereafter, various entries are subjected to assessment for selection by SAEMA Jury.

Assessment Criteria
Criteria for selection include the following:
i. Originality of initiative
ii. Level of impact
iii. Medium and long term effect +
iv. Inclusivity of action
v. Positive impact on society.

Assessment Process

SAEMA Secretariat collates all submitted nominations forms and computes them in tabular format against the different assessment criteria and respective impact. Based on this assessment, the Secretariat prepares initial recommendation shortlist to be submitted to the Jury panel for their final decision.

Jury Panel
The jury panel that makes final decision on the awards consists of six authority figures and experts in the security/emergency sector. They are not in any way connected with neither the organizers nor any of the nominated agencies.

Statement by the Panel of Jury, SAEMA 2020…

It is our singular honour and privilege to welcome all of you to the second edition of Security and Emergency Management Awards (SAEMA 2020).

We must acknowledge the fact that we are all here to appreciate and honour the best of the bests among the military, security, intelligence and response agencies and other groups and individuals in our country.

As a Jury, we have no doubt that all of us here are united in our conviction that nothing is more topical and critical in our country today than security and emergency matters. The recurrence of both man-made and natural disasters has over time precipitated insecurity and humanitarian consequences in Nigeria. These tragic occurrences have placed the activities and operations of agencies and departments saddled with the responsibility of managing security and emergencies in the front burner.

In view of the indispensability of their statutory roles, these agencies of government and the people behind them are constantly on their toes to prevent, tackle or mitigate the impacts of both man-made and natural adversities.

Without any iota of doubt, the management and personnel of these agencies are great patriots who despite the challenges, hazards and dangers that are abound in their job schedules, remain determined and committed towards ensuring that our dear country is safe, secured and peaceful. A lot of them have paid the supreme sacrifice, many have lost their limbs, some families torn apart, and dreams cut short while carrying out their duties in service to fatherland. At the management level, a number of Chief Executives of these agencies have shown uncommon courage, ingenuity and exemplary leadership that deserve encomium and appreciation.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is in recognition of the patriotic contributions of these great institutions and the individuals behind them that this Award series was instituted. The idea is to publicly acknowledge and celebrate the best of the bests among then with a view to creating resilient and professional approach in the management of security and emergency situations in the country. We believe that by instituting the Awards, these agencies and individuals behind them will be further motivated in their patriotic duties.

Tonight’s awards will be given to winners as adjudged by a team of independent jury of experts from military, media, NGOs and academic. Nominations for the various categories were based on candidate’s verifiable outstanding performance and track record excellence in the category for which the nomination was made. A total of 254 entries were received for all the categories out of which, 136 nominees qualified for the competition. Thereafter, 54 finalists were selected by the jury from which 18 winners of the 18 categories emerged.

At this juncture, we will like to acknowledge the thoughtfulness of the organisers and their partners in coming up with this initiative. To this end, we would like to thank Image Merchants Limited, publishers of Emergency Digest, the principal organizer; Centre for Crisis Communication, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy (CISLAC) and Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) for their commitment to the advancement of peace, security and stability of the Nigerian society.

We are particularly happy to note the interest that three great institutions, namely, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Nigeria Air Force (NAF) and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) were all winners of this year’s African Public Relations Awards and Golden World of International Public Relations Association (IPRA) in different categories. Their global recognition and awards are great testimony to the quality of crisis communication strategies of our institutions and I am also proud to note that their accomplishments are duly recognized and appreciated globally. These distinguished institutions will be presented with their special global awards this evening.

We congratulate all the nominees and winners in today’s event. Remember that the whole idea is to spur you to even more dedication and commitment to the service to fatherland. To those who did not win in this particular edition, we believe that you still stand more chances of winning in subsequent editions. All you need to do is to keep up the good work.
Without much ado, on behalf of the organisers of SAEMA series and members of the Jury, we will like to say that we are now ready to announce the winners of tonight’s event. Thank you all for coming…

Chidi Omeje
Secretary of the Jury
December 12, 2020

SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AWARD WINNERS 2020

INSTITUTIONAL CATEGORIES

Public Information
Nigerian Customs Service
……………………………………

Crime Prevention
Nigerian Correctional Service
……………………………………

Intelligence Service
Department of State Security
……………………………………

Community Service
Airtel
……………………………………

Civil Military Relations
Nigerian Army
……………………………………

Emergency Management
Emergency Communication Centre of Nigeria Communication Commission (National)
Dr. Mohammed Goje of Yobe Emergency Management Agency (State)
……………………………………

SPECIAL CATEGORIES

Corporate social Responsibility
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)
……………………………………

Training Institute of the Year
Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College
……………………………………

Cybercrime Prevention
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibadan Branch
……………………………………

Humanitarian Service
NEEM Foundation
……………………………………

Volunteer Group
Kontagora Security Service
……………………………………

Private Security Firm
Profile Security Service
……………………………………

INDIVIDUAL CATEGORIES

Emergency Journalism
Austin Peacemakers
……………………………………

Law Enforcement Officer
Commander Alfred Adewunmi/Kogi NDLEA
……………………………………

Crisis Manager
Samuel Aruwan, Commissioner Internal Security Kaduna
……………………………………

Gallantry
Commandant Ahmed Abodurin(NSCDC)/ Agro Ranger of NSCDC
……………………………………

Security Officer of the Year
CSP Rabiu Garba of the Nigeria Police Force
……………………………………

Military Officer of the Year
Captain Peter Gambo of the Nigerian Navy
……………………………………

Minister of the Year
Dr Isa Pantami
……………………………………

CERTIFICATES OF EXCELLENCE (INDIVIDUALS)
1. Col. Timothy Antigha of MNJTF
2. Comptroller Ahmed Usman of NIS Lagos Airport
3. CSP Ibrahim O. Mohammed of NPF Borno
4. Air Commodore PN Amadi of NAF
5. Ahmed Indimi of Reuters
6. Ohaeri Osondu of FRSC

CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE (ORGANISATIONS)
1. Al-Imran Foundation
2. Federal Fire Service
3. National Emergency Management Agency
4. Independent Corrupt Practises Commission
5. Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit
6. West Africa Network of Peacebuilders