By: John Bassey, Zamfara.

The Zamfara state Command of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps under the leadership of Commandant Sani Mustapha has marked the 2026 International Civil Defence Day with renewed commitment to secure risky areas of Zamfara state via coordinated intelligence and proactive actions.

This was contained in a statement issued by Umar Mohammed Mansuru, the Command Public Relations officer to Journalist in Zamfara Today.

In the statement, the Commandant, Sani Mustapha glorified God and welcomed all to the state operations headquarters, Gusau, in commemoration of this remarkable day in the history of civil defence globally.

“International Civil Defence Day is a special day reserved worldwide, to celebrate, reflect and improve on the set obligations of serving and protecting the civil populace as embedded through the International Civil Defence Organization (ICDO); to protect lives and property, promote the values of preparedness, emergency management and public awareness of the Corps’ statutory obligations.”

“NSCDC is a critical component of national security focused on the protection of lives and property from both man-made and natural disasters among others.”

To actualize this mandate, CC Sani Mustapha asserted that, under the leadership of the Commandant General, Prof. Ahmed Abubakar Audi mni OFR, the Corps has adopted strategic preventive measures to effectively identify, analyze, assess and coordinate responses to manage risks and ensure public safety.

This year’s theme ‘MANAGING ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS FOR A RESILIENT AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE’ symbolizes the CG’s renewed impetus to realign with the diverse needs of crisis management and environmental protection.

CC Sani Mustapha further underlines the imperative need to manage and sensitize the civil populace of environmental protection and risks therein to manage crisis adequately.

“To productively understand these risks, the command adopted the following, which includes: analysis of environmental factors & risks, conservation, pollution & waste management, protection of biodiversity and sustainable development.”

“To manage these risks, strategically, in collaboration with the Zamfara Environmental Protection and Enforcement Agency (ZEPEA) the state command has proactively implemented the following plan of actions:
1. Preparedness for climate impacts (adaptation planning)
2. ⁠Protection of natural buffers against erosions and floods (ecosystem conservation)
3. ⁠Waste and pollution reduction (sustainable practices)
4. ⁠Shift from fossil fuels like coals, gas and oil (renewable energy)
5. Growing eco-friendly solutions like tree planting to manage water storms and reduce pollution (green infrastructure).”

“These strategies are supported, implemented and enforced to ensure sustainable development and continuous compliance from the citizens.”

CC Sani Mustapha maintained that, the state command has demonstrated excellent skills and acumen in managing environmental risks via identification of potential hazards, assessment of impacts and taking sequential procedures of efficient mitigation with sustainable policies; I wish to reaffirm, together as stakeholders, we shall secure Zamfara state to a resilient and sustainable future.