The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and Federal Fire Service (FFS) have intensified preventive measures to save lives and minimise avoidable disasters nationwide.

The ‌‍‍‍⁠⁠‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‍‍‌agencies made this known on Tuesday in Abuja at the Joint Security News Briefing organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser.

NEMA spokesperson, Manzo Ezekiel, said the agency was intensifying flood monitoring and early-warning systems, particularly in vulnerable communities.

Ezekiel said NEMA was working with State Emergency Management Agencies, local committees and traditional institutions to translate forecasts into actionable warnings.

He said the agency was monitoring water levels in Lagdo Dam, Cameroon, because of possible flooding along the River Benue.

“Residents of high-risk communities are encouraged to take precautionary measures, including relocation to safer grounds where necessary,” he said.

Ezekiel, however, dismissed reports of an imminent collapse of the Kagini Dam in Kaduna State, saying a joint assessment established that there was no immediate threat.

He said NEMA had activated its National Emergency Operations Centre to strengthen real-time monitoring, information analysis and coordination of flood responses.

He added that the agency had also conducted simulation exercises in Calabar and Adamawa to test emergency procedures and inter-agency coordination ahead of possible flood emergencies.

Ezekiel said NEMA provided relief assistance to 24,625 households, representing 147,750 persons, during July and August.

He said the agency was working with NiMet, NIHSA, NCC, NASRDA and other partners under the Early Warnings for All initiative.

In his presentation, the spokesperson for FRSC, Osondu Ohaeri, said the corps was using aggressive enforcement and targeted patrols to prevent dangerous road practices from translating into crashes and fatalities.

Ohaeri said FRSC arrested 4,691 offenders during Operation Guduma II for offences including dangerous mix-loading, vehicle identity fraud and serious loading violations.

According to him, the Special Patrol Against Overloading also produced 7,876 arrests, while the nationwide Zonal Intervention Special Patrol apprehended 14,287 traffic offenders.

He said the emergency teams responded to 740 road crashes involving 4,497 people in July, rescuing and evacuating 2,295 injured victims.

“However, 314 fatalities were recorded, underscoring the continuing challenge of preventable road deaths and the need for greater compliance by motorists.

“The corps also recovered four stolen vehicles through its National Vehicle Identification Scheme and supported 54 criminal investigations involving other security and law-enforcement agencies,” he said.

The National Public Relations Officer of FFS, Paul Abraham, said the service’s emergency teams responded to 426 fire incidents during July and August and saved 585 lives.

Abraham added that FFS protected property valued at about N107.98 billion, although property worth N35.89 billion was lost during the period.

According to him, residential buildings accounted for 195 fire incidents, while electrical faults remained the leading cause, responsible for 251 outbreaks.

The figures, the Service said, reinforced the need for stronger fire prevention, safety inspections, public enlightenment and compliance with safety standards.

“The Fire Service also took delivery of two firefighting trucks and continued expanding emergency infrastructure to improve response in underserved communities.

“It further collaborated with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria towards establishing fire stations across the 774 local government areas.

“The combined interventions point to a growing preventive-safety architecture in which authorities are increasingly seeking to detect hazards, warn communities and enforce compliance before emergencies result in avoidable loss of lives and property,” he said.

By David Torough, Abuja

Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 4.43 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, accelerating from 3.89 per cent in the first quarter and 4.

23 per cent recorded in the same quarter of 2025, the Federal Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday.

The latest figures pushed Nigeria’s real GDP growth for the first half of 2026 to 4.

16 per cent, compared with 3.68 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025, indicating stronger economic activity across the first six months of the year.

The ministry, in a statement issued in Abuja, said the expansion was becoming increasingly broad-based, with 27 economic subsectors recording real growth above 3 per cent in Q2 2026, compared with 23 subsectors in Q2 2025.

Manufacturing growth more than doubled to 3.24 per cent from 1.60 per cent a year earlier, while agriculture expanded by 4.39 per cent, up from 2.82 per cent.

Services remained the largest contributor to economic growth, expanding by 4.60 per cent in Q2 2026, compared with 3.94 per cent in Q2 2025.

The ministry also highlighted developments in the foreign-exchange market, saying the naira appreciated by more than 12 per cent between the first halves of 2025 and 2026.

According to the ministry, the stronger exchange rate translated into an approximately 17 per cent expansion of Nigeria’s economy in U.S. dollar terms over the period.

It said the combination of stronger real growth and improved exchange-rate performance puts Nigeria in a stronger position to pursue the Federal Government’s target of a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

The ministry further cited International Monetary Fund projections ranking Nigeria among the top 10 contributors to global real GDP growth in 2026, with the country expected to account for about 1.5 per cent of global growth this year.

It said sustained macroeconomic stability, continued expansion in productive sectors and improving investor confidence could support Nigeria’s emergence as Africa’s largest economy by 2028.

The ministry said the latest figures reinforced the need to maintain economic reforms and policy consistency, while stressing that stronger growth must ultimately translate into improved household incomes, purchasing power and broader prosperity.

The government, it added, remains focused on sustaining growth and ensuring that the benefits of the economic recovery reach households across the country.

By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

The Federal Government has made participation in Nigeria’s national tertiary education ranking exercise compulsory for all universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, in a major expansion of the system beyond universities.

Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced the policy yesterday in Abuja during a meeting with the Nigerian Universities Ranking Advisory Committee (NURAC), which has been expanded and renamed the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee.

Alausa said the new framework was aimed at improving quality, accountability, institutional performance and global competitiveness across Nigeria’s tertiary education sector.

According to him, the ranking would provide institutions with clear benchmarks for measuring performance, identifying weaknesses and tracking improvements, while promoting healthy competition among institutions.

Under the new arrangement, universities, polytechnics and colleges of education will participate in a unified national ranking system, with the Federal Government expected to fund the exercise through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

Alausa said the 2026/2027 ranking exercise for universities would begin in September, while the committee would determine when the exercise would be extended to polytechnics and colleges of education.

He added that the government would issue guidelines to institutionalise the ranking system and formally notify vice-chancellors and heads of other tertiary institutions that participation would be compulsory.

The minister said the policy formed part of President Bola Tinubu’s education reforms under the Renewed Hope Agenda, being implemented through the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative.

He also pledged that the Ministry of Education would provide the policy direction, funding and capacity-building support needed to make the ranking exercise credible and sustainable.

Alausa said the ministry would work with the committee to provide in-service training and institutional capacity-building programmes to help more Nigerian institutions improve their standing nationally and internationally.

The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, described the initiative as a major step towards strengthening accountability and quality in the tertiary education system.

She said the ranking should cover both public and private institutions and serve as a mechanism for establishing and maintaining minimum standards across the sector.

“Healthy competition is essential to encouraging institutions to assess their performance, address identified gaps and consistently improve the quality of education they provide,” Ahmad said.

Chairman of the ranking advisory committee and former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Emeritus Prof. Peter Okebukola, said the committee’s engagement with the minister followed a memorandum congratulating the Tinubu administration on the growing number of Nigerian universities securing places in global rankings.

Okebukola said the committee had also advocated increased investment in university education to accelerate the gains being recorded.

He noted that the minister went beyond the committee’s initial proposal by expanding NURAC’s mandate to include polytechnics and colleges of education, leading to the creation of the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee.

Okebukola expressed optimism that sustained investment, stronger institutional capacity and the new national framework would enable more Nigerian institutions to compete successfully with leading universities globally.

The policy comes amid growing pressure on Nigerian tertiary institutions to improve their performance in international rankings, which assess factors including research output, academic reputation, citations, international outlook and institutional resources.

Despite the increasing presence of Nigerian universities in global rankings, the sector continues to face challenges including inadequate funding, weak research capacity, poor infrastructure, staffing constraints and limited resources.

By making participation compulsory and extending the exercise to polytechnics and colleges of education, the Federal Government is seeking to establish a coordinated system for measuring institutional performance and driving improvements across the entire tertiary education sector.