Nigeria: NEC approves 112 as national emergency number.

Abuja, Nigeria - April 30, 2026 The National Economic Council (NEC) has approved the adoption of 112 as the national emergency number at all levels and across relevant agencies. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the approval was part of decisions taken at the 157th meeting of NEC held virtually and chaired by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima The council also approved the establishment of a multi-agency implementation committee and programme coordination led by the Office of the Vice President and National Communications Commission (NCC). Shettima said the move was part of measures to strengthen Nigeria's emergency lifeline and build a unified and coordinated national response to emergencies. The vice president explained that the 112 emergency lifeline had become necessary to prevent delay caused by bureaucratic bottlenecks. Shettima noted that what the citizens need urgently when confronted by a natural disaster or insecurity is an urgent response and not bureaucracy. " This is not only a technical reform. It is a test of the state’s humanity. In moments of fire outbreak, accident, robbery, medical emergency, flood, violence, or panic, citizens do not need bureaucracy. " They need a response. They need to know one number to call, one system to trust, and one coordinated chain of action that moves quickly enough to save lives. " Nigeria is not beginning from zero, the emergency number has been in existence. " What is required at the moment is coordination, adoption, standard operating procedures, public awareness, institutional ownership, and trust.” He described NEC as the nation’s economic engine room for the Federal and State Governments to convert the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu into practical outcomes. " We cannot build our way to a one-trillion-dollar economy by federal effort alone. We cannot create millions of jobs by speeches alone. " We cannot expand exports, attract investment, secure communities, or unlock productivity unless every tier of government understands its role and performs it with urgency,” he said. Shettima urged members of NEC to focus on decisions that would impact positively on the lives of Nigerians. " History will not ask how many meetings we held. It will ask what changed because we met. “It will ask whether our decisions reached the farmer, the manufacturer, the artist, the investor, the accident victim, the unemployed graduate. " And the child waiting to inherit the country we are rebuilding, " the vice president said.