By joshua STAYING AHEAD OF DISASTER: HOW ALHAJI MUKTAR ATIMA IS REDEFINING EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN KOGI
By Abu Micheal
Atima, ES SEMA
In disaster Management, timing is everything. For Alhaji Muktar Atima, Executive Secretary of the Kogi State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, it is not just about responding when crisis hits. It is about anticipating it, preparing for it, and ensuring that no life is lost unnecessarily.
Since assuming office, the upwardly mobile Atima has changed the narrative of emergency management in Kogi. Passionate, meticulous, and relentless in delivery, he has become what many now describe as “a man caught out for his job” — a leader who doesn’t just do the job, but redefines it.
The role of an Executive Secretary of a State Emergency Management Agency is clear: coordinate disaster preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery. It means sounding early warnings, managing evacuations, running IDP camps, distributing relief, and working with other agencies and communities to reduce the impact of disasters.
In Kogi, a state that sits at the confluence of Rivers Niger and Benue and is repeatedly listed among the most flood-prone states in the country, that responsibility carries even greater weight. More challenging is the gateway status of the State, with heavy vehicular movement leading to road crashes and other related emergencies.
Alhaji Atima has embraced that mandate fully, bringing to it administrative discipline and a humanitarian heart. Emergency situations, whether from natural forces or human actions, are sudden, threaten life and property, and demand urgent action. In Kogi those threats are familiar. Every year, communities along the Niger and Benue brace for flooding, with over 258 communities across eight local government areas already identified as vulnerable. Flash floods and storms sweep through towns with little warning. Waterborne diseases like cholera often follow displacement. Beyond nature, the state also contends with fire outbreaks in markets and fuel stations, building collapses, gas explosions, road accidents and tanker explosions, boat mishaps on the rivers, communal clashes, and the long-term effects of erosion and poor waste disposal.
Under Atima, SEMA has moved from reaction to proaction. Ahead of the 2024 and 2025 rainy seasons, the agency prepared and renovated 42 IDP camps across nine flood-prone local governments and activated 18 of them during the 2024 floods. Speedboats and life jackets were procured to aid evacuation, health personnel and fumigation teams were deployed to prevent disease in camps, and an Emergency Operations Centre was established to improve coordination.
When floods submerged five communities in Ibaji — Ota, Ofogbo, Itima and others — Atima led assessment teams to the riverine areas, urging immediate relocation as water levels rose. In Owara community in Lokoja, where a flash flood destroyed homes and farmlands, he led an on-the-spot visit, profiled 660 affected persons and assured them of government relief. Through collaboration with NEMA, the Ministry of Health, traditional rulers, youth groups and religious leaders, Kogi recorded zero casualties in the 2024 flood, a feat the agency attributes to early sensitization and preparedness.
Asked what accounts for the difference from past years, Atima credits the vision of Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, describing him as a leader who feels the pain of the people and responds like a true servant. But those who have watched SEMA closely say the energy and attention to detail also come from the man at the helm. He is deeply passionate and detail-driven. His interventions are not only timely but strategic, and they have set a new benchmark for what emergency response should look like in the state.
Atima is a man consumed by purpose. He does not treat disaster management as a routine assignment. He treats it as a mission. With uncommon dedication he has raised the bar of intervention, turning preparedness and relief into transformational impact. He is the definition of excellence in action, passionate at heart, meticulous in execution, and bold in the results he delivers. As one observer put it, he is a man caught out for his job, driven to make a difference, and he has raised the bar of intervention to levels never seen before.
As the 2026 flood season approaches, Atima is already meeting with stakeholders, expanding sensitization campaigns, and advocating for long-term solutions such as a dam at Shintaku in Lokoja to check overflow from the rivers. As of press time, the state has an IDP camp ready for use. The state government has also begun preparations for stocking warehouses and purchasing health medicaments and other essential supplies ahead of any flood occurrence.
He has also prioritized capacity building. In partnership with NEMA and other sister emergency management organizations, staff of the agency have undergone training and retraining to equip them for the task ahead.
For Atima, the work is not about waiting for disaster. It is about staying ahead of it. A major compass for him remains his alignment with the vision and compassion of Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, a leader widely described as having a heart of gold and the milk of human kindness flowing in his veins. It is this shared commitment to service that continues to drive SEMA’s operations.
In Alhaji Muktar Atima, Kogi State has found a SEMA boss who has turned crisis management into a mission of humanity. By choosing preparedness over panic, and compassion over complacency, he has restored confidence that when trouble comes, government will already be ready.