According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Emergency Communications Centres (ECCs) currently position a large number of young people and professionals in jobs in addition to offering the general public with crucial emergency response services.
In addition to the aforementioned, the Commission claimed that the ECCs also provide residents all around the nation with informal economic opportunities.
The ECCs are reached through Toll-Free Number 112. They have been built and are currently fully functioning in 27 State capitals across the nation.
They function similarly to the 911 emergency numbers used in some developed nations to help people in distress who are witnessing or experiencing an emergency such as a fire outbreak, robbery or violent attack, domestic or vehicular accident, or medical emergency, instantly contact the appropriate agencies by dialling 112.
The overall number of facilities will increase to 31 in September 2023 with the addition of four more centres already undergoing test runs, and another quartet is anticipated to open their doors before the year is up.
The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the Federal Road Safety Corp. (FRSC), the Fire Service, the Ambulance Service, and State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMA) have all been provided with technology platforms, such as Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems, by the Commission in order to facilitate the dispatch of emergency calls made through the national emergency toll-free number 112.
To make sure that people in emergency situations can quickly memorise the three-digit number 112, which they can use to report emergencies, the three-digit code was created.
According to the report, ECC agents have received specialised training and are outfitted with cutting-edge communications tools, such as digital radio, Internet protocol (IP), and geolocation technologies, which make it simple for responders to pinpoint the location of incidents and provide effective and timely public rescue services.
According to the NCC, emergency centre services are provided live and continuously throughout the day in Nigeria thanks to the agents’ shift-based work schedules.
Response agencies, such as the Police, are now given additional mobile communications devices, some of which are located in their offices, to enable them to rapidly receive information from call agents at the centres. The Police have 24-hour duty to prevent, halt, and make arrests for crimes.
Additionally, this is done to make sure that the senior leadership of the force has access to real-time information for command and control over any incidents or emergency situations across the nation.
Since each of the centres has a staff made up of call agents, facility/IT staff, and administrators, the ECCs are taking on more significant roles in providing emergency communications services to the populace. This comes with increased socioeconomic responsibility for creating job opportunities for the citizens.
The Commission carefully considered the basic pay of the ECC staff members to make sure that the jobs at the centres were appealing to young Nigerians and other categories of employees.
In practise, more than 1,200 people are presently offered jobs at the 27 operating centres spread across the nation, and more people will be hired as the extra eight centers—which are currently in varying phases of completion—become completely operational by 2024.
Additionally, native Nigerian consultants are hired to oversee the centre’ entire facility and operational management.
