The NEMA Six as Model for Integrity in Civil Service

By Lawal Dahiru Mamman,

“Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.” — Leo Tolstoy

Civil service at its core should be an avenue where individuals from different facets of life come together to serve not just people but work towards the development of a nation. In Nigeria, citizens generally perceive public service with a mix of high expectation and unimaginable dissatisfaction.

Nigerians view it as a crucial tool for development unfortunately plagued by inefficiency, corruption, and bureaucracy. For others, it is considered simply as a desirable career path for job security, and to others, it more or less a platform to enjoy one’s share of what we fondly call the national cake.

This is not entirely truth for all but in some instances those who passionately intend to serve are caught in situations that makes it easier to criticise the institution. For them, there are days when it feels like a dirty game.

It becomes a space where the lines between duty and danger often blur and were standing on the side of things can make one a target rather than agents of transformation. To walk the straight path, the system sometimes feels designed to strip them of dignity, stain them, and hang them dry with little or no value in eyes of the nation they swore to serve.

In recent history, nowhere was this more evident than in the dark cloud that hung over the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) between 2018 and 2024.

On April 3, 2018, the management of the agency performed an emergency act not against flood, fire outbreak or other services within its purview, but against men of her own institution. Newspapers around the country did not fail in their responsibility to report the incident.

Six high ranking officials, including Akinbola Hakeem Gbolahan (Finance and Accounts), Umesi Emenike (Special Duties), Alhassan Nuhu (Risk Reduction), Mamman Ali Ibrahim (Air Ambulance Unit), Yinusa Deji Ganiyu (Chief Maintenance Officer), and Mohammed Kanar (Welfare), were suspended abruptly.

The narrative fed to the public was one of anti-corruption. But as the dust settled, a much more malicious picture emerged. These were not men caught acting wrongly, were men who had reportedly dared to say no to breach of due process.

They were professionals who resisted the irregular award of contracts by the then Director-General, Engr. Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja, who was at the helm of affairs between 2017 and 2020.

Their victimisation was cold and calculated. They were suspended without a fair hearing which is a fundamental right guaranteed by law. Under the Public Service Rules, a query should have been issued for alleged misconduct, followed by the officers’ response and a preliminary investigation. Instead, those procedures were completely ignored.

They were dragged through the mud, kept under public suspicion, and had their careers frozen for many agonising years while the integrity of their accuser was praised.

While the “NEMA Six” were battling to clear their names, the House of Representatives Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness was unearthing a staggering reality. It was not the staff who were bleeding the agency dry; it was the leadership.

The Committee’s report established that over N33 Billion was mismanaged or embezzled under Maihaja’s watch. From the mismanagement of N1.6 billion in flood relief to the mysterious disappearance of over 6,000 metric tons of rice donated by the Chinese government for internally displaced persons (IDPs), the leadership of the agency was found to be the one with a serious question to answer.

Even in the specific case of Yinusa Deji Ganiyu, the EFCC’s trial revealed that the alleged “bribe” was actually a compassionate contribution made by a contractor to help a paralysed, sick staff member. It was a display of humanity being twisted into an allegation of criminality.

As time went by, the true measure of these men, however, is what happened after they were acquitted. Following their total clearance by the EFCC and their reinstatement in 2021, they did not return with bitterness or a sense of entitlement. Instead, they returned to serve.

Some exit from the service tells the final story of their vindication. Akinbola Hakeem Gbolahan (Finance) retired honourably in July 2021. Kanar Mohammed (Welfare) and Nuhu Alhassan (Risk Reduction) served out their terms with valour and retired in 2023.

For Emenike Umesi (Special Duties), his meritorious service to the giant of Africa in the emergency agency came to an end in March 2026.

Captain Ibrahim Mamman and Yinusa Deji Ganiyu remain in the agency today with their heads held high, continuing to offer their expertise to the nation.

The story of these men is both a victory and a warning. When we let state machinery serve personal vendettas, we do not just hurt individuals, we paralyse institutions and embolden those who see the civil service as a haven for self-aggrandisement.

Today, while the former DG faces the heavy weight of the House Committee’s indictment and recommendations for prosecution, the six staff he tried to bury have finished or are finishing their national assignments with joy and honour.

Public service may get dirty, but as these six men have proven that integrity is a garment no mud can permanently stain. They have gone from victims of flawed leadership to icons of civil service resilience. Therefore, their triumph belongs to every public servant who does right when the wind blows against them because simply put, their truth survived the fire.

And as Leo Tolstoy was quoted in the opening, their truth, like gold, did not grow, it was obtained as the House of Representatives Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness washed away from their accusations all that was not truth.