By Miriam Humbe, Abuja
Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Habib Ahmed has told stakeholders to work together to avert the consequences of this year’s prediction of high risk of flooding, and build disaster resilience in communities across the country.
Director General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Prof. Mansur Bako Matazu speaking at its annual Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) on January 24, 2023, had told Nigerians, especially those in the cities and riverine areas, to expect more floods.
A statement emanating from the NEMA headquarters said that the Agency therefore, adressed a technical meeting of experts convened in Abuja on Wednesday to analyze the 2023 Seasonal Climate Prediction recently released by NiMet.
The meeting also addressed the Annual Flood Outlook released by Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).
NEMA’s Director General, Mustapha Habib Ahmed assured that the Agency would do its best to escalate collective efforts towards efficient flood risk management in the country.
He said the technical meeting had “become more relevant and timely in consideration of our recent experiences of wide spread floods and related disasters that affected several states.
“Many of the affected communities are yet to recover from the impacts of the devastating event.
“The 2022 flood coupled with its associated hazard is therefore a wake-up call for emergency responders and development partners to work assiduously to avert a repeat of the incident especially in consideration of the heightened level of vulnerability in several communities of our country.”
He told participants to carefully analyze the 2023 seasonal prediction and flood outlook to produce a comprehensive and well-articulated early warning messages including vulnerability and risk mapping that could be downscaled to the grassroots.
Ahmed said: “We cannot rest until we have built a critical mass of resilient Nigerian citizens that are conscious of their duty for care to one another and willing to take those actions that will save lives and safeguard livelihoods in the event of imminent disasters.
“As emergency managers, we must always strive to develop a clear and practical early warning systems that will enable our partners and the public to match early warning with early action to avert loss of lives and severe disaster impacts across socio-economic sectors.”
Director General of NIHSA, Engr Clement Onyeaso Nze highlighted this year’s flood outlook which indicated that 314 Local Government Areas are at high risk of flooding between April and November with a total of another 312 LGAs falling within moderate flood risk areas.
NEMA’s Director Planning Research and Forecasting, Hajiya Fatima Suleiman Kasim said the meeting was expected to produce the Disaster Risk Management Implication of the 2023 Seasonal Climate Prediction and Annual Flood Outlook.
She said the strategies to be developed would aid “the relevant agencies to carry out preparedness and mitigative actions to safeguard lives, property, livelihoods and the environment in Nigeria.”
Kasim said that these would be used by all stakeholders in the disaster management cycle.
Participants at the meeting included technical experts from NiMet, NIHSA, academia, dam managers, States Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs) and the Red Cross, etc.
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
