As Nigeria enters the critical peak of the rainy season, a potent warning from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has jolted national leadership into urgent action. The agency’s recent presentation at the 150th National Economic Council (NEC) meeting did more than raise alarms—it triggered a long-overdue pivot towards coordinated national response, just as floodwaters begin threatening large swathes of the country.
Backed by data from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), NEMA’s report painted a grim picture: at least 148 Local Government Areas (LGAs) across 31 states and the FCT face severe risk of flooding between August and October 2025. Another 249 LGAs are listed under moderate-risk zones, while 72 more are flagged for probable flash floods.
NEMA’s Director General, Mrs Zubaida Umar, didn’t mince words. In a strategic presentation to NEC—a council comprising Nigeria’s 36 state governors, the Central Bank Governor, and chaired by the Vice President—she laid out both the scientific forecasts and their humanitarian implications. What followed was a rare moment of consensus: Nigeria cannot afford to treat this year’s flood warnings with the same bureaucratic inertia that has plagued disaster preparedness in the past.
“There is no excuse for loss of lives when data has already shown us the path of danger,” the DG reportedly stated during her address, underscoring the need for early action. “We have the maps. We have the communities at risk. The question is whether we have the will to act.”
Her call to action was timely—and catalytic.
In response, the NEC not only adopted the presentation but issued an urgent directive to state governments to begin clearing drainages, identifying vulnerable populations, and activating localized response frameworks. States were also advised to work closely with NEMA’s zonal and operations offices for tailored technical support and early warning dissemination.
The DG’s approach reflects a growing shift within NEMA: from reactive relief distribution to proactive risk management. Since assuming office, Zubaida Umar has emphasized what she calls “anticipatory governance,” where data is not merely collected but put to strategic use—both in mobilizing government response and educating the public.
Indeed, her presentation to NEC wasn’t just a technical rundown of forecast charts and risk maps—it was a wake-up call rooted in lived experience. She drew attention to past flood seasons, particularly 2022 and 2023, when hundreds of lives were lost, millions displaced, and farmlands destroyed due to preventable inaction despite early warnings.
What makes this year different is the tone of urgency and coordination that now seems to be building.
The NEC’s intervention is already being seen as a win for institutional synergy—one that places science, data, and emergency management on the same page. Yet, experts warn that directives alone will not stem the tide of destruction unless they translate into visible action on the ground. Local authorities, state emergency agencies, and community leaders must now play their part in ensuring that preparedness plans don’t remain on paper.
NEMA, for its part, has moved quickly to follow through. Already, its zonal and field offices have begun deploying awareness campaigns, conducting community sensitization exercises, and coordinating simulation drills across high-risk states. From the riverine areas of Anambra to the flood-prone plains of Jigawa and Bayelsa, the agency is pressing ahead with risk communication strategies tailored to local contexts.
Importantly, NEMA is also leveraging traditional institutions, local influencers, and faith-based groups to push flood preparedness messages into vulnerable communities—many of which remain unreached by conventional media. For these efforts to succeed, however, state governments must not wait until the waters rise before taking action.
The broader question remains whether this newfound momentum will be sustained beyond the rainy season. For years, Nigeria has operated a disaster response system that is reactive and chronically underfunded, leaving communities to fend for themselves when crises hit. But the shift ushered in by NEMA’s data-driven advocacy may signal a turning point.
As flood threats continue to mount, what’s at stake is more than property or farmland. It’s the credibility of government institutions and the fate of millions of vulnerable Nigerians whose lives now depend on whether warnings will finally be matched with real, tangible action.
If the NEC’s swift response is any indication, then NEMA’s data may have done more than inform policy—it may have inspired it. In a country long battered by preventable tragedies, that’s no small victory.
