As the rainy season draws to peak, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has requested the State Governments and all other stakeholders to match action with their commitment towards addressing the challenges of flood especially now that some communities are already being devastated by the disaster.
Director General of NEMA Muhammad Sani Sidi said the early action will prevent reoccurrence of the huge losses from the 2012 flood. He spoke in Abuja while receiving a delegation from The World Bank that visited the Headquarters of the Agency.
He said since the release of the 2013 Seasonal Rainfall Predictions by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) which indicated the likelihood of flood in some parts of the country the National Emergency Management Agency has undertaken a series of activities on awareness creation and also secured commitment of the stakeholders towards proactive measures and building community resilience against the disaster. Some of these included early warning alerts, media campaigns, training of community based organizations and consultative meeting with the stakeholders, mapping of the communities at risk and evacuation plan among others.
Furthermore, Sani Sidi said a high power team of the Agency has also embarked on advocacy visits to the State Governors while official camps are already erected in safe grounds in identified flood proned areas to accommodate persons that may be displaced by the disaster. He said the camps are provided with basic facilities such as security, water and sanitation as well as food while it will also prevent the use of public schools by Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Earlier, leader of The World Bank team Mr Raffaelle Cervigni said they were at the Agency to identify areas where the bank could support the efforts towards increasing community resilience to disasters in the country.
It could recall that so far there have been reports of flood which have affected communities in Bauchi, Plateau, Katsina and Jigawa states among others.
Manzo Ezekiel
Press Officer
11th September 2013
0802 841 9313
