The National Consultative Workshop on 2022 Flood Preparedness, Mitigation and Response in Nigeria organized by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was held on Tuesday 2nd August 2022.
Participants at the workshop were Heads/representatives of the State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs) from the 36 States and FCT, Heads of NEMA Zonal Territorial and Operations Offices as well as other stakeholders.
The workshop was declared open by the Honorary Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq who was represented by Deputy Director Disaster Management Dr Abubakar Suleiman.
Addressing the participants, Director General of NEMA Mustapha Habib Ahmed said the Agency will activate Emergency Operations Centers for search and rescue where and when necessary over this year’s flood. This, according to him will be followed by a post-flood damage and loss assessment as well as eventual review of the situation to plan for the future.
On actions taken so far on 2022 flood predictions, he said the disaster risk management implications document prepared from an expert technical meeting convened by NEMA has been disseminated appropriately, while the Agency is also currently running flood jingles on radio and televisions.
Furthermore, the DG NEMA said the Agency has produced flood risk maps of the vulnerable Local Government Areas (LGAs) just as all zonal, territorial and operations offices have been carrying out public awareness and sensitization campaigns.
He therefore, appreciated the stakeholders for their cooperation and collaboration, noting that “the doggedness of our esteemed stakeholders whose commitment to disaster management have significantly reduced the impacts of flooding on populace over the years.”
Earlier, the guests and participants were officially welcomed by the Ag Director Planning Research and Forecasting Hajiya Fatima S. Kasim who also explained the objectives of the workshop.
Some of the stakeholders that spoke at the opening of the workshop include the Director General of Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency Engr Clement Onyeaso Eze, Represrntatives of National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRSC).
