Editor
By Fatima Saka
The Director General National Emergency Management Agency, Mrs Zubaida Umar has called on government at all levels to put in place adequate measures to mitigate the impact of flooding across the country.
The DG made this call on Tuesday in Abuja at launching of the 2024 Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) presented by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).
During her goodwill message, Mrs Umar identified the AFO as one of the very important pieces of information used by the Agency for flood management in Nigeria.
She said “flooding has become a perennial incident in Nigeria with attendant impacts such as loss of lives, injuries, destruction of properties, displacement and loss of livelihood among others. There is therefore a need to put in place adequately prepared measures so as to mitigate the impact across the Country. The Annual Flood Outlook released by NIHSA is a veritable tool in making informed decisions and actions to enhance the country’s readiness for flooding.
“Over the years, the National Emergency Management Agency has enjoyed a robust partnership and collaboration with the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency as one of the critical stakeholders in Flood Risk Management. The AFO is usually utilized by NEMA to develop the annual Climate Related Hazard preparedness and response strategy which serves as an early warning message for Nigeria.”
The event were representatives of several Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with the theme: “Promoting the use of data analytics and modeling for flood risk assessments and food security “.
The Minister of Water Resources Prof Utsev, in his keynote address highlighted the national flood outlook from the states with the highest probability to the moderate and lowest risk.
The Director General of NEMA joined other dignitaries including the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation Prof Joseph Terlumum Utsev, Minister of State for Water Resources and Sanitation Barrister Bello Muhammad Goronyo, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security Dr Aliyu Sabi and the host, Director General Nigerian Hydrological Service Agency Engr Clement Onyeaso Eze for the public presentation of the 2024 Annual Flood Outlook (AFO).
The high risk Local Government Areas were identified to be in 30 States. These are located in Adamawa, Anambra, Bayelsa, Taraba, Kebbi, Jigawa, Benue, Kogi, Sokoto and Rivers states amongst others. Details of the outlook are contained in the published document.
The DG NEMA was accompanied to the event by the Director Planning Research and Forecasting Dr Onimode Bandele Abdullahi, Special Assistant to the DG Mr Idris Abubakar Mohammed, Deputy Director Disaster Risk Reduction Dr Godwin Tepikor, ADPRF/Head of Situation Room Mr Hayatudeen Abdulkadir Shehu, Head of NEMA GIS Mr Funmi Obolo and Mr Manzo Ezekiel of Press Unit.
