Don seeks legislations to mitigate disasters

By : Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin

Date: 2 July 2019 4:16am WAT

This picture taken on April 24, 2019 shows a local resident standing over debris at the Quarry road informal settlement after torrential rains and flash floods in Durban. - The driver was declared dead on the scene. The death toll from floods and mudslides that crushed homes in the South African port of Durban on April 22 has risen to 51, with reports of children missing and scores of people displaced, local authorities said. (Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL / AFP)

A professor of Public Health at the University of Ilorin, Gordon Kayode Osagbemi, has canvassed prompt enactment of relevant statutes to regulate anti-human behaviour that could drastically reduce society’s vulnerability to disasters.

According to the don, who yesterday delivered the 182nd Inaugural Lecture of the institution, the main disasters in Nigeria are floods, drought, oil spills, bush fires, massive road traffic accidents (RTAs), plane crashes, boat mishaps, ethno-religious clashes, explosions and wars.

In the lecture, entitled “Disasters and Public Health Emergencies – Proper Prior Preparations Prevent Poor Performance.”