Gbajabiamila tasks govs on floods as NEMA records 179 deaths

As National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) revealed that 179 persons in 15 states across Nigeria were lost to floods since the onset of the 2024 rainy season, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has called on state governments to make more provisions towards flood disasters and mitigation to avert avoidable loss of lives and property.

The Executive Director, Zabaida Umar, made this known, yesterday, during a fact-finding visit to the agency by Gbajabiamila, in Abuja. She stated that Jigawa State recorded the highest number of deaths with 34 victims while Bayelsa and Kano had 25 apiece, Bauchi (23), Zamfara (13), Taraba (11), Sokoto and Yobe 10 respectively.

Other states that recorded fatalities are Adamawa (seven), Katsina and Niger (five each), Niger, Borno, Ebonyi and Kaduna (two each) and Nasarawa one death.

According to her, the agency has continued to offer support to victims of disaster with food interventions, farm inputs, relief items and the resettlement of displaced persons.

“NEMA carried out disaster assessments in almost all the states in the country such as Ogun, Rivers, Imo, Lagos, Ekiti, Edo and Kwara. We coordinated response to 158 emergencies aiding 118,337 individuals and rescuing 4,706 persons, she said.

The DG added that 137 local councils in 28 states were flooded this year affecting 532,600 individuals out of which 208,655 were displaced. She noted that 2,016 persons were injured, 80,049 houses and 107,652 hectares of farmland affected.

Speaking on the need to prioritise flood prevention as soon as predictions are out, Gbajabiamila said: “What is the role of the states in this regard? How do they come in? Do we tweak the law to get the states more involved? These disasters occur in the states not on the land of the Federal Government; they are local, so the states must be more involved.”

He also tasked the management of NEMA to look inward and think out of the box towards finding alternative funding sources for the agency to meet and realise its mandate, which he said was quite broad.

Gbajabiamila pointed out: “The mandate NEMA has is too broad, and flooding has been observed as a perennial occurrence in Nigeria. But most times, we wait until they happen to take action. This has to change, to reduce the amount of money that goes into these disasters.

“A lot of funding is required for the work you do. Resources are limited and we have to prioritise. We must start thinking outside the box and looking for more creative ways to fund NEMA’s activities outside the normal budgetary provisions. Government cannot do everything or fund everything.”