NEMA, UNDRR, others, move against floods disasters in Nigeria

To mitigate effects of floods disasters in Nigeria, the National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA) and the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction, have developed a program in partnership with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and Nigerian Hydrological Service (NIHSA) to downscale early warning alerts to communities.

Director General, NEMA, Mustapha Habib-Ahmed said downscaling early warnings will ensure that communities are protected from flood disasters as earlier predicted by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, (NIMET).

In a statement by the Public Relations Officer (PRO), NEMA, Manzo Ezekiel, the DG explained that the partnership has brought about the setting up of the recent 2023 Climate-Related Preparedness and Mitigation Strategies on flood predictions.

He said. other key partners expected to drive the strategy include the Nigerian Hydrological Service (NIHSA),

At a United Nations bilateral meeting in New York, Habib-Ahmed who presented Nigeria’s statement on the Mid-term review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) 2015-2030, noted that with the hindsight of the 2022 flood disaster experience, “the Federal Government of Nigeria has also set up a Presidential Committee for the development of a comprehensive Plan of Action for Preventing Flood Disaster in Nigeria.”

“The inclusive approach adopted was in tandem with the intent of the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres initiative in 2022 which declared the UN spearhead of new actions to ensure that every person on earth is protected from floods using early warning systems within the next five years.

“NEMA in collaboration with the Nigerian National Space Development Agency (NASDA) is working assiduously to increase the availability of, and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information in an inclusive manner through both conventional and non-conventional communications channels including the social media,” he said.

He explained further that to actualize priorities and targets, NEMA is currently organizing national and sub-national platforms across Nigerian states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

According to him, “This constitutes an importance integral part of achieving progress in the country’s drive towards sub national level implementation of the UNDRR protocols.”

“NEMA in partnership with UNDP under the Sahel Resilience Project has held series of workshops on the establishment of National Disaster Database and Risk-informed development in Nigeria with the main objective of addressing current and future risk and to promote disaster and climate risk informed decisions, investment and development.”