NEMA Wants Proactive Measures Against Environmental Disasters

• Otti Heads For Election Tribunal

National Environmental Management Agency (NEMA) has urged all members of the public to be wary of imminent environmental disasters and to act proactively to prevent them. NEMA, Owerri Zonal Coordinator, Dr. Innocent Ezeaku, stated this at a training workshop organised by the Abia State Environmental Management Agency (SEMA) in collaboration with its national body.

The concept of the workshop, whose participants were drawn from the related professions, National Orientation Agency, Ministries, Parastatals, National Security and Civil Defence Corps, non-governmental organisations and others had to do with routinely taking humanitarian actions before a disaster happens and making full use of scientific information on all timescales.

Dr. Ezeaku, who represented the NEMA Director General, Alhaji Mohammadu Sani Sidi, disclosed that disasters do not respect any body or group and called on all stakeholders to join hands to prevent their occurrence by adhering to all urban planning laws, attuning to the media for safety alerts and complying with all known preventive measures.

According to him, topography aggravates floods, erosion and other disasters and attributed the collapse of some expressways and roads in the country to non-provision or lack of drainages during their construction.

Addressing the opening session of the workshop held at the SEMA office, the state SEMA Executive Secretary, Mrs. Ada Achi, represented by Mr. Sunday Jackson, said early warning and early action are very important in disaster management, as they can avert or mitigate the impact of disasters such as flood, flash flood, landslides, windstorms, forest fires and others.

According to her, the interpretation and implications of 2015 seasonal rainfall prediction is very crucial to disaster management and that that accounts for the reason NEMA has over the years consistently provided platform for sensitising stakeholders and the general public on seasonal rainfall prediction, adding that early warnings have no effects without early action.

In a related development, Abia State APGA governorship candidate, Dr. Alex Otti, filed a petition before the state Election Petitions Tribunal, asking he be declared winner of the governorship election against his PDP opponent, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, who was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Addressing the press, Otti’s legal adviser, Mr. Ken Ahia, said the petition is a continuation of the governorship election process through which Alex Otti would recover the mandate given to him by the electorate, which unfortunately was awarded to the PDP candidate, Dr. Ikpeazu. Ahia disclosed that the petition was filed on the grounds of election malpractices, non conduct of the election in line with the electoral Act among others.