LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – The Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Mustapha Ahmed, has said Nigeria will witness severe flooding this year as indicated by predictions from relevant agencies.
He made the disclosure at a two-day Experts’ Technical Meeting on 2023 Climate-Related Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation Strategies held in Abuja on 1 March.
Ahmed pointed out that the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency have provided seasonal climate forecasts and annual flood outlooks (NIHSA).
He added that the agency would send out early warning signals to states, Local Government Areas (LGAs), and the Federal Capital Territory, claiming that the flood calamity in 2022 was a wake-up call (FCT).
The meeting, according to the director-general, would be centered on creating vulnerability and risk mapping that can be used as a reference to prevent major flooding like the one that occurred last year.
“We have started early this year, as we are ready for early warning and early action.
“We will bombard every citizen, state and local government with this information as we want them to know that it is serious.
“We will not keep quiet. We want them to know that there will be flood this year,’’ he said.
Ahmed urged those living around water channels and flood plains to exercise caution.
The Director-General of NIHSA, Mr Clement Nze, said that 178 LGAs in 32 states and the FCT had been predicted to experience severe flooding in 2023.
“This time, we came out early with this prediction and we expect that relevant actors, governments and individuals will go to work.
“We expect that actions should be taken, especially at the sub-national levels, early enough, to mitigate the impact of flooding in the country,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting had in attendance participants from NiMet, Nigeria Red Cross, Federal Ministry of Environment and National Orientation Agency, among others.
(NAN)