Uche Ndeke
National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA) is deploying teams to all the states of the federation to interact with people in communities at risk of floods and share the early warning message with them.
The Director General of NEMA, Mrs Zubaida Umar, stated this during a courtesy call on the Governor of Anambra state, Mr Chukwuma Soludo at the new Government House in Awka.
According to the DG, the visit by the team comprising of NEMA and the State Emergency Management Agency SEMA is to brief him about the Stakeholders Engagement exercise on the 2025 National Preparedness and Response Campaign on flood disaster and related hazards.
Represented by the Deputy Director Special Duties, Dr. Thickman Tanimu, the NEMA boss noted that the exercise will be achieved with the support of SEMAs, LEMCs and community volunteers across the state.
According to her, the NEMA Zonal Directorates and Operations Offices will simultaneously drive the engagement at the state and community levels.
She called on all stakeholders to support NEMA in the initiative of taking the early warning messages to the people to safeguard against past experiences.
Mrs Zubaida noted that NEMA needs the traditional institutions, religious organizations, women and youth groups as well as the media to succeed.
“I find it necessary to stress that disaster management across the world is predicated on community participation.
“As we always emphasize at NEMA, ‘‘disaster management is everyone’s business’’.
“We must work together take the right early warning to specific groups to safeguard communities at risk,
Anambra always on the alert
Responding, Governor Soludo represented by his Deputy, Doctor Onyekachukwu Ibezim, noted that the state has many flood prone local government areas.
To this end, it is always on top of the situation in terms of preparedness and proactive measures against the natural occurrence.
The Governor said his administration is very deliberate about the termination of all water channels in the various roads being constructed.
“The contractors are mandated to channel drainage ways down to nearby rivers to avoid flash flooding.
The state is taking deliberate actions to discourage people from building on waterways and blocking drainage channels, he further explained.
The Governor revealed that in readiness of any flood menace, plans were on by the government to have game facilities and other basic amenities in all the holding camps and centers in the state to make it more habitable within the period victims may be forced to occupy them.
In attendance during the meeting were the Commissioners for Environment, Doctor Felix Odimegwu, and Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Doctor Law Mefor.
Others are NEMA Head of Operations, South East Zone, Mrs Ngozi Echeazu, and Executive Secretary Anambra State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Chief Paul Odenigbo, among others.
