By Madu Obi
Awka- Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, have embarked on sensitization programme in two flood – prone local government areas of Anambra East and Ogbaru in Anambra State, as part of measures to prepare the people ahead of the impending 2025 flood.
Eight local government areas of the state namely, Anambra East, Anambra West, Ayamelum, Ogbaru, Idemili South, Awka North, Ihiala and Ekwusigo, are usually affected by the annual flood disaster.
Leader of the NEMA team, Dr. Tigma Tanimu, while briefing the deputy governor of Anambra State, Dr Onyekachukwu Ibezim, before embarking on the sensitization programme, said they were in the state to ask communities in the two local government areas to pay attention to the early warning, so that lives will not be lost and properties not destroyed.
He said that the Director General of NEMA, Zubaida Umar directed them to come to Anambra following the prediction that the state is among those at risk of severe flooding in 2025.
He said: ” The visits to Anambra East and Ogbaru are proactive measures in managing the impending flood. While one team would go to Anambra East, another one would be in Ogbaru where it would discuss with the officers at the Naval Base on the stimulation exercise which NEMA intends to carry out in the next few weeks.
The exercises are NEMA’s stakeholders engagement on 2025 national preparedness and response campaign on flood disaster and related hazards for preventive early warning actions to save lives and property during the rainy season.”
According to him, the devastating impact of flood in Nigeria has served as a wake up call to all sectors of the economy, as well as the private sector and the relevant stakeholders, to collaborate with NEMA to manage disaster risks and safeguard the resilience of the country.
He added: “Disaster management is predicated on community participation so that no one is left behind. Disaster management is everybody’s business. We must work together to safeguard communities at risk, protect critical infrastructure and support uninterrupted socio-economic activities in our various communities.
It is my hope that the sensitization exercise will go a long way in reducing the impact of the annually recurring floods and safeguard the livelihood of our people.”
In his speech, the deputy governor said that since flood had come to live with the people, they must be prepared for it, adding that the state government has developed a document for tackling flood problems at the short, medium and long terms.
“For us in Anambra, we have adopted a multi – sectoral approach towards fighting the flood menace. As a responsible government, we are deliberately fighting the flood by giving early warning signs.
We have a structure that is working and we are expanding and developing our holding centers with modern facilities. We have also identified more places that people will move to when the flood comes”, he said.
The deputy governor observed that by visiting the state before the flood begins, NEMA is moving in the right direction, adding that the people of Anambra State are prepared to assist the organization through the Public Private Community Partnership, PPCP, which is very effective in the state.
