…From Dele Ogunyemi, Ibadan…
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Zonal Coordinator for the South West, Mr. Iyiola Akande could not withhold tears in Ibadan on Thursday as he broke the sad news of the early morning plane crash to participants at a NEMA-organized interactive workshop on humanitarian camp set-up, administration, coordination and consultative forum with NGOs, FBOs, CBOs and MDAs held at Wallan Hotel, in the Oyo State capital.
Mr. Akande hurriedly declared open the workshop that drew participants from the entire South West Zone including Kwara State and zoomed off to Lagos to authenticate the veracity of the disaster with a view to ascertaining the demands from the Agency.
The NEMA Zonal Coordinator who did not give further details about the crash had earlier told the forum that the interactive workshop was organized to review the level of humanitarian preparedness towards the mitigation of consequences of the predicted 2013 seasonal Rainfall prediction. The forecast had predicted unprecedented heavy rainfall compared to last year’s experience.
According to him, the Agency had brought the interactive workshop to Ibadan “in view of the past experiences of incessant flood disasters ravaging the city before the advent of the Restoration Agenda of the present Administration in the State.”
Speaking specifically on the ideals of camp set-up, administration, coordination and consultative forum, the Zonal Coordinator remarked that “the global humanitarian principles dictate that humanitarian workers should take services to the distressed and Internally Displaces Persons in a conducive environment in order for them to feel safe, secured and comfortable in a p[lace where their rights to human dignity are guaranteed.”
“Where humanitarian assistance and protection in a Camp are not well organized, coordinated and monitored, the vulnerability and dependency of the Camp population are bound to increase,” he said.
To this end, the NEMA Zonal Coordinator remarked that the interactive forum was aimed at improving performance and guarantee efficiency as well as ensuring Inter-Agency cooperation, collaboration and coordination hence his call on the participants to take advantage of the forum to harness their effectiveness.