In a proactive move to mitigate the impact of anticipated floods during the 2025 rainy season, the National Emergency Management Agency is deploying teams to all the states in the country to engage directly with communities identified as being at risk of flooding, and delivering critical early warning messages and disaster preparedness information at the grassroots level.
The Director General of NEMA, Mrs Zubaida Umar, said this on Thursday at a stakeholders ‘ engagement on the 2025 national preparedness and response campaign on flood disaster and related hazards in Abuja.
Mrs Umar also urged state governments to prepare and provide safer grounds to those who may be affected by the predicted flood this year.
Meanwhile, 12 states with 43 Local Government Areas have been predicted to be within the high-risk areas, and 12 states, including the Federal Capital Territory, with 27 LGAs, are considered to fall within the moderate flood-risk areas.
Also, 13 states and the remaining LGAs in the country are predicted to be within the low flood-risk areas.
She said, “Beyond today’s stakeholders’ engagement, NEMA is deploying teams to all the states of the federation to communities at risk of floods to interact with the people and take the early warning message to the grassroots with the support of State Emergency Management Agencies, Local Emergency Management Committees, and community volunteers.
“The NEMA Zonal Directorates and Operations Offices spread across the nation will simultaneously drive this engagement process at the state and community levels beginning from today, Thursday, May 15th, 2025.
“Earlier, we have continuously engaged the media, both mainstream and social, in the process of downscaling NEMA early warning messages to the public.”
She emphasised the importance of traditional institutions, religious organisations, women and youth groups, and the media in driving the message to the grassroots.
She stressed that disaster management across the world is predicated on community participation and due consideration to the diversity of persons, leaving no one behind.
“As we always emphasize at NEMA, disaster management is everyone’s business. We must work together to take the right early warning to specific groups to safeguard communities at risk, protect critical infrastructure, and support uninterrupted socio-economic activities in our various communities.
“It is my hope that today’s event will go a long way in reducing the impacts of the annually recurring floods and safeguarding the livelihoods of our people. This is the guaranteed path of driving socio-economic growth and development in line with the renewed hope agenda of the Federal Government under the stewardship of President Bola Tinubu.”
The NEMA boss highlighted the importance of collaboration between agencies, adding that efforts have been made to engage state governments, visit locations, and identify safe grounds for possible evacuations.
She noted that lessons from 2024 are being applied in 2025, but pointed out that there’s a weakness in coordination at state and local emergency levels.
She restated that disaster response should begin at the community level, not with the national agency, and communities should be empowered and trained to act.
“It’s a common notion that whenever there’s any type of disaster, the first responders that everybody believes are NEMA, and that should not be the case. All disasters are local. We should be able to say that when there’s a disaster in a particular place, the community should be able to take charge.
“So, it is important for states to be responsible for some of these issues, so that they are not just sitting there waiting for NEMA to act. We have also produced vulnerability maps for all communities at risk to serve as tools to guide governments at all levels to develop risk reduction measures to avert disaster losses during the year.
“We have translated all our messages into various languages. So we’re moving to the communities, using them. We have some of them available. From January, we also have a partnership with the National Orientation Agency, and we’ve been to almost all the local radio stations, and we’re doing these jingles in their languages to sensitize people.
In his opening remarks, the Director of Disaster Risk Reduction Department at NEMA, Idris Mohammed, said flood disasters and other hydrometeorological hazards have posed a significant threat to Nigeria’s economic, social, and environmental well-being, hence there is a need for stakeholders to share strategies on mitigating the disasters.
Effective preparedness and response strategies are crucial to mitigating the impact of floods on communities, livelihoods, and infrastructure.
“We will engage in presentations, discussions, share best practices, and identify actionable recommendations to enhance Nigeria’s flood preparedness and response capabilities. Our goal is to foster collaboration and develop a roadmap for reducing the risks and impacts associated with flooding.
“With confidence, I can say that your expertise and commitment to disaster risk reduction and building of national resilience in the face of a multi-hazard outlook in Nigeria are extremely invaluable,” he stated.
On his part, the Assistant Commandant General at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Hammed Abodunrin, emphasised the importance of proactive disaster prevention and community involvement, especially among students.
He also proposed integrating community service, like environmental sanitation, into academic programmes and certificates, as this could collectively yield a significant impact in reducing disasters like flooding.
@The PUNCH.