The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Abia State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) have sensitised disaster management stakeholders to proper waste management and flood preparedness in Abia.
The campaign, tagged “Awareness Campaign on Waste Management and Flood Disaster Mitigation and Response Programme,” held on Friday, October 11, 2024, in Umuahia, the state capital.
The awareness campaign, led by NEMA’s Owerri Operations, witnessed active participation from various disaster management sectors, including the ministries of Environment, Health and security agencies.
Others included the Federal Road Safety Corps, state Fire Service, the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) and civil society organisations.
In their presentations, the stakeholders expressed their state of preparedness to address environmental challenges and building resilient communities in Abia.
The stakeholder engagement featured a panel discussion on SEMA’s preparedness from 2024 Flood Prediction by Nigeria Meteorological Agency and Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency.
Some of the key takeaways were: collaboration among various sectors for effective waste management and flood preparedness, community education and use of technology in information dissemination.
The Head of Operations for NEMA Owerri/Abia, Mr Nnamdi Igwe, said it was a public sensitisation to enable the people know the need for waste management and flood disaster mitigation.
“We called the stakeholders together to let them know their roles when it comes to flooding or disaster without waiting for the Federal Government.
“It is only when these things overwhelm them that they can call on the Federal Government to come in,” he said.
Igwe urged individuals to know how to take care of their environments as well as proper waste disposal, to mitigate the impact of flood disaster.
Also, Executive Secretary of (SEMA), Dr Sunday Jackson, said the sensitisation workshop came up as a result of the opening of the lagoon with the recent incident in Maiduguri and some parts of the North.
“If we don’t sensitise our people, we may be taken unawares because the flood has already gotten to Lokoja in Kogi State.”
He said that NEMA and SEMA started the campaign on Thursday, by going to the markets and other places to speak to the people on why they should observe flood safety net and about the impending flood disaster.
He said that the inputs from the stakeholders would be documented to form a baseline data for the state.
“We will come up with a policy that has to do with emergency response in the state,” Jackson said.
A participant, Mrs Ugo Nwabuko, who is the Director, Waste Management and Laboratory Service, ASEPA, lauded the organisers, saying “all stakeholders should be involved in disaster management”.
By Leonard Okachie
