Muhammad Nasir Bashir
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has sensitised Jigawa communities to the 2025 National Preparedness and Response Campaign on Flood and Related Hazards.
Its Director-General, Mrs Zubaida Umar, said this on Wednesday during an engagement exercise with members of the Local Emergency Management Committees drawn from the 27 local government areas of the state.
The exercise was being implemented in collaboration between NEMA and the Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
It aims to sensitise the stakeholders and residents of the state on proactive measures to mitigate impact of f the flood during the 2025 rainy season.
Umar said the gesture was to strengthen a community-based information sharing and security surveillance in flood prone areas.
Represented by Dr Nura Abdullahi, Head of the Kano Territorial Office of the agency, Umar said it was also to strengthen early warning system in the event of the disaster.
”The engagement is to develop measures in collaboration with stakeholders to reduce the likely impact of flooding as predicted by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET).
”Also, predicted by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) in the 2025 Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) and 2025 Annual Flood Outlook (AFO), respectively,” she said.
Umar said the agency has deployed personnel and volunteers to disseminate early warning signs to the people in flood prone communities across the country,
She tasked personnel and partners to support the initiative to enhance dissemination of the early warning messages to the people.
”This is to safeguard against our experiences in the past where the rainy season transformed to a moment of unmitigated adversity.”
She said disaster management was everybody’s business, hence, the need for the stakeholders to work together to safeguard communities, protect critical infrastructure and support uninterrupted socio-economic activities.
While commending community leaders for their supports, Umar said the agency had produced vulnerability maps for communities at risk to guide government towards developing risk reduction measures.
Also, Hannafi Yakubu, the Executive Secretary, SEMA, lauded the gesture, adding it will enhance stakeholders’ preparedness to respond to the disaster.
He urged the participants to step down the messages to their respective communities to mitigate impact of the flood.
The exercise was attended by the representatives of the federal and state fire services, government agencies, humanitarian actors, among others. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)