The Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Mustapha Ahmed, has warned that Nigeria will witness severe flooding this year, as predicted by relevant agencies.
Ahmed disclosed this during a two-day Experts’ Technical Meeting on 2023 Climate-Related Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation Strategies, on Wednesday, in Abuja.
Ahmed noted that there have been seasonal climate predictions and annual flood outlooks by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).
He said that the flood disaster in 2022 was an eye-opener, adding that the agency would spread early warning messages to states and local government areas (LGAs) and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The D-G said the meeting would focus on the development of vulnerability and risk mapping to be used as a guide to avert a repeat of last year’s severe flooding.
“We have started early this year, as we are ready for early warning and early action.
“We will bombard every citizen, state and local government with this information as we want them to know that it is serious.
“We will not keep quiet. We want them to know that there will be flood this year,’’ he said
Ahmed urged that those living around water channels and flood plains should take precautions.
The Director-General of NIHSA, Mr. Clement Nze, said no fewer than 178 LGAs in 32 states and the FCT have been predicted to experience severe flooding in 2023.
This time, we came out early with this prediction and we expect that relevant actors, governments and individuals will go to work.