The Director General of NEMA Mustapha Habib Ahmed said that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has developed a program of partnership with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and Nigerian Hydrological Service (NIHSA) to downscale the early warning alerts to communities in the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), .ollowing the recent public presentation of 2023 Climate-Related Preparedness and Mitigation Strategies on flood predictions.
According to a press release on Sunday, 21st May 2023 signed by NEMA’s Head of Press Unit, Manzo Ezekiel, said that this is contained in Nigeria’s statement presented by the Director General NEMA at the Mid-term review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) 2015-2030 held at the United Nations Headquarters, New York. He made the presentation at the weekend.
With the hindsight of the 2022 flood disaster experience, he said the Federal Government of Nigeria has also set up a Presidential Committee for the development of a comprehensive Plan of Action for Preventing Flood Disasters in Nigeria.
The NEMA DG said the inclusive approach adopted was in tandem with the intent of the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres who in 2022 declared the UN Initiative to spearhead new actions to ensure that every person on earth is protected using early warning systems within five years of the declaration.
Furthermore, he said in line with target G of the SFDRR on delivering an early warning to all Nigerians, “NEMA in collaboration with the Nigerian National Space Development Agency (NASDA) is working assiduously to increase the availability of, and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information in an inclusive manner through both conventional and non-conventional communications channels including the social media.”
He told the global gathering how Nigeria has made appreciable efforts to actualize the Four Priorities and Seven Targets of the SFDRR, including that “the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is currently organizing National and Sub-National Platforms across Nigerian states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and this constitutes an important integral part of achieving progress in the country’s drive towards sub-national level implementation of the UNDRR protocols.”
Additionally, he said NEMA in partnership with UNDP under the Sahel Resilience Project has held a series of workshops on the establishment of a National Disaster Database and Risk-informed development in Nigeria with the main objective of addressing current and future risk and promoting disaster and climate risk-informed decisions, investment and development planning in Nigeria.
The NEMA DG also disclosed that the Agency has appointed a consultant for the development of the National DRR Strategy and Action Plan 2023-2030 that will be carried out in collaboration with African Union Commission (AUC), UNDP, and ECOWAS under the Sahel Resilience Project.
To address the increasingly dynamic disaster landscape, he requested the UNDRR to support Nigeria with technical assistance for capacity building and training on early warning forecasting, hazard risk analysis and dissemination to the public, Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and Sendai Framework monitor and reporting as well as the development of resilience strategies regarding communication and transmission of early warning systems at sub-national levels.
In addition to the presentation at the plenary, the Director General NEMA Mustapha Habib Ahmed held a bilateral meeting with the UNDRR Director Ms. Paola Albrito during which he informed her of Agency’s partnership with several agencies including Bournemouth University Disaster Management Centre facilitated NEMA’s capacity building programme for the 37 Heads of State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs) in Nigeria as well as Heads of the 16 NEMA Zonal, Operational and Territorial Offices across the country.
The Director General NEMA also held a bilateral meeting with Major General Elack Olivier Andriakaja, the Director General of the National Office of Risk and Disaster Management of the Republic of Madagascar, during which they discussed issues of common benefits to disaster management in Nigeria and Madagascar.
