As floods continue to submerge communities in Nigeria, the disaster that has been consuming lives and properties with thousands displaced for decades, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has charged state governors to take responsibility in addressing disasters within their domains.
The agency warns that too much reliance on federal government intervention during disasters is a contributing factor leading to casualties and damage caused by floods and other disasters.
The call was made by Air Cdre Kenneth Oyon, NEMA’s Director of Search and Rescue, while leading a panel at a workshop organised by NEMA for executives of state emergency management in the northwest and community champions in flood-prone communities in Kano.
In Cdre Oyon’s statement, “State governments must strengthen their local emergency response systems so long as they want to mitigate the impact of disasters; agencies like the state emergency management and their counterpart in the local government must be equipped with necessary funding and tools to respond in emergencies.
“In an emergency, if you don’t act fast, you will lose people. In most cases, crying foul and waiting for federal government agencies’ intervention, like NEMA, sometimes before the information reaches people, people have started dying, or maybe the emergency has started subsiding.
“So please, empower your agencies to respond to emergencies as fast as possible. It’s better when it’s overpowered by the SEMA or local government than federal government intervention, which will be expected. That’s the only way we can manage disasters effectively in this country.
“It’s so pathetic that so many people are still living in communities that are identified as flood-prone areas. Both the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) have warned and identified those communities for so long. Why are the states still allowing people to live in those communities?
“The federal government cannot come and chase those people away from those locations; it’s the responsibility of the state because the state issued them a certificate of occupancy; therefore, the state must control development in those environments.
“It will surprise you to know that in the flooded area in Makwa of Niger State, the residents had been told to evacuate the communities, but because there was no enforcement, they lived until the disaster happened.
“We were told that there was a time when a Sarkin Hausawa of that area ensured there was no building in that area; even if one tried to build a house, the man had a task force who would demolish the house, but when the man died, the state could not be able to uphold that and halt development in those areas.
“But time for excuses has passed because with local government autonomy, we expect even the local government to respond to issues and save lives and properties.” Mr Oyo’s challenge.
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