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Clement Adeyi, Osogbo
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has called on government at all levels to put adequate measures in place and provide an urgent solution to flood disaster, especially the recurrence of the 2018 episode in the country.
The agency’s South West Coordinator, Mr Olusegun Afolayan, made the call in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, at the weekend during a stakeholders meeting on natural disaster management.
Afolayan lamented that many of the affected communities across the nation were still struggling to recover from the vagaries of the 2018 flood disaster that resulted in deaths and rendered many people homeless.
The meeting that had the theme: “Coordination, Cooperation and Communication: Role of Stakeholders in Disaster Management” had scores of stakeholders in attendance.
Afolayan added that all hands must be on deck to ensure proper coordination and cooperation among the stakeholders in managing different forms of disaster in all the states of the federation.
“We are in a raining season with associated flooding in our communities. Therefore, certain measures must be taken to prevent flood disaster, especially the repeat of the 2018 highly disastrous flood episode,” Afolayan said.
“States Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) must be adequately funded because lack of funds is putting more pressure on NEMA.
“Early-warning signs must be timely and understandable to those at risk and stakeholders must ensure proper coordination and cooperation among stakeholders in managing different forms of disaster,” Afolayan said.
Deputy Director, Disaster Reduction Department, NEMA, Iyiola Akande, also called on state governments to ensure adequate funding of SEMA to be able to perform its disaster management roles effectively.
Akande, who noted that disaster management was multidimensional in nature, urged stakeholders to collaborate and minimise the impacts of disaster in the country.
“Disaster management must be properly coordinated with synergistic collaboration and harmonious cooperation among stakeholders,” Akande said.
Oluyemi Olanrewaju, the Osun SEMA General Manager, disclosed that the agency had been collaborating with NEMA to organise disaster management workshops and to provide relief materials to disaster victims in the state. Director of Development Matters, Osun Ministry of Lands and Physical planning, Mr Ezekiel Oladejo, disclosed that government had enumerated all the dilapidated and deteriorating buildings in the state.
He added that the purpose of the exercise was to rid the environment of possible building collapse in the state.
