National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has charged stakeholders at the grassroots to take actions that will reduce the adverse impacts of floods during the 2025 rainy season.
Director-General of NEMA, Zubaida Umar, said this at stakeholders engagement on flood disaster organised by the agency yesterday at Ona-Ara Local Government Area in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The programme focused on the 2025 National Preparedness and Response Campaign (NPRC) on floor disaster and related hazards for effective early actions to save lives and livelihoods during the rainy season.
Umar noted that the devastating impact of floods over the years served as a wakeup call to all tiers of governments to collaborate with the agency to manage disaster risks and associated hazards.
She was represented at the event by NEMA’s South West Zonal Director, Mr Saheed Akiode.
“In the recent past, lives have been lost, means of livelihoods and infrastructure amounting to billions of Naira have been destroyed, due to unmitigated incidences of floods.
“Rainfall and flood forecasts contained in the 2025 Seasonal Climate Prediction and the 2025 Annual Flood Outlook by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) have provided us valuable insights into rainfall patterns and flood scenarios during the year.
“In the same vein, NEMA has developed the 2025 Climate Related Risk Management Implication, Preparedness and Mitigative Actions out of the NIMET-NIHSA predictions to serve as a guide to reduce the impacts of floods during the year.
“As part of our flood Early Warning System, NEMA has identified disaster risk management implications and mitigation strategies for communication to communities at risk during the rainy season.
“We have also produced vulnerability maps for all communities at risk to serve as tools to guide,” she said.
She said that some LGAs in the state had been predicted to be affected by flooding during the 2025 rainy season.
Umar listed the 11 high and moderate flood risk LGAs to include Itesiwaju, Ona-ara, Lagelu, Ibarapa Central, Kajola, Egbeda, Ogbomoso South, Ogbomosho North, Iseyin, Ibarapa North and Ibarapa East.
“It is necessary to stress that management of disaster risk in contemporary times hinges on community-wide participation, leaving no one behind.
“We must work together to safeguard communities at risk, protect critical infrastructure and support uninterrupted socio-economic activities of our people,” she said.
Mrs Ojuolape Busari, administrative secretary, Oyo State Emergency Management Agency (Oyo SEMA), urged residents to stop dumping refuse into the water ways to avoid flood disasters.
Similarly, a traditional leader from Ona-Ara Local Government Area, Chief Sulaiman Akinola, charged Community Development Associations and Landlord Associations to enforce regular cleaning of water channels and drainages in their various communities.
He urged citizens to desist from building on water channels and flood prone areas.