From Nwogha Ndubuisi, Abakaliki
Ebonyi State governor, Francis Nwifuru has officially flagged off a flood risk preparedness and downscaling campaign to sensitise people on the right steps to mitigate the anticipated impact of the 2025 seasonal flooding in vulnerable communities.
The initiative, which is in collaboration with the Ebonyi State Emergency Management Agency, EB-SEMA, and National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, was launched during a stakeholder engagement forum held in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.
Nwifuru, represented by the Commissioner for Human Capital Development and Monitoring, Mrs Ann Aligwe, stated that the programme entitled: “Strengthening resilience, enhancing preparedness and response; taking disaster risk management to the grassroots to save lives, restore normalcy and build communal resilience across Nigeria”, was part of Governor Nwifuru’s commitment to disaster risk reduction.
Nwifuru had approved the programme to protect the lives and properties of residents, especially in the light of the recent climate forecasts that placed the state among the high-risk areas for flooding.
Earlier, the Director-General of NEMA, Zubaida Umar represented by the South East Zonal Director, Mr Walson Brandon outlined the devastating consequences of previous flood disasters, urging multi-sectoral collaboration to minimise risks.
She revealed that NEMA has developed climate-related risk maps and early warning tools tailored for community-level awareness.
Also speaking at the event, the Executive Secretary, Ebonyi State Emergency Management Agency, Mr Clement Ovuoba, described the campaign as timely and referenced the early warnings provided in the seasonal climate prediction released by NIMET in February and the Annual Flood Outlook, AFO, by NIHSA in April, hence the need for early preparation to curtail its devastating effect.
He assured that the agency would sustain awareness campaigns and collaborate closely with local authorities and traditional institutions to ensure that early warning messages reach the 13 local government areas, especially the flood prone zones.
The event was attended by heads of security agencies, traditional rulers, town union leaders, religious leaders and representatives of civil society organisations who pledged to take the sensitisation campaign to their communities to avert avoidable losses from the looming flood threat.
