Disaster Managers Urged to Prepare for This Year’s Rainy Season

Musa Ilallah, the North West Zonal Coordinator, of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), on Tuesday, urged disaster managers to be proactive in preparing for this year’s rainy season.

Ilallah made the call in Kaduna, while speaking at a one day workshop on “Comprehensive Disaster Management: Preparedness and Coordination for Response Emergencies''.

         “Disaster knows no boundaries; unless disaster management and risk reduction are effectively driven at all levels, their impacts will be extremely difficult and costly to address” he said. “We face human tragedy and heavy economic losses from disasters whose frequency and intensity

have escalated in recent years in the country''.

The Zonal Coordinator pleaded with stakeholders across jurisdictions, sectors and disciplines to be aware of activities needed to mitigate disasters, stressing the need for everyone involved in disaster management to work together and build a culture of preparedness, prevention, response and resilience to disaster in the communities.

Meanwhile, a lecturer at Kaduna polytechnic, Ishaq Alhassan, also called on Journalists to educate the people on disaster management, while delivering his lecture titled “Communication and Information Sharing”.

“There is a lot the media can do to avert disasters or reduce the extent of preventable disasters instead of waiting for disasters to happen and then rush in to get the number of deaths and extent of damages'' he said.

Alhassan pointed out that stakeholder had roles to play in ensuring that there was an adequate preparation prior to disasters in the country.