Environment
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has warned against building and farming on waterways to avoid the negative impacts of the rainfall prediction and flood outlook in the country.
AVM Muhammadu Mohammed, Director-General of the agency made the plea while briefing newsmen on the agency’s plan for the ‘2020 Flood Preparedness, Mitigation and Response’, on Friday in Abuja.
The director general added that it would be a herculean task managing a flood disaster in the midst of the rampaging the COVID-19 pandemic.
Muhammed, who described it as an ‘incident within an incident’, added that the agency had written letters to the various state and local governments that may be affected by the flood.
“In Nigeria and most part of the world, people are seriously attached to their traditional lands. It is very difficult to get them out of where they are living.
“Climate change has also compounded the issue as sometimes what is predicted is not what will happen exactly.
“And so, if we tell them to move out from where they are living, they will tell you that at a particular year,it was predicted and nothing happened, but there are times it was predicted and it was worst.
“The fact is that,the best mitigation against flood is to continue to talk,educate and even plead with people to realise that it has happened before and it can happen again.
“Another factor is the increase in population,people are competing with natural waterways.
“They want to claim waterways to build or farm but water will always want to find it ways, but if we all understand that the important thing in life is to stay safe.
“Once we realise that, you will admit the fact that sometimes you have to abandon somethings you hold dear,in other to save your life,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) on Jan. 21, released the 2020 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) report to guide the various sectors of the country.
According NiMet, a ‘normal to above normal’ rainfall is expected generally in the country.
The agency envisaged total rainfall amounts to be 400mm in the North and about 3,000mm in the South.
NAN also reports that a document on Disaster Risk Management Implication of 2020 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction was unveiled at the event.(NAN)
– Jul. 10, 2020 @ 15:05 GMT |
Tags: 2020 Flooding: NEMA warns against building farming on waterways
