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THE Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS), Lagos State Branch and other stakeholders have called for continuous sensitisation through various communication channels to reduce the impact of flooding in high-risk areas.
The stakeholders said this on Thursday during an event to mark the 2022 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) in Lagos.
The event was organised by the NRCS in collaboration with the British Red Cross with the theme: “Early Warning Signs For All.”
The event featured a panel discussion on “Early Warning Signs for Flood Prone Communities” and a sensitisation walk in Makoko community.
IDDRR is celebrated annually on Oct. 13 to acknowledge the progress being made toward reducing disaster risk and loss of lives, livelihoods, economies and basic infrastructure.
The Chairman of Lagos State NRCS, Mrs Adebola Kolawole, said the event was to encourage the public to take a key role in building more disaster-resilient communities.
Kolawole was represented by Mr Rasak Akande, Adviser on Disaster Management, NRCS, Lagos branch.
She said: “This day is set aside to raise awareness and ensure availability and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information and assessments.
“This will assist emergency response organisations and stakeholders in developing and delivering services that are directed at protection of lives, livelihood and properties from natural hazards like flood in a cost-effective systematic and sustainable manner.”
Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, the Lagos Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said that the agency would intensify its efforts in flood mitigation through continuous dissemination of information, especially at the grassroots.
Farinloye, represented by Mrs Aikpopo Ebah, said NEMA’s coordinating role in flood situations was to disseminate information on early warnings and seasonal predictions from Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Annual Flood Outlook released by Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).
This, he said, was to enable various stakeholders, including state governments and emergency agencies, to take proactive steps to reduce the impact of the rains.
He, however, decried the situation where drainage channels had become blocked with waste, thereby, increasing the risk of flood.
“Lagos State has a well-planned drainage system, but when we don’t maintain these drains, the water will run us over.
“Sustained sensitisation will help us to avoid flood because disaster management is everyone’s business and it starts with every individual,” she said.
Also, the Lagos Secretary, NRCS, Mr Olakunle Lasisi, said that the Lagos NRCS in collaboration with the British Red Cross had embarked on several humanitarian services to vulnerable people in riverine communities.
Lasisi said that the organisation recently constructed a pedestrian bridge in Odo-Ogun community in Kosofe Local Government Area to ease the impact of flooding in the community.
He said the British Red Cross gave N55,000 each to 602 vulnerable households in Odo-Ogun, Agboyi one, two and three communities, adding that another cash transfer would be done before December.
Lasisi said early warning orientation was a way of building the resilience of the communities because when they know what to do, lives and properties will be saved and they will be less affected.
He called on volunteers and members to be actively involved because mitigating the impact of flooding was everybody’s business.
“There are many lowland areas in the state that are affected by the flood and our role as first aiders is to make ourselves available by swiftly responding to disasters and emergencies.
On his part, Mr Lukman Alafia, Assistant Director, Drainage Services and Water Resources, Lagos State Ministry of Environment, said that the ministry had embarked on several interventions aimed at mitigating flooding in the state.
“Our office is responsible for flood control and drainage maintenance and we have been evacuating all tertiary drains, connecting drains, primary drains and canals to reduce flooding in Lagos State,” he said.
Alafia said that the ministry would continue to mitigate flooding through continuous sensitisation, monitoring and evaluation, cleaning of drains and canals and demolition of structures on the drainage systems.
He urged the public to adopt proper waste disposal practices, saying that inappropriate waste disposal was a major contributory factor to flooding as a result of blocked drains.
The assistant director also encouraged the public to key into waste-to-wealth initiatives to tackle inappropriate waste disposal. (NAN)
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Tags: International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS)
