The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said over 300 lives have been lost to disasters in various parts of the country in 2022 alone.
Director general of NEMA, Mustapha Habib Ahmed, who disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday, during a one-day strategic workshop with disaster risk management stakeholders, said the agency was recording the worst disasters in the country this year.
Ahmed said NEMA receives more than 100 alerts on disasters from different communities of the country in a day, adding that the situation was so bad than the previous years.
“This year, we are getting the worst disasters in parts of the country. Infact, we receive more than 100 alerts on disasters from different communities of the country in a day.
“The situation is so bad and we pray that it doesn’t get worse than the previous years. And the number of disasters are going up and communities are seriously being affected.
“I don’t have the actual figure, but I know that over 300 lives have so far been lost to disasters in parts of the country this year alone,” the NEMA DG said.
He, therefore, called on local and state governments in the country to set up local emergency management committees to mitigate the situation, because NEMA cannot be in every community in Nigeria.
The director general explained that the workshop would provide ample opportunity for brainstorming and in-depth discourse with a view to further deepening the perspective of disaster risk reduction and management in Nigeria, in line with international best practices and trend.
He reminded the participants that disaster management in the contemporary period has shifted from the classical response in form of humanitarian relief intervention to disaster risk reduction, with emphasis on preparedness, mitigation and adaptation.
And based on seasonal climate prediction, released by NIMET.
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