Bauchi State government has called for enhanced collaboration between federal and state agencies to address potential disaster risks as the rainy season intensifies.
The state commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Hon Hajara Yakubu Wanka, made the call yesterday during a stakeholders’ engagement meeting organised by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) as part of its 2025 National Preparedness and Response Campaign (NPRC) to mitigate the impact of flooding on communities in Bauchi State.
Wanka emphasised that Governor Bala Mohammed has provided a conducive environment for strategic partnerships and collaboration, geared towards improving the welfare and safety of the people of the state.
She highlighted the importance of collective efforts in mitigating the impact of recurrent disasters such as floods and fires.
“This meeting marks a crucial step towards building resilient communities, enhancing risk preparedness and ensuring timely and effective disaster response across the state,” she stated.
On his part, the deputy director, General Services, NEMA, Mr Bitrus Samuel, said Bauchi was one of the high risk states in terms of flooding, hence the sensitisation by the agency.
According to him, the campaign by NEMA was a strategic plan for preparedness and response to flooding in Nigeria in response to an early information warning by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).
“The information they gave us is very important. So, NEMA is being proactive based on that information.
“We want to draw out a disaster management implication of those predictions hence we called for a national coordination forum where key stakeholders decided that we take this information to the grassroots.
“What we have come to do here is to sensitise the people and that they are likely to experience flooding in this state as Bauchi is one of the high risk states in Nigeria.
“We have come here to bring this message for them to take concrete actions using the stakeholders at the state level and using their structures at the local level,” he said.
He explained that the move was imperative as it would equip the communities with a better knowledge of how to avert and respond to disasters, emphasising that disasters are local as they start from the communities.
“If the community knows what they need to do before the disaster strikes, they are better prepared and that is what we have come to do here,” he said.
Stakeholders present at the launching of the campaign included representatives of the Nigerian Army,
Police, Fire service, Civil Defence Corps, among others.
Similarly, the agency took the sensitisation to the busiest Muda Lawal market as one of the communities previously affected by flood and fire.
Speaking with the market leaders, an official from NEMA, Mr Simon Katu, said the agency was in the market to support traders in their preparations to mitigate flooding this year.
He explained that at the end of the engagement, he expects that there would be a behavioural change, improvement in response, understanding among stakeholders and communities so that in the event of any disaster, the outcome would be minimal.
“We want the nation to be better prepared as preparedness, disaster management and response are not the work of the government only.
“We are saying that people should come out, volunteer, form community groups that will assist because self-help helps before the government’s assistance,” he said.
