The Bauchi State Government has called for enhance collaboration between federal and state agencies to effectively address potential disaster risks as the 2025 rainy season approaches.
The state Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Hon. Hajara Yakubu Wanka, made the call on Friday 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 fostered 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 fire incidents.
“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.
For his part, Deputy Director, General Services of NEMA, Mr Bitrus Samuel, described Bauchi as one of the high-risk states in terms of flooding, hence the essence of the sensitisation programme by the agency.
According to Samuel, the campaign was a strategic plan for preparedness and response to flooding in Nigeria following 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 and we have 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,” he said.
He explained that the move was imperative as it equipped the communities with better knowledge of how to avert and respond to the disaster, noting that disasters are local as they start from the communities.
“If the community knows what they need to do before the disaster strikes them, they are better prepared; and that is what we have come to do here,” he emphasised.
Stakeholders present at the campaign include representatives of the Nigerian Army, Police, Fire Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, amongst others.
Similarly, the agency took the sensitisation to the busy Muda Lawal Market as one of the communities previously affected by flood and fire.
Speaking to the market leaders, an official from NEMA, Mr Simon Katu said the agency was in the market to give support to the preparedness the market people were making this year.
He explained that at the end of the engagement, there would be a behavioural change, improvement in response, understanding among stakeholders and communities so that in the event of disaster, the outcome would be minimal.
“We want the nation to be better prepared as disaster preparedness, 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.
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