. Urges governors to prepare for impending floods
By Mayor Izuchukwu, Reporter
The Director-General, Nigerian Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Ahmed, has called on Nigerian media practitioners to collaborate with the agency on effective reporting of disasters and emergency issues.
Ahmed made the call on Saturday during an awareness creation and capacity building workshop for publishers, senior editors of the Nigerian media industry drawn from the broadcast, print and online segments in Lagos.
The workshop, themed: “NEMA’s Workshop for Media Practitioners on Disaster Reporting,” provided an opportunity for NEMA management to interact with media practitioners.
It was also a forum to share learning and insights and equip the media practitioners with knowledge that would help in their reportage as well as enabling them to mediate misinformation, disinformation and fake news while building resilience in the sector.
In his keynote, Ahmed said: “We intend to foster collaboration and networking between media practitioners and NEMA. Our shared goal is to facilitate effective information dissemination during emergencies.
“By working together, we can ensure that timely and accurate information reaches the public, creating much needed awareness and enabling them to make informed decisions and take necessary precautions where applicable.”
Speaking further he said the workshop was necessary to enable media practitioners “report on disasters and NEMA as the apex disaster management agency in Nigeria.
“The objective is to provide a clear understanding of NEMA’s remit, Nigeria’s triple response structure, and NEMA’s relationship with subnational actors. Equally important is your awareness of NEMA’s information dissemination and emergency protocols.”
He enjoined media practitioners to act “as gatekeepers in this era of disinformation. We trust you to act as the bulwark against misinformation and fake news and the shenanigans of citizen journalists and fifth columnists.”
The workshop, which featured technical presentations, panel discussions and robust interactions, was put together by NEMA, Impact Pointe Consultancy Limited, Vista, Radi8 and The Media Training Room.
NEMA’s Director, Special Duties, Dr Onimode Abdullahi, in his presentation explored the history of NEMA, its mandate and efforts in disaster management in Nigeria.
The panel discussion moderated by Dayo Alao focused on: “Navigating Challenges in Disaster Reporting: Insights from Media Practitioners,” and had as panellists NEMA’s Director of Disaster Risk Reduction, Dr. Daniel Obot; Head; NEMA Lagos Territorial Office, Ibrahim Farinloye; Managing Editor, Daily Trust, Mr. Hamza Idris; and Publisher, Eagle Online, Mr. Dotun Oladipo.
The second technical presentation, “Collaborative Approaches in Disaster Reporting: Strengthening Partnerships for Effective Communication” was led by Communications Management Expert, Chido Nwakanma, while PR and Development expert, Toni Kan, facilitated the third technical presentation themed, “Ethics in Disaster Reporting: Balancing Sensationalism and Responsible Journalism.”
Commending NEMA for the initiative, Maureen Chigbo, President, Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), and publisher of Realnewsmagazine.net, said: “the workshop was insightful and timely and would help enhance reportage of disasters and emergencies from the perspective of well-informed media practitioners.”
By working together, we can ensure that timely and accurate information reaches the public, creating much needed awareness and enabling them to make informed decisions and take necessary precautions where applicable.
Preparing for floods
The workshop was sequel to the call on the 36 state governors to take proactive action to mitigate the effects of the impending floods.
Ahmed made the call at the Nigeria’s Governors’ Forum (NGF) conference, which was held on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said: “I humbly seek the cooperation of the Executive Governor’s for preparedness for the 2023 flooding season…we seek to collaborate with NGF to establish a robust monitoring and evaluation framework.”
He added that this “will enable NEMA and the NGF to track progress, assess the effectiveness of flood preparedness initiatives, and identify areas for improvement.
“Regular feedback and joint evaluation exercises will support evidence-based decision-making and promote accountability in disaster management efforts.”
He referenced Nigeria’s triple response structure for disaster and emergency management, saying: “As we know, disasters are local and to enhance our disaster management capabilities, it is imperative that State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) are fully operationalised, and Local Management Committees (LMCs) are activated.
“These bodies will play a crucial role in ensuring effective disaster response at the state and local levels.”
Highlighting ongoing proactive efforts by NEMA to mitigate disasters in the country, Ahmed told the governors that the Federal Government, with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has developed a National Plan of Action for the implementation of disaster risk reduction, known as the Sendai Framework (2015-2030).
NEMA has taken steps to align its national policies and strategies with the Sendai Framework by developing the National Disaster Risk Reduction Policy and National Disaster Risk Management Framework, which provide guidance for implementing risk reduction measures at the national, state, and local levels.
These initiatives emphasise and highlight the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration and community participation in disaster risk management.
The DG seized the opportunity of the conference to highlight NEMA’s milestones since its creation especially in the past decade when Nigeria was beset with numerous significant disasters, including major floods, droughts, and outbreaks of diseases which led to considerable loss of life, extensive damage to infrastructure, and substantial economic costs.
These disasters, he noted, underline the imperative of proactively addressing the issue of flood preparedness.
The NEMA DG recalled that Nigeria was hit in 2022 with the worst floods in history. The impact was widespread and affected 29 of the country’s 36 states, damaged homes, and infrastructure, destroyed farmlands, and displaced people from their communities.
Figures from The Nigerian Red Cross confirmed that at least 2.8 million people were affected, with 603 fatalities and more than 2,500 injured.
Ahmed noted that partnership with the state governors will provide a platform for facilitating the sharing of “best practices and lessons learned among the states.
“We can facilitate discussions, workshops, and peer-to-peer learning sessions where states can share their successful initiatives in disaster risk reduction and resilience. This knowledge exchange will help expedite the adoption of effective strategies across the country.”
NEMA has begun the “downscaling of disaster early warning measures to grassroots for effective live-saving early actions during the 2023 rainy season” across different states of the federation for capacity building efforts as well as funding and provision of equipment to upskill Local Emergency Management Committees (LEMCs)
This aims to equip them and make them ready to “take disaster risk management to the communities to build safe and resilient communities and by extension a safer and resilient Nigeria.”
The move is based on insights from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), and the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) who released their 2023 Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) and Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) respectively.
