The Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Hajiya Zubaida Umar, has disclosed alarming figures regarding the widespread impact of flooding across Nigeria. Speaking on Thursday in Kebbi, Umar revealed that no fewer than 1,061,254 people have been displaced, while 634,035 houses have been damaged, and 94,741 farmlands submerged nationwide.<\/p>\n
Represented by Dr. Daniel Obot, NEMA’s Director of Disaster Risk Reduction, Umar warned that the flooding crisis is far from over, especially for states like Kebbi, where 16 local government areas (LGAs) are predicted to be severely affected in the upcoming months. “The aim of early warning strategies is to integrate direct risk communication and engagement approaches to disseminate early warning messages for early actions at the state, local government, and community levels,” she emphasized.<\/p>\n
Umar pointed out that rainfall and flood advisories from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) have provided vital early warning alerts. These advisories, contained in the Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) and Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) reports, allow the authorities to identify at-risk communities and prepare accordingly.<\/p>\n
“Consequently, all of us are expected to take actions that drastically reduce the adverse impacts of floods on the entire lands and the Nigerian population, especially for the most vulnerable persons living in communities identified to be at risk of flooding,” she added. NEMA’s goal is to ensure that these warnings lead to immediate action to prevent further devastation.<\/p>\n
The data shared by Umar was based on statistics from the National Emergency Coordination Centre (EOC) of NEMA as of Friday, September 13. While NIHSA initially predicted flooding in 148 LGAs across 31 states, the real numbers were worse, with 176 LGAs in 30 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), being affected. “About 1,061,254 persons are affected; 634,035 are being displaced; 94,741 houses are either damaged or destroyed, while 125,805 hectares of farmlands can be regarded as submerged or crops being washed away across the country,\u201d Umar stated.<\/p>\n
The figures paint a troubling picture of the nation\u2019s ongoing flood crisis, which has wreaked havoc on homes, farmlands, and livelihoods. Displacement on such a scale has resulted in an urgent need for humanitarian relief, including shelter, food, and medical care for those who have lost everything to the floods.<\/p>\n
In response to the flood situation, Kebbi State Governor, Comrade Dr. Nasir Idris, expressed gratitude to NEMA and its experts for their proactive approach to the 2024 Downscaling of Flood Early Warning Strategies and Actions. He commended the agency for its role in preparing the state for the upcoming flood risks and encouraged community leaders to take immediate steps in flood-prone areas.<\/p>\n
Experts have expressed concern that the country could face more frequent and intense flooding in the years to come, exacerbated by climate change and poor infrastructure planning. To combat this, NEMA and other federal and state bodies are working to reinforce early warning systems, improve community preparedness, and promote disaster risk reduction.<\/p>\n
As Nigeria continues to battle the challenges posed by extreme weather, the focus remains on minimizing damage and protecting lives through coordinated efforts between the government, agencies like NEMA, and affected communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Hajiya Zubaida Umar, has disclosed alarming figures regarding the widespread impact of flooding across Nigeria. Speaking on Thursday in Kebbi, Umar revealed that no fewer than 1,061,254 people have been displaced, while 634,035 houses have been damaged, and 94,741 farmlands submerged nationwide. Represented by Dr. Daniel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-49221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49221"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49222,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49221\/revisions\/49222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}