As the 2025 rainy season sets in, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has identified Bauchi State as one of the highest-risk areas prone to devastating flooding, particularly in the two LGAs of Ganjuwa and Zaki.
To mitigate the impending devastation in these communities, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in collaboration with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), on Friday launched the 2025 National Preparedness and Response Campaign (NPRC).
Speaking during the launch of the campaign, Deputy Director, General Services, NEMA, Bitrus Samuel, said that Bauchi was one of the highest-risk states in terms of flooding, hence the Agency’s sensitisation efforts.
According to him, the campaign by NEMA was a strategic plan for preparedness and response to flooding in Nigeria, based on early warning information from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).
He stressed that, “The information they gave us is very important, so NEMA is being proactive based on that information.”
Bitrus Samuel added that, “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.”
The Deputy DG added that, “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.”
“That is why we have come here to bring this message for them to take concrete actions using the stakeholders at the state level, using their structures at the local level,” he said.
He further explained that the move was imperative as it equipped communities with better knowledge of how to avert and respond to disasters, saying 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 launch of the campaign included representatives of the Nigerian Army, Police, Fire Services, Civil Defence Corps, among others.
Similarly, the Agency took the sensitisation to the busiest Muda Lawal market, one of the communities previously affected by flood and fire.
Speaking to market leaders, a senior official of NEMA, Simon Katu, said that the Agency was in the market to support the preparedness efforts being made by the market traders this year.
He explained that at the end of the engagement, there would be a behavioural change, improvement in response, and better understanding among stakeholders and communities, so that in the event of a disaster, the outcome would be minimal.
According to him, “We want the nation to be better prepared as disaster preparedness, management, and response are not the work of the government only.”
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Simon Katu added that, “We are saying that people should come out, volunteer, form community groups that will assist because self-help helps before the government’s assistance.”
Responding, Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Hajara Wanka, said that the state government had issued marching orders to ensure adequate preparation and response in all disaster-prone communities across the state.
Hajara Wanka reminded stakeholders that last year, six local governments were predicted to be prone to flooding, but the disaster ended up devastating sixteen local governments, making the state the second most affected after Borno State in terms of impact.
According to her, the state has already begun early awareness and preparedness measures across all twenty local government areas.
The theme of the campaign is: “Strengthening Resilience, Enhancing Preparedness and Response, Taking Disaster Risk Management to the Grassroots to Save Lives, Restore Normalcy and Build Communal Resilience across Nigeria.”
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