The Federal Government on Monday launched the national contingency plan for 2023–2025 as part of its renewed efforts towards ensuring an effective and timely response to mitigating emergencies across the country.
The Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Habib Mustapha Ahmed, who delivered the keynote address in Abuja, observed that the occasion marks a significant milestone in our collective efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of our nation and its people in the face of potential natural and human-induced emergencies and disasters.
According to him, NEMA will focus on disaster preparedness actions, including continuous revision of risks across the country, supporting states in the development of contingency plan, and also focusing on an early warning system to enable communities to understand the risks they face and linkages to ensure they are able to prevent, prepare for, and respond to these risks.
“The importance of a national contingency plan cannot be overstated. Nigeria has experienced quite a number of human and natural disasters, public health emergencies, and other unforeseen events that can occur at any moment, causing immense devastation and disruption of the functioning of society.
“It is our duty, as disaster managers and citizens, to ensure that we are adequately prepared to respond swiftly and efficiently to such situations,” he noted.
The NEMA helmsman, who reiterated stakeholders’ commitment and dedication to the cause of disaster preparedness and response, explained that the launch marks a milestone to put into “formal use an effective national contingency plan that will guide us in times of crisis.
“Over the past months and years, countless hours of hard work, research, and collaboration have gone into the development of this plan. Experts from various sectors have contributed their knowledge and experience, drawing upon lessons learned from past disasters and incorporating the latest best practices in disaster management.”
According to him, the exercise was carried out across the geopolitical zones of the country and covered different risks and hazards at the local government area (LGA) level, including floods, epidemics, conflict, and violence, among others.
“The objective of the analysis was to identify, assess, and rank risks with a view to understanding related vulnerabilities and capacities while fostering effective risk management approaches among agencies addressing the same or similar threats. The outcome of the risk analysis guided the review of the National Contingency Plan.
“As we embark on this launch, let us remember that our work emphasises the importance of community engagement and participation.
The National Contingency Plan will not only safeguard lives and livelihoods but also reinforce our resilience as a nation. It empowers us to respond effectively to emergencies, mitigate their impact, and prepare for response should they occur,” he stressed.
In her address, UNICEF Country Representative Cristian Munduate expressed concern over the devastating floods that affected 4.4 million people in Nigeria in 2022, including some 2.6 million children, and displaced around 2.4 million people.
While underscoring the importance of emergency preparedness in order to avert or lessen the impact of flooding on those living in flood-prone areas, she harped on the need for timely planning.
“As you know, this event today is the result of a long journey undertaken by NEMA and UNICEF in 2021, when NEMA conducted a country-wide risk analysis based on the available government data sets over the last 10 years. The likelihood of 12 specific risks in the areas of flooding epidemics and conflict environments across all the LGA is across the entire country.
“This risk analysis was launched on December 21. And it’s available for all interested stakeholders to read on the name or website. In 2022, this risk analysis was updated. In addition, there was a series of workshops convening all of these state emergency management authorities in 22 states; the fines are not contingent.”
She maintained that “while these plans are multi-risk, they are especially focused on flooding, but they also consider associated risks such as cholera. The plants cover all of the zones (North-West, North Central, South-South, South East, and South West), and early next year, we also plan on conducting the same exercise for the Northeast zone.
“In 2023, UNICEF and the Katsina state government are conducting a simulation based on the northwest contingency plan in June, and it’s the first simulation together. That thing was conducted together. And just last week, a second simulation was conducted in Kaduna State.
“So it’s really great to see that these plans not only exist on paper but they’re really being put into practice and that we’re beginning to get very prepared.”
While affirming the need for all relevant stakeholders to key into the contingency plans in order to mitigate the impact of future flooding in Nigeria, she maintained that, given climate change issues, floods are unfortunately expected to get much more frequent and intense in force.
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