The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Niger State has launched a sensitization campaign aimed at educating the local community about disaster risk reduction and the issues related to poor waste disposal.
On Wednesday, Hussein Isah, the head of NEMA’s Minna Operations Office—which oversees both Niger and Kwara states—led the campaign in the Anguwan Daji community in Minna.
Isah mentioned that the agency collaborated with National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members known as the NEMA Emergency Management Vanguard (EMV) to organize this sensitization effort.
They worked alongside the Niger State Environmental Protection Agency (NISEPA), the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), and Ajnu Venture.
The campaign was initiated in response to the 2025 flood prediction released by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) and the annual flood outlook from the Nigerian Hydrological Service Agency.
Isah stressed the importance of mitigation and preparedness, stating that whenever disasters occur, there must be a prompt and effective response.
He also revealed that the sensitization campaign will continue throughout Minna metropolis and Kwara State, focusing on raising awareness.
Isah highlighted that poor waste disposal is a significant challenge worldwide, and Nigeria is no exception.
“Most of our cities and towns are littered with sachets, water bottles, tyres, and broken bottles, which can clog our environment and existing drainages, causing water to accumulate and leading to trouble,” he said.
Isah called on Niger government to establish recycling plants to effectively collect and dispose of solid waste.
Ahmed Abubakar, President of NEMA EMV, said the initiative was part of the group’s community development service, aimed at identifying and addressing pressing needs in the communities they serve.
“We recognised that this community has been dumping refuse indiscriminately, which is hazardous to their health and can cause flooding.
“We decided to come and enlighten them on theu dangers of disposing refuse indiscriminately, especially since they have a lot of children who may not be aware of the risks,” he said.
Also speaking, Alhaji Nasir Tanko, Community Head of Anguwan Daji, said that evacuating refuse from the community’s drainage without providing an alternative dumping site would be counterproductive.
He suggested that after evacuation, the authorities should utilise the media to sensitise the public about the provision of a new dumping site and the consequences of dumping refuse in the drainage.
Zuwaira Hassan, a resident of Anguwan, recalled that the community previously had a vehicle for house-to-house waste collection and waste containers, but these services are no longer available.
She appealed to the state government to take urgent action to address the issue as continuous dumping of refuse in the draining posed as risk to their lives.
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