The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has called on the three tiers of government to put adequate disaster management measures in place to avoid the repeat of 2018 flood disaster.
Mr Olusegun Afolayan, NEMA Coordinator, South-West, made the call at a stakeholders’ meeting on disaster management on Wednesday in Osogbo.
Afolayan said as result of the flood disaster in 2018, many of the affected communities across the country were still struggling to recover.
Theme of the meeting was: “Coordination, Cooperation and Communication: Role of Stakeholders in Disaster Management.’’
Afolayan said that all hands should be on the deck to ensure proper coordination and cooperation among stakeholders in managing disasters.
“We are in rainy season with the associated flooding in our communities and certain measures must be taken to prevent flood disaster.
“The States Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) must be adequately funded, because inadequate funding of the agency is like putting more pressure on NEMA.
“Early warning signs must be timely and understood to those at risk, while stakeholders must ensure proper coordination and cooperation in managing different forms of disaster,” Afolayan said.
In his lecture, Alhaji Iyiola Akande, a former Deputy Director, Disaster Reduction Department, NEMA, said that there was urgent need for SEMA to be adequately funded to perform its disaster management role effectively.
Akande said disaster management was a multi-dimension in nature, adding that stakeholders must collaborate to minimise the impact of disasters.
“Disaster management must be properly coordinated with synergistic collaboration and harmonious cooperation,” Akande said.
In his remarks, Oluyemi Olanrewaju, the Osun SEMA General Manager, said the agency had been collaborating with NEMA to organise disaster management workshop and to provide relieve materials to disaster victims in the state.
Also, Mr Ezekiel Oladejo, Director of Development Matters, Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning in Osun, said state government had enumerated all dilapidated and deteriorating buildings in the state.
Oladejo said the purpose of the exercise was to rid the environment of possible building collapse in the state. (NAN)