Preparedness for emergency has been identified as an essential tool for managing disasters as well as saving lives and property.
The Executive Secretary, Kano State Emergency Management Agency SEMA Alhaji Isiyaku Kubarachi, made the indication during a one-day stakeholders engagement meeting on the 2024 Rainy Season.
According to him, careful planning, preparedness and rapid response would curtail the impact of emergencies and avert occurrences particularly man-made disasters.
He stressed that, in anticipation of the rainy season, the state government under the leadership of Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf has commenced clearing drainages within the Kano metropolis and instructed the interim management officers of local governments to make similar arrangements.
“A high-powered committee, led by His Excellency the Deputy Governor, has been established to oversee the desilting of drainages across all the 44 local governments to prevent flooding during this year’s rainy season”.
The Chief of the Field Office of UNICEF Kano Mr. Rahma Rihood Mohammed Farah pointed out that, drain and waste management is a subject of particular interest for UNICEF as perennial floods have impacted water sources and collapsed sanitation facilities.
Represented by the officer in charge Mr. Michael Banda, he stressed that UNICEF in partnership with SEMA has worked with several MDAs to ensure that activities aimed at cleaning up Kano’s drainage are effectively implemented.
“To operationalize our disaster preparedness strategy we need to make use of the information available, understand our situation vulnerabilities, work together and communicate with the public”
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Coordinator Kano Territorial Office, Dr Nuraddeen Abdullahi, described the meeting as apt due to the increasing danger disasters pose to economic and social development.
Abdullahi, represented by Kano NEMA Head of Administration and Human Resources, Suleiman Sa’ad Abubakar, said there is a need to emphasise a bottom-up response system to improve community resilience as the world grapples with increasing flood disasters.
He noted that the impact of climate change on women and children as well as the huge cost involved in recoveries associated with disasters
Radio Nigeria reports that the event tagged one-day stakeholders engagement meeting on the 2024 rainy season flood and mitigation plan was organized by SEMA in collaboration with UNICEF.
KHADIJAH ALIYU
