By Kenechukwu AguoluDisasters could be man-made like civil
unrest, wars, pollution or natural like floods, erosions, landslides and
earthquakes. The recent flood disaster in Maiduguri ravished the city and
caused monumental damage. Many lives and property were lost, with many people
are yet to find their loved ones. There are also fears of a major disease
outbreak. The flood highlights the need for Nigeria to shift to a more
proactive emergency management system which involves paying more attention to
the mitigation, and preparedness. Effective emergency management goes beyond
just announcing the possibility of a disaster occurring and distributing
reliefs when they occur.Mitigation aims to reduce the likelihood or impact of disasters . It involves
measures such as having early warning system in place restricting development
in high-risk areas, promoting proper waste disposal to prevent blockages in
drainage systems, ensuring people don’t build on water ways, fortifying
infrastructure like dams, reinforcing critical structures, preventing
deforestation to curb erosion, gathering intelligence to identify and address
underlying grievances that may lead to civil conflicts. Preparedness involves
having comprehensive response plans, training personnel, and having all the
resources in place to respond to emergencies. It requires agility. For example,
since there were warning signals about the flood in Maiduguri, plan should have
been in place to evacuate people living in high risk areas to safe camps. Better funding, coordination, collaboration and information exchange among key
stakeholders, including the National Emergency Management Agency, State
Emergency Management Agencies, local authorities, Fire Services, NIMET, and
Security Agencies, are essential for a more proactive effective management
system in Nigeria. It is imperative to involve Professional Project Managers to
ensure objectives are met. There is need for robust data gathering and analysis to enable effective
identification of vulnerabilities. risk assessment and streamlining mitigation
and response strategies. Nigeria should embrace the use of more technology in
emergency management as the use of advanced tools like Geographical Information
Systems, remote sensing, predictive modelling improve hazard monitoring and
early warning capabilities.The flood in Maiduguri has highlighted the need to rejig Nigeria’s emergency
management system to be more proactive and agile in order to significantly reduce
the risk of occurrence and impact of disasters. It involves a holistic
approach, by ensuring proper town planning, carrying out integrity test on
critical infrastructures like dams and fortifying when necessary, having early
warning signal and evacuation plans, etc. Enough of the avoidable loss of lives
and properties in Nigeria.
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