NEMA

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says that over 5,000 households in16 local governments of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States have been affected by flood in this year’s rainy season.

The Coordinator in charge of Sokoto Operations’ Office of NEMA, Malam Sulaiman Muhammad, disclosed this in Gusau on Thursday at the opening ceremony of a three-day in-house staff training.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the training is: “Repositioning, Restructuring and Re-orientation of NEMA Staff and Operations’’.

Muhammad said that the affected local government areas were: Sabon-Birni, Kebbe, Tangaza, Goronyo, Wamakko and Illela in Sokoto State; and Argungu, Maiyama, Birnin-Kebbi, Shanga, Bunza and Danko Wasagu in Kebbi State.

He said that Maru, Tsafe and some parts of Gusau Local Government were affected in Zamfara.

“We have already conducted an assessment of over 5,000 houses that were affected by the disaster in these LGAs.

“We have forwarded the record to our headquarters in Abuja for relief assistance,’’ he said.

The coordinator urged the general public to always adhere to signals, warnings and predictions on flood disasters given by the Nigerian Metrological Agency (NIMET).

“You know that every year around March, the NIMET normally issues annual rainfall predictions and give information on likely flood-prone areas.

“Also NEMA sensitises all stakeholders every year, particularly the states and local governments.

“We are calling on members of the public to always comply with the information, warnings and signals to avoid and prevent flood disasters in the society,’’ he added.

On the training, Muhammad said it was part of the new policies introduced by the NEMA Director-General, Mr. Mustapha Yunusa-Maihaja, to restructure the agency.

According to him, the training is to enlighten the staff under the Sokoto Operations Office on areas of accountability, finance, punctuality and record keeping.

The coordinator said the agency as mandated by the Federal Government was to provide emergency assistance to disaster victims, therefore, the staff had to work to meet its expectations.

He urged the staff of the agency to always be punctual and committed to their duties.

“We should comply with the rules and regulations of the agency and those of the federal public service.

“I have called on you to wake up; we must face the duties before us with all seriousness, because we have a lot of work to tackle.

“Disasters are common, especially, during this rainy season.

“There are other forms of disasters such as fire incidences, wind and rain storms and banditry attacks, therefore, we should be ready to work every time.

“Furthermore, we should always work as a family to achieve the desired goals of the agency,’’ Muhammad said.