The Director General of NEMA, Muhammed Sani Sidi, says there is need that would ensure free-flowing drainage systems, operation and maintenance of hydraulic structures such as dams and reservoirs which are being adequately controlled by the various dam management institutions in the country.

In a message through NEMA’s Fagbemi, Deputy Director (planning, research & forecasting), Kayode Fagbemi, to a stakeholders forum aimed at appraise last year’s flood response profile, Mohammed Sani-Sidi described the event as an informed gathering designed to “Review the progresses and the challenges faced in order to come up with wise decisions on the way forward”.

Participants identified timely and effective forecast/prediction, hydrological data gaps, inadequate meteorological data, inadequate dissemination of information, vandalisation of equipment, reduction of instruments’ sensitivity to measurement, inadequate coverage of density of hydro-met network of station and untimely release of operational funds by state governments to SEMAS as critical during response activities.

The UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria, Jean Gough, recalled that, following the 2015 SRP by NIMET, UNICEF was part of the committee and part of the team that supported the flood contingency plan for 2015 for all flood high risk states in the country.

The forum recommended that, amid an enhancement in information dissemination that utilises the new and emerging media, stakeholders should improve its strategies in identifying and involving relevant stakeholders in information dissemination. While state governments were urged to timely release operational funds to SEMAS, host communities and security agents were on the other hand charged to be involved in the protection of equipment.

The stakeholders forum comes as the nation awaits this year’s Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) by the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).