Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has accused some Nigerians of making things difficult for them, particularly in yearly response to flooding and other natural disasters. 
NEMA was specifically concerned about the level of energy required to convince some communities in areas that prone to flooding of the need to relocate, permanently, if possible, from such locations to high level areas for safety
Director General of NEMA, Muhammadu Muhammed, who addressed journalists on their preparedness to respond to flood, said, “It’s difficult for Nigerians to leave their ancestral land for any reason, even with flood predictions and warnings.
“They would tell you that such predictions was made a year or two ago, but nothing happened. So, they always prefer to respond when the flood comes and return to same location afterwards,” he said.
He disclosed that NEMA has concluded plans to carry out enlightenment campaign, targeting vulnerable communities to under mitigation actions and prepare for evacuation to safe ground after such high grounds that would shelter evacuated communities have been identified.
“We would also desilt river channels and canals; remove refuse, weeds, water hyacinths and floats from water channels, drainages, and all other avenues for free flow of flood water,” he said.
He said that, correspondingly, the 2020 annual flood outlook released by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (Nimet) and the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) forecasted flooding in some parts of Nigeria.
He explained: “The report indicated that 102 LGAs in 128 states fall within the highly probable flood risk areas, while 275 LGAs in 36 states including FCT fall within the moderately probable flood risk areas. The remaining 397 LGAs fall within the low probable flood risk areas.
“However, these predictions are expected to have different kinds of impact on various sectors of the economy, namely; Agriculture, Water Resources, Health, Transportation and other infrastructure.”
He, however, disclosed that NEMA has taken some preparedness measures to mitigate the likely impact of the flooding, with the recent constitution of a committee to lead the national preparedness, mitigation and response.
He added: “We have also produced and disseminated the disaster risk management implications of the 2020 seasonal rainfall prediction early warming messages to relevant stakeholders
“We have also stock-pilled relief materials (food and non food items) that would be needed in providing succour to the people that would be affected, among other measures.”
He, thus, solicited the support of all stakeholders, including the state governors to ensure that adequate preparation is made to mitigate the impact of the predicted 2020 flooding even in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic.