Date: 25 June, 2026
By Jane Daniel
Enugu – The Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mrs Zubaida Umar, has called for a whole-of-society approach to prevent avoidable flood disasters across the country.
Speaking at the flag-off of the 2026 National Preparedness and Response Campaign on Flood Disaster and Related Hazards in Enugu, Umar, represented by NEMA Deputy Director, Disaster Risk Reduction, Dr Evans Ugoh, said effective flood response requires inclusiveness, community participation and shared responsibility.
According to her, “The recurrent impact of flooding in Nigeria demands an urgent and collective response. Each year, lives are lost, livelihoods are disrupted, and public and private infrastructure worth billions of naira are damaged.
“Communities also bear the burden of injuries, displacement, and the loss of life savings due to unmitigated flood events and their secondary effects.
“The 2026 Seasonal Climate Prediction and Annual Flood Outlook released by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency is for 23 states including the FCT.
“It covers 132 local government areas, fall within high flood risk zones. A further 14 states, with 148 local government areas, are classified as moderate risk areas.”
She said NEMA had developed a climate-related risk management framework to guide mitigation efforts nationwide.
Umar added, “In response to these projections, NEMA has developed the 2026 Climate-Related Risk Management, Preparedness, and Mitigation Framework.
“This framework provides a structured guide for reducing flood impacts nationwide. Key mitigation strategies included: capacity building for local responders and simulation and tabletop exercises.
“Others are strict adherence to rainfall and flood advisories; prepositioning of relief materials in high-risk areas; infrastructure integrity assessments and development and testing of community evacuation plans.”
Stakeholders from NIMET, NIHSA, Sahel Consulting and the Local Emergency Management Committee urged Nigerians to heed early warning alerts and adopt proactive measures to minimise losses during the rainy season.
