NEMA launches 2025 flood preparedness, response campaign in Taraba
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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has launched the 2025 National Preparedness and Response Campaign on floods and related hazards in Taraba.
Launching the campaign in collaboration with the Taraba State Emergency Management Agency (TASEMA) in Jalingo, Hajiya Zubaida Umar, the Director General (D-G) of NEMA, said that the initiative focused on proactive community-based disaster risk reduction.
The launch had as a theme: “Strengthening Community Resilience for Flood Risk Reduction in Nigeria.
Represented by Mr. Abbani Garki, the Deputy Director of Relief and Rehabilitation at the agency, Umar identified early warning systems for prompt action, as well as coordinated emergency responses.
The D-G recalled the rainfall and flood forecasts contained in the 2025 Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) and the 2025 Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) issued by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and the Nigerian Hydrological Service Agency (NIHSA), respectively.
She said that the agencies had provided NEMA with valuable insights into rainfall patterns and flood scenarios during the year.
According to her, the agency has, in view of the above, developed the 2025 Climate-Related Risk Management Implications, Preparedness, and Mitigation Actions.
She noted that this would serve as a guide to reducing the impact of floods during the year.
Umar said that NEMA had also developed disaster mitigation strategies, such as capacity building of local emergency responders and simulation exercises.
She listed others as, rainwater harvesting, adherence to predicted rainfall onset before planting by farmers, and irrigation, among many others.
She called on stakeholders and communities to remain vigilant and actively participate in local preparedness efforts as the 2025 rainy season unfolded.
Also speaking during a stakeholders’ engagement on flood preparedness recently, Dr. Echuse Audu, the Executive Secretary of TASEMA, described the meeting as a key strategy for responding to flood disasters.
Audu, who identified logistics as the challenge facing quick responses to disasters, said that Gov. Agbu Kefas of Taraba was providing the agency with the necessary funds to respond to disasters.
According to her, Kefas is passionate about saving lives.
She, therefore, pledged that the agency would disseminate awareness to all corners of the state.
Audu advised communities living along riverbanks and in flood-prone areas to relocate to safer places.
She also promised that the agency would collaborate with traditional rulers, religious leaders, and other key stakeholders to educate people at the grassroots about the 2025 flood prediction and scenarios.
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