By Matthew Denis
The Zonal Coordinator of South West, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Slaku Lugard Bijimi has rated the attitude of Nigerians towards disaster management below 50 per cent.
The Coordinator made the submission during the Annual Public Lecture/Leadership Award Seminar organised by a media outfit, Femcom Communications at Kwara Hotels, Ilorin on last week.
Bijimi who was the Guest Speaker at the event said, “To be fair, the attitude of Nigerians towards disaster management is less than 50 per cent. We need to improve because our attitude has been very unfriendly and we don’t even think disaster occurs.
“Some people just feel that when there is disaster there’s going to be flood and they will show lackadaisical attitude towards it by saying, ‘God forbids’ without taking necessary action to manage it.
“We should always accept that if disasters are happening in developed countries, it can happen anywhere therefore we must prepare for it.”
The Coordinator who sensitised participants on disaster management on fire, flood, building collapse, communal clash, road crashes, drought, herdsmen attack, terrorism among others stressed that it involves all stakeholders not just government alone.
He said, “We have trained communities in Benue and Plateau states on flood and communal clash management to curtail some preventive measures. We equipped them particularly on early warnings in terms of flood and responses.”
He however called on the Kwara State Government to take drastic measures in collaborating with the agency to ensure that residents of the state stops dumping refuse carelessly to avoid flooding.
In his remarks, the Organiser, Femi Afolabi stressed that the essence of the event is to sensitise the public on contemporary issues affecting the larger society.
