Nigeria Adopts Proactive Flood Strategy To Curb Disaster Ahead Of Rainy Season

** We must act now to protect lives and livelihoods, VP Shettima warns

By: Our Reporter

Vice President Kashim Shettima has disclosed that the Federal Government has moved Nigeria’s flood response from reactive disaster relief to proactive preparedness with the launch of the Anticipatory Action Task Force (AATF) on Floods.

According to him, the initiative aligns with global frameworks such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which emphasises proactive disaster preparedness to mitigate the impact of natural disasters and protect vulnerable communities.

The Vice President, who gave the hint on Tuesday during a meeting of the Anticipatory Action Task Force (AATF) on Floods at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, said the traditional response of mobilising relief after floods strike is no longer sustainable.

“We cannot afford to wait for disaster to strike before taking action. The human and economic toll of floods in Nigeria has become unbearable. We must act now to protect lives and livelihoods by leveraging science, technology, and collaboration,” VP Shettima stated.

Members of the Task Force include Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET), the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NiHSA), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, alongside state emergency management agencies and international development partners.

VP Shettima said, “Prevention is always cheaper than response, and investing in early action today will save billions in future losses. We need to strengthen coordination among agencies, engage local communities, and ensure that preparedness efforts are backed by real-time data.”

Earlier in his remarks, United Nations Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Fall, explained that the United States’ suspension of humanitarian funding is a wake-up call for us to be more efficient, adding that “transitioning from reactive aid to anticipatory action is critical.

“As we approach the rainy season, we must factor in these developments and ensure that our interventions are timely and effective,” he further noted.

Also, Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Nigeria, Trond Jensen, commended the initiative, explaining that “a critical part of humanitarian response is anticipatory action; not only are we saving lives and reducing vulnerability, we are doing it more efficiently.”

He further commended the government’s leadership, stating that “we are the vanguard of innovation in anticipatory action, and for that, we are grateful to be your partners.”

Director General of NEMA, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, narrated ongoing efforts to enhance disaster preparedness, including the development of the Hazard Risk Countrywide Analysis, a document aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s resilience against flooding.

“We have established a national coordination forum, bringing together all relevant agencies to ensure readiness. This effort is based on the seasonal climate predictions from NiMET, ensuring that all stakeholders are on high alert,” Umar said.

Also, Special Assistant to the President on Humanitarian Affairs and Development Partners, Inna Binta Audu, explained the progress made by the task force, saying it has already conducted substantial work, with extensive data collection spanning three decades.

“Presently, we have collated relevant data going back 30 years to be used for the Anticipatory Action Framework for Nigeria,” she said.

Others who spoke at the meeting included the Directors- General of NiMET and NiHSA, as well as the National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Major General Adamu Laka.

Nigeria Adopts Proactive Flood Strategy To Curb Disaster Ahead Of Rainy Season

ECN TRAINS MDAs ON ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

By: Michael Mike

The Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), on its Energy Management Systems project has trained stakeholders in the Ministries and Agencies in Nigeria for good industrial energy performance and resource efficient Cleaner Production through Programmatic Approaches and the promotion of innovation in Clean Technology solution.

According to the Director General of ECN, Dr. Musthapha Abdulahi, the training was to Promote Innovation in Clean Technology Solutions (NIG IEE/RECP Project), which is being supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
Also to strengthen National Industrial Energy Efficiency (IEE) Policies and Regulatory Frameworks towards the adoption of UNIDO’s Energy Management Systems Standards (EnMS/ESO/ISO 50001) in Nigeria.

He further said “With the increase in energy prices and the environmental impacts of energy consumption, thus the reasons for balanced energy usage and effective energy management towards minimizing energy wastages. It is therefore commendable that this timely training on Energy Management Systems (EnMS) is organized to present a systematic framework for establishing policies, processes, procedures and specific energy-tasks towards meeting an organization’s energy saving targets. The adoption of energy management”

Also at the occasion, the Program Coordinator, Environment and Energy, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), for Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr. Oluyomi Banjo, Commended the ECN for the training, he said
“Globally, industries account for one-third of total energy consumption and for almost 40% of worldwide COz emissions.
The need to reduce energy consumption, environmental degradation, and resource depletion by industries in emerging economies is especially evident, since global growth in industrial production since 1990 has been dominated by emerging economies like India and China, both of which accounted for over 80% of increased industrial production during this period.

“This project was collectively developed and submitted by UNIDO on behalf of Nigeria in 2017 under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) 6 programming cycle. It was approved for full project development in 2017 and subsequently approved for full project implementation in 2020. It may interest you to know that for the first time at UNIDO, we are having an integrated Industrial Energy Efficiency and Resource Efficiency and Cleaner Production in one project. In South Africa, UNIDO’s project on Industrial Energy Efficiency recently received the best project of the year by the Southern Africa Energy Efficiency Confederation. We look forward to replicating records like this in Nigeria”

That the outcome of this project is targeted at industries to develop an expert base for Nigeria which could also be exported to other countries in Africa and beyond.

ECN TRAINS MDAs ON ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Yobe: Resident accuses government over lack of electricity in Damaturu

By Yahaya Wakili

A resident of Damaturu, the Yobe state capital, Alhaji Abba Damaturu has accused the Yobe state government of carelessness by allowing the Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) to treat the people of Damaturu local government and Yobe state as worthless.

Speaking to newsmen in Damaturu, the state capital. Alhaji Abba Damaturu said the people of Damaturu and Yobe state in general are suffering at the hands of YEDC as a result of the supply of power, noting that people are suffering in searching for drinking water, especially in this hot period.

Alhaji Damaturu appealed to media houses and social media to share this message with a view that the innocent people would come in and intervene to come to our aid. He said, “Speaking sincerely, nobody or any company will come and invade Yobe’s secure land and operate a business without the knowledge of the Yobe state government.

“But God gave us some unpatriotic leaders or people who are not petty of their masses; to the best of my knowledge, this is carelessness of government; there is no way that somebody will come and extort money from the people with the intention of doing them something but fail to do it, so everybody knows this is carelessness of government,” Damaturu said.

He said electricity now in Damaturu is beyond the level of a common man; there is no way a poor man will get water for use easily in Damaturu. He added that in the whole of Nigeria, we Yobeans are first or second in abiding by law and order in paying electricity bills promptly, despite that the YEDC refuses to give us light and also collects less than #10,000 from each household monthly.

He accused the YEDC of diverting the electricity to the business moguls area, where they are collecting huge amounts from them, leaving the masses suffering and living the masses in darkness, adding that in some part of Damaturu where they are not getting light constantly, they purchase one kuskus less than #1,000; this is wickedness and laziness of the government.

“Why government would not constituted a law to furnish them, but government live them doing such injustice on us, what offence we committed. The punishment that the YEDC is playing on us is beyond what the punishment of the government doing to us is; all this YEDC gets the lookhold from the government; if you say the government takes drastic action against them, they will not do it again,” he said.

“Let me tell you something: the seamless thing on the face of the Yobe state government is even the Specialist Hospital Damaturu is dependent on YEDC light; they can’t have the generator for 24 hours; they operate the generator for 4 to 5 hours only; if you want to donate blood to a patient, they will tell you there is no light.

He urged the people of Yobe state to join hands together to fight this injustice, which our leaders have done to us. Let’s fight to get our rights; if not, in the future we will become slaves, and if we live in peace in Yobe, if you become their slave, you have no right to flee the state either.

Yobe: Resident accuses government over lack of electricity in Damaturu