By; BALA B. BITRUS, Minna
The bane of Nigeria’s risk assessment ability and capacity to address hazards and risk vulnerabilities is the absence of credible forecast system for early warning signals to avert calamities.
Speaker, Niger State House of Assembly, Hon. Marafa Ahmed said institutions established to churn out measures for disaster risk management should be more concerned about preventive measures than mitigating the scale of devastations from disasters that have occurred.
Hon. Marafa Ahmed said the cost of early warning sign posts are cheaper than relief measures churn out to mitigate the pains and losses from disasters.
Speaking when he received the Director of the Centre for Disaster Risk Management and Development Studies of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Prof. S. Jaye in his office, the Speaker said the Centre should harp more on preventive strategies against disasters than how to mitigate impacts results from what has already happened.
He challenged the FUT’s Centre for Disaster Risk Management established in 2009 to concentrate on research on how to stem disasters. He sued for partnership between the state and the Centre in averting potential disasters in the state.
He noted that climate vagaries and changes have severe consequences on human lives and the environment. He therefore urged the Centre to find scientific answers to such natural phenomenon by proffering warning signals well ahead of their occurance to avert both man made and natural disasters.
Director of the Centre, Prof. S. Jaye had told the Speaker that the country was blessed to be away from such belts and regions that are proned to natural disasters.
He said however that Nigeria was more proned to non natural disasters induced by man such as political and social upheavals, terrorism, ethno-religious clashes, conflagrations and corruption which he noted have been taking severe tolls on Nigerians.
The Centre for Disaster Risk Management and Development Studies of the Federal University of Technology Minna was established in 2009 as part of the national efforts to join global strength and strategies to reduce the huge risk of natural and man induced disasters and stem hazards, disaster related losses in Nigeria.
The Centre like it’s sister bodies in some institutions of higher learning is affiliated with the National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA).
