NEMA lists Ekiti as flood-prone

The National Emergency Management Agency has raised the alarm on Ekiti State as being among the states expected to experience flooding based on increased volume of rainfall during the later part of this year.

The Head of Operations of NEMA in Ekiti and Ondo States, Kadiri Olanrewaju, disclosed this during a road show on flood sensitisation and awareness at Oja -Bisi, Oja -Oba and Fayose Markets recently in Ado-Ekiti, to educate traders on the risk of flood in different languages such as English, Pidgin, Igbo, Hausa and Ekiti dialect.

The NEMA boss called on residents of the state to take precautionary measures against the flooding predicted to occur in the state and its environs later this year.

In a statement, the agency noted that the forecast by relevant agencies had named Ekiti State among the states that were expected to experience flooding based on increased volume of rainfall, adding that most local government areas in the state were flood-prone with high risks due to sessional rainfall.

He said, “Every one of us has witnessed the recent floods in Nigeria, which claimed lives, displaced thousands of people as well as destroy properties worth millions of naira. Floods cause widespread ecological dislocation.

“Therefore, it has become necessary for communities, individuals and authorities to take proactive measures. We need to believe that prevention is better and cheaper than cure, as well as consider climate change issues more seriously.”

He, therefore, urged Nigerians to obey warnings on the impending flood by the Nigerian Meteorological Department, noting that it will go a long way in reducing the impact of the flood.

In the same vein, the Director, Ekiti State Fire Service, Andrew Famosaya, urged Ekiti residents to stop illegal falling of trees but rather to develop the habits of planting of tress to tame deforestation, which could lead to flooding.

Meanwhile, The PUNCH had earlier reported that a professor of Geography, Olaniran Olajire, and the immediate past President of the Nigerian Institute of Building, Sunday Wusu, called on governments at all levels to encourage afforestation as a way of averting future flooding.

Olajire noted that the whole world is experiencing climate change and that one of the effects is extreme weather manifesting in the form of excessive precipitation and high temperatures.

He said, “We have to encourage forestation, which is very commendable because with it, the surface of the land would be covered and the rainwater would infiltrate the soil rather than flow into the river. So, it would prevent a situation where filth would be carried into the river valley, making the valley shallow.”

According to Wusu, when the ground is void and erosion comes, everything would be carried away.

He said, “It is hard for you to see a forest where erosion happens because there are vegetations there which hold together the soil.

“Clearing lands and vegetation without paying cognisance to flooding and wind is not advisable. Obviating deforestation and recycling of wastes for re-usage are still the most probable solution to flooding in Nigeria.”