AS its own contribution towards the fight against flooding, the Centre for Human Security, an arm of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), at the weekend held a workshop where experts brainstormed on ways to mitigate effects of flood disasters in the country.
The workshop, held at the auditorium of OOPL in Abeokuta, attracted participants from the civil society groups, non-governmental organisations, government agencies, ministries, private organisations and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). It was organised in conjunction with Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Shoreline Natural Resources and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs.
Resources persons were drawn from different fields to deliver various papers.
The effects of last year's flood in the country were devastating as 16 million persons were said to be affected while two million were displaced.
Both the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency have predicted that there would be serious flooding again this year in some parts of the country.
Prof. Peter Okebukola, one of the organisers of the event, in his speech, said the workshop was aimed at building a more collaborative approach to proactive preparation for the "upcoming season and beyond".
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who declared the workshop open, stated that it was an indication that "we are learning our lesson from what happened to us last year".
He added: "There is a saying that a wise person learns from other peoples' mistakes, but a fool learns from his own mistakes. Well, I won't say we are fools because if we are now learning from what we did right and what we did wrong last year, I think we are on the part of wisdom".
According to Obasanjo, "the good thing about flood is that now, it is reasonably predictable. It (flooding) is a natural phenomenon and it is when we are caught a bit unprepared, a bit unaware and we have losses, either of property or of lives, that it becomes a disaster".
Obasanjo stated that flooding is not only predictable but also seasonal. "You can't have flood during the dry season. So, you will know more or less when to expect it. You will also know areas that are susceptible. You won't have flood on a mountain, so it is reasonably predictable. So why are we, therefore, not reasonable? I believe that the aspect of how we can be reasonably prepared for it is what has brought us together.
"We have heard that the United Nations and the Federal Government agencies are now working together. But for me, the task must not be left for the UN and Federal Government alone.
Yes, they need to do their work; they need to do some contingency planning, they need to do some inter-sectarian coordination, but they are not the only stakeholders. What of state governments, local governments and the communities that are susceptible to flooding? What of the civil society groups? What of the private sector? What of the faith-based organisations? This all-encompassing preparation, planning, approach is one of the things that have brought us together for this workshop".
Obasanjo expressed the hope that at the end of the workshop, participants would be able to come up with suggestions that would prevent the adverse effects of floods.
"To us at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, particularly at the Centre for Human Security, no aspect of human security is too small to be ignored. Flood disaster is human insecurity that must not be ignored", the former president told his audience.
The NEMA South-West Zonal Coordinator, Mr. Iyiola Akande, who spoke with journalists on the agency's preparedness to tackle the effect of the predicted flooding this year, said: "We are forging ahead, we are learning from past experiences and we are adapting to the situations as they come. This (workshop) is a furtherance of that effort.
He added: "Our efforts are very robust; our mitigation efforts are
robust and we are reaching out to the grassroots to ensure that everybody does what he or she needs to do. We have been reaching out to communities that are susceptible to flooding and we have been carrying out sensitisation and education to these communities, telling them what to do".
The Guardian
Well that would certainly help matters in the affected states. Flooding is never a good thing to happen in times like this.