Anambra State Government has called for stronger efforts towards improving disaster response and management in Nigeria.
The Deputy Governor, Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim, made the call while speaking at the Light House, Awka, when a team comprising officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) paid him a courtesy visit as part of their feasibility study on Anambra State’s disaster response capacity.
While commending the team for the visit, Ibezim assured them of Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s led administration’s readiness to partner with relevant agencies in the interest of the citizenry, and expressed concern over the inability of the Federal Government and international bodies to proffer permanent solutions to disasters confronting Nigeria, especially flooding, stressing that it is high time measures such as the dredging of dams were implemented to save citizens from the yearly ordeal.
In his remark, the Chief Disaster Reduction Officer, NEMA Abuja office, Mr. Terungwa Igue, and the UNDP National Project Coordinator, Insurance and Risk Finance Facility, Mr. Henry Akwitti, urged Anambra State to adopt a more proactive approach to disaster management, and recommended that the state should key into the Disaster Response Contingency Fund Scheme to ensure that it can manage disasters effectively with or without external financial support.
