Kogi State governor Ahmed Usman Ododo has promised effective disaster management and protection against the impact of natural disasters in the state.
Ododo stated this when he received the report of the Technical Working Group of the Ad-hoc Committee on Flood and Other Nature-Induced Disasters (Mitigation, Adaptation, Preparedness, and Response) of the National Economic Council (NEC) at the Kogi State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja over the weekend.
In a statement issued by the special adviser on media to the governor, Ismaila Isah, Ododo said the report of the Technical Working Group will boost the federal government’s commitment to addressing challenges in the management of natural disasters in the country.
According to the governor, the report is the culmination of several weeks of dedicated work by the Technical Working Group. He noted that “it is expected to serve as a foundation for the development of a national roadmap for proactive management of nature-induced disasters in Nigeria.”
He expressed the nation’s gratitude to the Technical Working Group led by the minister of state for water resources, Alhaji Bello Mohammed Goronyo, for their hard work and diligence on the national assignment.
While describing the report as timely because of the rainy season, the governor emphasised its importance and the far-reaching recommendations aimed at finding lasting solutions to the cyclic challenges posed to the safety and well-being of communities nationwide by adverse climatic events.
Governor Ododo thereby entrusted the report to the Committee’s Secretariat, which will finalise a comprehensive national roadmap based on the TWG’s findings to be presented to Vice President Kashim Shettima and the National Economic Council for further action and implementation.
The ad-hoc Committee on Flood and Other Nature-Induced Disasters (Mitigation, Adaptation, Preparedness, and Response) of the National Economic Council (NEC) chaired by Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo convened over the weekend to receive the final report from its Technical Working Group.
The official handover of the comprehensive report, detailing findings and recommendations for better mitigation, adaptation, preparedness and response (MAPR) to the impact of floods, erosion, drought and desertification across Nigeria signals the completion of the assignment of the Technical Working Group. The meeting was attended by the Special Adviser to the President on NEC and Climate Change, experts from the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Environment and Sanitation, and the Kogi State Director-General of Research and Development, Hon Moses Okezie.
Others in attendance were representatives of various federal agencies, including the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NiHSA), the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), and the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), and other members of both the TWG and the NEC Ad-hoc Committee.