The National Emergency Management Agency on Monday tagged the year 2012 as a year of disaster.
The South-West Coordinator of the agency, Mr. Iyiola Akande, made the declaration in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Lagos.
He said, “We have witnessed a number of
disasters this past year. You will recollect vividly that the flood that
ravaged about 32 states of the federation is still fresh in our memory
for this past year.
“It was of such magnitude that it attracted presidential attention and in fact international attention.
“And coming back home specifically
talking about South West, we have witnessed a lot of both avoidable and
unavoidable disasters.
“Topmost among these ones are: the
various building collapses, which we responded to; tanker fire accidents
on our roads; road traffic accidents and of course fire disasters,
starting from the banger, fire cracker explosion that occurred at
Jankara market, which resulted in destruction of eight residential
buildings, a number of cars, and unfortunately, one life was lost.”
Akande said the agency would continue to
ensure that its activities underscored the need for Nigerians to prepare
for disasters, mitigate the effects of disasters, and train responders.
The Coordinator said, “Emergencies and
disasters don’t give notice and as such, when you are not tackling one
form of emergency or the other, you are engaged in preparedness
activities; you are engaged in mitigation activities such that disasters
don’t occur – that is, those that can be prevented; but for those that
cannot be prevented, you want to ensure that the casualties and damage
are limited.
“All these we do all year round and how
do we do it? We do it through vigorous campaigns and sensitisation of
members of the public, the stakeholders’ and of cause even within
ourselves.
“We embark on training exercises on
drills and simulation, in-house and with stakeholders such that when we
are called upon to tackle any emergency we shall be found ready and we
won’t be found pants down.”
Akande appealed to Nigerians to be careful in the way they handled fires.
“Fire is a two-edged sword that can be
used positively. You can use it to cook and to do other things, but if
you mishandle fire, it can become destructive element to you,” he added.
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