The South-South Coordinator of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Emenike Umesi, has solicited more funding for disaster control efforts in Cross River.
He made the call in an interview with newsmen in Calabar
Umesi noted that Cross River had some peculiar disaster-control problems among other states in the Niger Delta region, which required increased funding by the Federal Government and major stakeholders, including international organisations.
He stressed that the N400 million grant, which the state received from the Federal Government for last year’s flood disaster, was inadequate.
He said that prior to the floods, which ravaged several parts of the country, Cross River had been contending with numerous challenges brought about by natural hazards.
“Cross River is a disaster-prone area. Disaster happens every day across the state and before the flooding in October last year, the state started spending money in September on disaster control.
“So, for Cross River, I think they should begin to ask for more funds from both the Federal Government and the international community because theirs is a peculiar situation.
“There is no type of natural disaster that is not present in the state; from rainstorm to windstorm, to landslide, mudslide, drought and flooding,” he said.
The NEMA boss, however, commended the state government for its disaster management efforts, noting that it was one of the states in the region that was doing well in that regard.
He said that Cross River had a functional State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), adding that disaster management was fast becoming a great global concern.
He, therefore, urged state governments in the South-South geopolitical zone to make disaster management a top priority, saying: “If you do not fund disaster management, then, you have not really embarked on pragmatic administration.
“If you have an emergency management agency that is not well-funded and backed by law, then, you are just playing with the lives of the people,’’ he warned.
He called on legislatures in states in the region to quicken the passage of pending bills on the establishment of State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) in their respective states.
He, however, advised those states, which had yet to forward SEMA bills to their legislatures, to do so without further delay, saying that laws setting up emergency management agencies should be given priority attention.
Umesi noted that was a paradigm shift in disaster management procedures from “reactive emergency management to proactive emergency management”.
“We are no longer looking at what will happen when disaster occurs but at the vulnerability of our people,’’ he added.
