ENVIRONMENT NEMA holds workshop on Group launches environmental sustainable programme in schools flood in Jos
The North-central Zone of office of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has organised a one-day workshop for flood safety organisations and community leaders on management of flood disaster in Jos.
The workshop, according to NEMA, was meant to engender collaboration and cooperation between and among stakeholders and prepare communities on how to respond todisaster.
Speaking at the event, North-central Zonal Coordinator, Abdulsalam Muhammad, said that mitigation, preparedness and effective response to multi-hazard emergencies required vigilance, requisite skill and knowledge of the subject matter as well as engagement and re-engagement of relevant stakeholders.
Muhammad added: “The menace of flooding will be brought to its barest minimum if State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs), Federal and State Ministries of Water Resources, Agriculture, Housing, Health, Works, Dam Managers, Head of Urban Development Agencies, NGOs, Community leaders and affiliated volunteers understand the underlying causes of flood and techniques for prevention, mitigation and preparedness.”
On his part, a resource person at the event, Auwal Muhammad who spoke on the topic: “Disaster Risk Reduction and Response,” frowned at lack of the political will by leaders at all levels to implement government policies in preventing and mitigating disaster, adding: “Nigeria is good in developing excellent policies for our development but very poor in implement them.” The Environmental Ethics and Safety Corps (ESCORPS), in its bid to stop environmental misbehaviour and ensure sustainable environment in the country, has launched a school-based project tagged: ‘Clean Tomorrow Today’ as part of its mandate to secure the environment for the future generation.
‘Clean Tomorrow Today’ is a school-based approach to environmental sustainability and one of the cardinal projects of the ESCORPS under the Mass Action for Environmental Sustainability, Sanitation and Hygiene (MAESSAH), the Corps Coordinant- General, Emenike N. Eme, had said.
Eme, who noted this during the first stakeholder’s forum on Environmental Ethics, saying the project was an attempt to provide useful information and knowledge of present and future environmental challenges, as well as the technical know- how on how to confidently and adequately address them.
“’Clean Tomorrow Today’ is to impact knowledge on students and then use the students to impact on the host communities,” he added.
He said that the project highlights the role of humans and their actions on the environment, urging people to be of good behaviour and comply with established environmental principles and regulations.
In order to achieve its purpose, Environmental Ethics and Safety Marshals were deployed to schools to carry out activities ranging from Environmental Ethics and Safety Education/ Enlightenment, Surveillance, Enforcement, Environmental Regulations Compliance Cultivation, among others.
Eme said that the project was kicked off in 80 schools in the federal capital territory.
He added that the programme will also establish Renewable Energy Laboratory in the schools involved which they intend to achieve through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
He said: “The renewable energy laboratory projects are money spinning projects so it is an honour for such to be sighted in any school. We have partners outside the country that are coming in with their funds to invest in the establishment of laboratories which are going to produced items to be used in homes, not only in Nigeria but outside Nigeria, so the students will end up producing handiworks that will be exported to other countries.”