The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) yesterday raised the alarm that there might be another devastating flooding in Nigeria next year if necessary precautions were not taken by government at all levels. The warning by NEMA came just as members of the National Assembly from Bayelsa, Rivers and other states in the Niger Delta region yesterday berated the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq over her recent comments on the 2022 flood situation in the country. The Director General of NEMA, Mustapha Mohammed, gave the warning when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Special Duties to defend his agency’s 2023 budget. He lamented that early warnings given to the states in 2022 by NEMA were ignored, hence the devastating effects all over the affected areas. Mohammed said, “Let me also use this opportunity to prevail on the committee to intervene on our behalf. We have written to states several times. This flood is still coming in 2023. “They must be advised early to set up SEMA and local emergency committee and fund them adequately. “We gave similar warning last year but our advises were ignored.”
THISDAY