The Ondo State Government has issued an urgent appeal to residents to actively participate in environmental sanitation efforts as a proactive measure against flooding in the state.
Deputy Governor Dr. Olayide Adelami made this call on Wednesday in Akure during the flag-off ceremony of the 2025 Flood National Preparedness and Response Campaign (NPRC) organized by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
The event, conducted in collaboration with Ondo State Emergency Management Agency (ODSEMA), was themed "Strengthening Resilience, Enhancing Preparedness and Response."
Poor Sanitation Contributing to Flooding
Dr. Kola Falohun, Deputy Chief of Staff, who represented the Deputy Governor at the event, highlighted how poor environmental sanitation has led to blocked drainage systems, which significantly contributes to flooding incidents.
"We have killed the spirit of sanitation. We rarely see people doing environmental sanitation. If we don't sanitise the environment, then the drainages get choked up," Falohun stated.
He emphasized the importance of preventive measures rather than reactive approaches: "Let us mitigate rather than arrest the situation when it starts. Key into what the government is doing. The communities should be involved."
NEMA's Preparedness Strategy
NEMA Director-General, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, revealed that the agency had previously organized a two-day technical meeting to analyze disaster risk management based on the Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) and Annual Flood Outlook (AFO).
"One of the recommendations of that meeting is to intensify the physical down scaling of the early warning alerts and to enhance preparedness and response strategy in all the states of Nigeria," she explained.
Umar acknowledged the contributions of the Nigeria Meteorological Services (NiMet) and the Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency (NIHSA) in providing accurate forecasts for rainfall patterns and flood risk areas.
"With the use of weather satellite surveillance and flood risk modeling software, they have been able to forecast at 90 percent accuracy of rainfall patterns in the country for all Local Government Areas. They have also determined areas that are of high risk probability of being flooded," she added.
The campaign aims to enhance community awareness and preparedness as the rainy season approaches, with particular focus on areas identified as high-risk zones for flooding.
