Disaster of any kind can not rear its ugly head again as traders were sensitised on disaster prevention yesterday at the census market in Surulere, Lagos, courtesy of the National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA), and led by NEMA NYSC Vanguard.
The NEMA NYSC Vanguard are mostly youth corps members serving with NEMA, who mobilised other colleagues for the exercise.
The Lagos NEMA Territorial Office coordinator, Ibrahim Farinloye, said the principle of disaster risk reduction was starting from the grassroots up to the highest level, and the essence was to create, and build the resilience of Nigerians against disasters.
He noted that cases of flooding and fire disasters in the recent past could have been minimal if only the capacity and resilience of Nigerians, especially at the grassroot level had been built up. He noted that the rainfall pattern early in the year can give off an idea of what to expect in the coming months due to the impact of climate change.
“So, there is a need for us to move out, and embark on comprehensive sensitisation by youth based organisations. That is why the Federal Government and NEMA gave us the directive to mobilise the youth as much as we can. The grassroots people, the market men, all of them will be engaged in one way or the other in the sensitisation exercise,” Mr Farinloye said.
The Schedule Officer for NEMA NYSC Vanguard, Lagos, Adesekola Kabirah, in his remark noted that the exercise was for the traders to know proactive measures that can be adopted before any emergency occurred.
Kabirah said the partnership with NEMA had gone a long way, adding that the interaction with traders at the market was important, and timely.
The Vice President of NEMA Youth Vanguard, Obi Success, emphasised on the importance of preventing emergencies even before they occurred, and advised the market traders to cultivate the habit of proper waste management to prevent flooding.
He pleaded with them to ensure that they turn off their electrical appliances when not in use to prevent power surge due to high voltage.
The Iyaloja of the market, Balikis Balogun, thanked the NEMA team for bringing home the sensitisation on disaster prevention program, and pledged the cooperation of the traders in tidying the market and its environment on behalf of the Chairman of Census Market, Adeagbo Muftau whom she represented.
To show that they live by example, and to practice what they preached, the NEMA Vanguard team carried out a cleanup at the market.
