From Paul Ibe, Enugu
The National Emergency Management Agency believes that poor enforcement of existing legal and regulatory frameworks on environmental laws in the country is responsible for man-made disasters.
NEMA us seeking better enforcement of such precautionary measures that would help in building resilience against disasters in communities.
The Agency however, blamed most disasters in Nigeria on communities adamant and indifference to early warning signals by relevant environmental organizations.
NEMA, stated this at a one-day Workshop on “Community managed early system, building resilience of community and better implementation and enforced laws” held at Abagana, Anambra state.
South East zonal coordinator of NEMA, Major James Eze, who spoke on behalf of Director General of the agency, Sani Sidi, emphasised that “an early warning system remains a major element of disaster risk reduction in any country.
He noted that, the 2012 flood disaster which wrecked serious havoc in parts of Nigeria, and was “adjudged to be the worst in the half a century would have been highly mitigated if victims of the affected areas were not reluctant to leave disaster prone areas despite the vulnerability of such places.
The Zonal coordinator, stressed the need for a robust legal and regulatory frameworks supported by long term political commitment and integrated institutional arrangements to boost the coping capacity of communities in the country, as obtained in modern societies.
