By Abubakar Aliyu
As the rainy season sets in across the Country, Bauchi State Government, through the State Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management has called for collaboration and synergy between both Federal and State Governments MDAs with a view to pooling human and material resources to mitigate possible disaster outbreaks.
Hon. Hajara Yakubu Wanka, Bauchi State Commissioner of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management made the call on Thursday during the Stakeholder’s Engagement on 2025 Preparedness and Response Campaign organised by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) held in Bauchi.
Commissioner Wanka, who informed the stakeholders holders that the State Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed has created the much needed enabling environment for partnership and collaboration aimed at bringing ease of life to the citizens of the State, described the meeting as a key step toward building resilient communities, mitigating risks, enhancing preparedness, and ensuring effective response and recovery in the face of flood disasters in Bauchi State.
She said with the prediction by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), which forecasts significant climate risks for Bauchi State, His Excellency Governor Bala Mohammed had since given the matching orders to the Ministry to ensure adequate preparation and response mechanisms are further enhanced in all the disaster proned communities across the State.
“Prior to NiMet’s alert and acting on the matching orders of His Excellency, Bauchi State Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management had already taken proactive steps, learning from past flood disasters.
“In December 2024, we established the Sustainable Flood Disaster Management Committee, comprising relevant MDAs and partners. The committee has conducted town hall meetings across all three senatorial zones, focusing on:
i) Strengthening disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
ii) Enhancing community resilience and engagement
iii) Developing policy and institutional frameworks
iv) Improving data collection, risk assessment, and harmonization
v) Fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration.
According to the Commissioner, the feedback from these engagements aligns with NEMA’s proposed mitigation strategies, reinforcing the need for a unified approach.
Earlier in a keynote address the Team Leader of NEMA, Samuel Bitrus commended Bauchi State Government for being proactive in its preparedness and response measures.
He said that in line with it’s mandate of managing emergency situations, NEMA is going round across the country to engage with both State and Non State actors with a view to enhancing mitigation measures in times of disasters.
According to the NEMA team lead, major disasters in the country are occasioned by flooding and hence the need to engage stakeholders on mitigation measures as the rainy season sets in.
Mr. Bitrus also appreciated the impressive turnout of participants during the engagement exercise stressing that the measures put in place by the Bauchi State Government are in line with NEMA’s mitigations approach to curtailing disasters.
Later, the NEMA team, alongside the State team took a simulation exercise campaign to the busy Muda Lawan Market in Bauchi metropolis targeting key market leaders.