Cross River State Governor, Senator Bassey Edet Otu has lamented that the high portfolio of disasters in the state is retrogressive to its economic and social development.
Governor Otu stated this in a welcome address at the Stakeholders Engagement On the 2025 National Preparedness and Response Campaign for Flood Disaster and Related Hazards held at the Metropolitan Hotel in Calabar.
Represented at the event by the Secretary to the Government of the State, Prof. Anthony Owan Enoh, Governor Otu disclosed that the State, which is favoured with all the vegetations of the country, shoulders about 12 active disaster types including flooding, windstorm, landslides, communal clashes, fires, gully erosions and road and marine accidents .
He said that flooding is one of the most frequent occurrences which had claimed lives and property worth millions of Naira in over 150 communities across the State affecting residential buildings, farmlands and public infrastructure.
According to him, the campaign on flooding following the weather predictions was apt and promised to support the cascading of the proactive venture to all communities in the State through the State Emergency Management Agency (CRSEMA).
In a keynote address, The Director General, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA Zubaida Umar who was represented by Mr, Joseph Ugwu said that the campaign was necessitated by the predictions of NIMET and NiHSA of an impending heavy rains within the year capable of causing a catastrophic flood disaster.
Zubaida Umar said that the campaign would be cascaded to all communities of the State in collaboration with the State Emergency Management Agency (CRSEMA) to educate the people on mitigation and respond strategies in the event of flooding.
She commended the State Government for its proactivness in disaster management and prayed for sustenance.
In a lecture on the Overview of the National Preparedness And Response Campaign For Flood Disaster, presented by the Disaster Risk Reduction Officer, Mr. Terry Igwue pointed out that preparedness was the plausible means of reducing the effects of the impending Disaster.
Goodwill messages were delivered by notable stakeholders who pledged commitment to disaster management in the State.
In an interview, the Director General of the Cross River State Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Antigha Edem Gill said that the Agency has rejigged it’s staff in preparation for the impending flood adding that sensitization on mitigation and response as well as advocacy visits have have begun in ernest.
A simulation exercise was later held at a flood prone… community in Calabar on flood disaster response and rescue.