The director-general, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Mustapha Ahmed, yesterday said the agency had identified 233 local government areas in 32 states and FCT that would experience flooding in 2022.

He spoke at a national consultative workshop on 2022 Flood Preparedness, Mitigation and Response organised by the agency yesterday in Abuja.

He said the workshop was one of the steps outlined by the agency to bring stakeholders together. He said it was to collectively prepare and provide strategies to strengthen flood risk mitigation and effective response.

“This followed the 2022 Seasonal Climate Prediction released by Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Annual Flood Outlook released by Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA). Efforts must be made to mitigate and respond effectively to flooding.

“We have sent advisory letters and maps showing predicted flood risk areas in various states to the respective state governments. We have also produced risk maps for vulnerable local government areas as forecasted by NIHSA’s Annual Flood Outlook,” he said.

He added that state emergency management agencies as well as local emergency management committees must be proactive.

He said this would ensure effective and efficient flood preparedness, mitigation and response.

Minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, Hajia Sadiya Farouq, called on relevant stakeholders to take proactive measures in addressing flood and its associated impacts.

Farouq, who was represented by the deputy director, disaster management at the ministry, Dr Abubakar Suleiman, added that adequate information must be sent out to the public for effective preparation.