The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, (NIHSA), has expressed readiness to strengthen its partnership with environmental journalists to improve public awareness on flood forecasting, early warning systems and water resources management, particularly for vulnerable communities.
The commitment was made by the Director-General(DG) of NIHSA, Architect Umar Muhammed, when the Executive Council of the Environmental Media Correspondents Association of Nigeria, (EMCAN), led by its Chairman, Joycelyn Ellekeche Adah, paid a courtesy visit to the agency in Abuja.
Inna statement signed by the Association’s Secretary, Samuel Adeyinka, the DG said the media remains an important partner in helping the agency reach vulnerable communities with timely and accurate information on flood alerts and water-related risks.
He warned that effective management of water resources is critical to preventing scarcity, contamination and outbreaks of water-related diseases.
“If you do not have good environment and manage water resources, one day you wake up and you’d be shocked with what you see. Either you totally run out of water or you have no clean water.
“We will need an organisation like yours to interface with the public and disseminate quality information for public use, especially to those in vulnerable communities,” he added.
Earlier, the EMCAN Chairman said the association considers NIHSA’s work extremely important to the safety of Nigerians but believes more needs to be done to bring it to the front burner.
“As environmental journalists, we have been following and reporting the activities of NIHSA, but we want to do more,” Adah said. She explained that the association wants to ensure that critical early warning information actually reaches those most at risk.
“We want to intensify our work to support NIHSA to make Nigerians, particularly those in vulnerable communities, better understand the importance of what the agency does.
“We believe that when our members understand the work first-hand, they are better positioned to tell the NIHSA story accurately and effectively,” she said.
Adah also informed NIHSA of plans to cover COP31 in Türkiye and appealed for sponsorship for two to three EMCAN members.
Also speaking, the Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Yakub Aliyu, and Technical Adviser to the DG, Mr. Stephen Jabo, both said closer collaboration and specialised training would help journalists accurately report flood outlooks and ensure warnings get to vulnerable communities on time.
