NEMA distributes relief materials to Bayelsa, raises clubs in Anambra

AFTER a recent gas explosion at Chevron's Funiwa platform, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has delivered additional relief materials to about 38 communities affected by the disaster in Southern Ijaw and Brass Councils of Bayelsa State.Also, the agency has inaugurated disaster risk reduction and management clubs in 10 pilot secondary schools in Anambra State,Speaking on behalf of the Director General of NEMA Alhaji Muhammad Sidi, the agency's Director, Search and Rescue, Air Commodore Alexander Bankole said the items would be distributed directly to the victims by NEMA staff and the state officials in collaboration with the stakeholders and security agencies.He added that items were approved by President Goodluck Jonathan to cushion the effects of the disaster to enable speedy recovery of the communities.Receiving the items on behalf of the state government, Special Adviser to the Governor on Emergency, Mrs. Faith Orubo Opene commended the Federal Government for the kind gesture.The items delivered included 1000 bags of garri, 1200 bags of rice, 600 bags of beans, 500 kegs of vegetable oil, 500 kegs of palm oil, 300 bags of salt, 500 cartons of bath soap, 200 bags of sugar and 200 units of sewing machines, among others.Speaking at the inaugurationin Awka, yesterday, Sidi said that the formation of the clubs was to ensure a new way of living and acculturation among children.Sidi who was represented by the Director of Planning, Research and Forecasting, Dr Charles Agbo, stated that imparting the disaster risk reduction orientation in children and youths would help to educate them on the culture of prevention and mitigation in their formative years.He reiterated that grassroots disaster management was a community-based programme in which every child in a community had a big role to play.He said that understanding the early warning signs was one of the best approaches in disaster risk reduction because communities would live with the risks.Sidi pointed out that creating awareness among children was very important because of their vulnerability.He further said that the exercise was ongoing, and that clubs would be inaugurated in other secondary schools in the state soon. He added that the programme was a collaborative one with other tiers of government.
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