Oyo NSCDC appeals for equipment to tackle disaster impacts

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Mr Iskilu Akinsanya, Oyo State Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Commandant

Mr Iskilu Akinsanya, Oyo State Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Commandant

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Oyo State Command, says it requires more equipment to effectively tackle the impacts of disasters in the state.

The NSCDC Commandant in the state, Mr Iskilu Akinsanya, stated this on Tuesday during a two-day training, organised for the disaster management desk officers in the command.

Although Akinsanya said that governments at all levels were trying their best. He, however, noted that they could not alone provide all the necessary equipment needed to tackle disaster impacts.

He said that the command needed more ambulances, adding that the one in use required some necessary rescue tools.

Akinsanya called on well-meaning Nigerians to assist the corps in order to be able to perform its duty more effectively.

While stating that that disaster was dynamic and that officers needed to be proactive, he said that the training would help upgrade the knowledge of the NSCDC personnel and make them to be more alive to their responsibilities.

In his remarks, the Oyo State Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Dr Abdulateef Oyeleke, said that disasters were inevitable, adding, however, that the level of preparedness would determine the level of damage.

Oyeleke attributed most of the disasters occurring in Nigeria to lack of planning.

He stressed the need for the country to improve on its intelligence gathering in order to reduce the impacts of disasters.

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“We don’t have to wait for disaster to happen before running here and there because most of these disasters are man-made usually through building and dumping of refuse on waterways.

“Adequate measures and planning must be put in place before embarking on developmental activities,’’ he said.

The commissioner commended NSCDC for the training, saying that it would help the public and the officers to be alive to their responsibilities and reduce disaster risk.

Also speaking, Mr Adebiyi Babatunde, the Assistant Zonal Coordinator of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibadan, said disaster management required being proactive rather than reactive.

Babatunde said that the impacts of disasters would reduce if people could reduce their risk, stressing that this was why the training was timely.

The Coordinator, Nigeria Red Cross, Oyo State branch, called on Nigerians to take the issue of mitigation of disaster as a responsibility and play effective roles in the campaign against causes of disasters.

Mr Olalekan Morakinyo, Deputy Corps Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Oyo State Command, acknowledged the efforts of NSCDC in disaster management.

Morakinyo, who noted that the effect of unplanned disaster was always deadly, urged the participants to apply the knowledge gained from the training in their daily activities.

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