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edes@suddenlink.net
It will be interesting to ask what contigency plans both the Federal and the States government of Nigeria have in place for the citizens, in the wake of any serious natural disaster such as wiidfire, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, mudslides, heavy floods, and tornados?
In my last article “God Save Nigeria for we are already blessed,” I mentioned that so far, Nigeria is blessed because the country has been insulated from such natural calamities like earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and subzero temperature.
As I am drafting this article, there is a massive wildfire ravaging many counties in Malibu, California. It has been described as one of the worst fires in the history of that state. According to CNN World News reports, it is estimated that about 200,000 acres of land, and 1,500 homes and properties have been destroyed. About one million residents have been evacuated, and the cost of this destruction runs in the billions of dollars.
The beauty of the whole incident is the precision by which an estimated one million people were evacuated with minimum loss of lives. All resources, both human and machineries, were mobilized to contain the raging fire. You cannot help but marvel at the contingency plans, and the coordination of forces that were put in place to battle the fire.
After watching this incident unfold, I began to ask myself, what if this type of situation were to happen somewhere in Nigeria?
It could be a gas explosion in one of the oil producing states of the country that can set a runaway fire throughout that part of the state. It could be a volcanic eruption at coalmine in Enugu, or tin mine in Jos. It can be mudslides or flooding at Udi or Awaka in Anambara state. It could be a tsunami in Lagos Beach, Calabar, Port-Harcourt, or Warri. It could be a tornado in Benin. For all we know about climatic changes, and changes in global warming being reported everyday, anything is possible nowadays.
Whatever contingency plans the federal and states government have in place to deal with these natural disasters, should any of them strikes, are pertinent questions that require serious consideration. If Nigeria has some value for human lives and properties, it is not late to start making contingency plans for evacuation of people, properties, and livestock before it is too late. In addition to the Red Cross organization, the federal and states government should set up a permanent task force in every state. There should be an annex of emergency units in every major city, or at least 10 to 20 miles interval, to answer to disaster calls as they come. It will be the responsibility of this body to execute the evacuation of citizens in the wake of any natural disaster. Their mission will include but are not limited to the following:
1. Get in touch with the people, and force them to leave their homes and retreat to places of safety.
2. Build or appoint designated safe places such as schools, churches, stadiums, as possible rendezvous before such needs arise.
3. Cater to the immediate needs of these displaced people until aids start coming from other international organizations and governments.
For the task force to function properly, it has to be well funded and equipped. Certain conditions have to be met to facilitate these operations. You cannot evacuate people without good network of roads. You cannot contain a serious wildfire with a few buckets of water; you need constant water supply and sprinkler systems to deliver it. You cannot alert people with drumbeats and gongs; you need good communication systems such as sirens, loud speakers and telephones. You cannot evacuate hundreds of people on bicycles, and wheelbarrows; you need some vans, lorries, trucks, buses, and boats as the case may be. You need good organization and practice, to make people aware of what to do and where to go in case of an emergency. All these and more have to be in place, before we can confidently say that we have contingency plans to confront natural disasters.
How about our Fire Service Department, Military Units, and Police Departments? Are they fully equipped and trained to deal with massive natural disasters? It is very important that the federal and all the states government allocate good sums of money to train all branches of these departments to be up-to-date with their jobs.
Some critics and politicians will definitely dismiss this article as an empty dream; and some will correctly ask where we are going to get the funds to finance such a massive program. Some critics will even call it a waste of funds and exercise because they believe that these things are not going to happen anyway. Let me remind these critics that it was not long ago that we read reports of oil and gas pipeline explosions that killed many Nigerians in Lagos state, Warri, and Delta state respectively. We are lucky that these explosions could be contained, but hundreds of unfortunate Nigerians dead. We may not be lucky next time.
If we have contingency plans in place to warn citizens of an imminent catastrophe and evacuate people when things get out of hand, it will be an investment well spent to save lives. Such an investment is far better than investing in our leaders and politicians who continue to steal our wealth just for themselves.
GOD SAVE NIGERIA FOR WE ARE ALREADY BLESSED.
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Authors 
Posted by Robot| 26.10.2007 12:38