The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has launched a geospatial centre for enhanced prevention of disasters through early warning signals and efficient data interpretation.
Director General, NEMA Mustapha Ahmed, stated this at the official commissioning ceremony of the geospatial centre, yesterday in Abuja.
He said the centre is a Geographic Information System, (GIS), that enables the creation, organization, and presentation of data in a spatially the referenced form as well as the production of maps and charts.
“The system is useful in all phases of emergency management l, preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery.
“It also provides decision support system in disaster management. GIS has the power to integrate data from various sources into a common platform to make it readily accessible to various stakeholders for monitoring impending risks, early warning that elicits early response.
“GIS provides real time imageries that guide the deployment of human and material assets on life saving missions in the event of disaster,” he said.
Formerly commissioning the centre, Secretary to the government of the federation, Senator George Akume, pointed that the centre is sca testament of government’s effort to improve quality of lives of Nigerians.
He said, “The world is presently confronted by increasing global upsurge in magnitude and complexity of various disasters that have affected many countries as evidenced in draughts, disasters, desertification, famine and even communal crisis arising from competition over land use and ownership.
“This underscore the commitment by the federal government in the areas of disaster management aimed at providing necessary support to the affected citizens.”
Giving further insight to the function of the geospatial center, Head NEMA GIS Unit, Mrs. Funmi Obola, explained that some of the functions of the the GIS unit is to process and use space satellite technology data for information gathering, research, and forecasting for disaster management.
Others functions are to carry out field survey, mapping and evaluation of various disasters and aftermath, carryout damage risk vulnerability analysis and prediction among others.
She said “Over the years, NEMA GIS, now geospatial center, have collaborated with other stakeholders such as the United Nations Platform for Space-Based Information for Disaster Management and and Emergency Response, (UNSPIDER), Nigeria Meteorological Agency, (NiMET), Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency, (NIHSA), and others.”
