In a bid to prepare the country against possible occurrence of flood disaster, the federal government yesterday said it was determined to ensure improved access and capacities in the use of space-based information in the area of disaster management.

Part of the recommendations of the technical advisory mission stabilised under the auspices of the United Nations Platform for Space-Based information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER) was that the disaster response agencies should undertake early warning measures such as carrying out vulnerability and inundation maps to unravel challenges of flooding.

Another aspect of the report urges government to ensure inter agency synergy and adequate sensitisation of all the stakeholders on policy measures against disaster in the country.

Speaking at the opening of a workshop jointly organised by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Nigeria Air Space Research and Development Agency (NARSDA), the Director-General of NEMA, Alhaji Mohammad Sani-Sidi, said government was committed to evolving solutions that would ameliorate the harsh conditions people normally go through as a result of flooding and erosion.

He said the renewed emphasis on inter-agency collaborations on disaster management and emergency response was in line with the UN recommendations.

According to him, the federal government has tasked NEMA, NARSDA, the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGOF) and Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) with the development of an awareness document on the use of space information and spatial data in disaster management.

He said the workshop was to a sensitise the various agencies and institutions involved in disaster management on how to improve their capability to use space-based information in managing disasters. Earlier, NARSDA assured of its readiness to deploy Nigerian satellite facilities in the event of any flood disaster to provide data on the affected areas.