Harmattan: NEMA cautions against bush burning

Speaking with our correspondent shortly after a workshop organised by the agency for some stakeholders including security agents in Osogbo, capital of Osun State, the Head of Ekiti Operations Office of NEMA, Mr. Saheed Akiode also warned against improper handling of fire.
Akiode also blamed some fire disasters on storing of fuel in residential buildings and insisted that bush burning should be stopped and charged people to learn to cut grasses in their surroundings.
“Security agents should arrest anybody caught burning bush; people should learn to cut grasses in their surroundings and not burn them. Bush burning should be stopped. We must prevent unwarranted fire outbreaks,” he warned.
Akiode said that NEMA organised the workshop as part of its efforts to sensitise Nigerians on the need to build resilient communities and to enforce environmental laws for safer cities.
He said: “We are in harmattan now and we must ensure that people don’t handle fire carelessly this time around. There is no need to store fuel inside residential buildings; some people do it but this is dangerous.
“Some throw away the stump of cigarettes carelessly, this should be discouraged and those who do such should stop. Everybody needs to be watchful and ensure that some careless people do not endanger their lives unnecessarily.”
One of the speakers at the workshop, Dr. Olwasinaayomi Kasim, said that the nation had lost so much to disasters, adding that everything must be done to prevent disasters occurring.
Kasim said safer cities could not be achieved by responding to disasters but by ensuring compliance to laws guiding building and other environmental laws.
Another speaker, Bolanle Ojo, said that disasters were undermining the efforts of government and individuals to develop the nation.
Ojo said in a disaster resilient community, land use planning systems and building control arrangement reduce its exposure to unreasonable risks from known hazards.
She added: “A community becomes disaster resilient when it is prepared for the inevitable natural hazards that are likely to occur at the wrong time and in the wrong place relative to the city’s social constructs.
“Also, when such city is resilient, it is able to respond effectively in real time to move people out of harm’s way and to meet their needs in a crisis environment and protect assets.”