Sensitisation On NiMeT Weather Report: Religious Affairs Ministry, BASEPA, NOA Interact With Religious Group
By Abdullahi Idris, Bauchi
Bauchi State Ministry of Religious Affairs, Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency (BASEPA) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) jointly organized an interactive meeting with Imams, Pastors and community leaders on the awareness and sensitisation campaigns on recent report released by the Nigerian Metreological Agency (NiMeT) on the possible torrential rainfall that may cause flooding in the 19 Northern States of the country this September.
Declaring the session opened, the Commissioner, Ministry for Religious Affairs, Alhaji Umar Babayo Kesa informed the participants that the interaction was aimed at involving the Religious leaders as the gateway to the grassroots on the need to sensitize their followers to be aware of the report released by NiMeT.
They are expected to educate their members on the needed precautionary measures to be taken to avert or reduced the damages that may occur as a result of water flooding and call on them to took the gospel to their Mosques and Churches.
The Director General BASEPA Dr Ibrahim Kabir, while making his presentation informed the Imams, Pastors and the community leaders that they are considered as key and relevant stakeholders, who are directly relating and talking to people at the grassroots in their Mosques and Churches, added that the meeting is to brainstorm and see how the message will reach to every parts of the state.
As an expert and professional environmentalist, the Director General discussed extensively on the causes of water flooding and appealed to the religious leaders to use their pulpits and podiums of their worship centers to make people aware of the NiMeT report for them to prepare and avert or reduced the damages comes along with water flooding.
According to him, the causes of water flooding differs from one place to another, saying that all are attributed to the issues of climate change and global warming, courtesy of human activities, such as Industrial revolution, increase in population, unnecessary cutting down of trees to make firewood, charcoal or timber among others.
Ibrahim Kabir added that, In the urban centers, water flooding occurred as a result of absence or inadequate of drainage system, unnecessary dumping of refuse in drainages, erection of buildings on waterways or blockage, wanton disregard of master plan among others and called on the religious leaders to preach to their followers on the need to avoid engaging on such activities.
The Director General noted that, apart from lost of lives and destruction of properties, water flooding also destroyed farmlands, resulting to food crises and outbreak of diseases as a result of decontamination of water sources.
He stressed that Planting of trees provide solutions to more than eighty percent of all the environmental challenges of water flooding, soil erosion, climate change, global warming and desertification and urged the religious leaders to encourage their followers on massive afforestation activity to put a stop to the lingering issue and donated one hundred different species of seedlings each, to the participants.
He also used the occasion to inform the clerics that the state Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed is seriously concerned about the report and all the collaborative efforts between the relevant stakeholders are all geared towards achieving the goals, desires and objectives of the PDP government in the state and seek for the continued support of the men of God as well as the general public on all the policies and programs introduced by this administration.
On her part, the Deputy Director, NOA, Mrs Theresa Onuga while thanking the Commissioner and the Director General BASEPA for their swift responses on the issue, called on the Imams and Pastors to consider the awareness campaigns as a sacred activity which she said will attract rewards from the supreme being and pray for the success of the exercise.
In their separate responses,the State Chairman of Tsangaya Schools, Alaramma Armayau Yusuf and Secretary of the Christian association of Nigeria (CAN) Bauchi State chapter, Reverend Wakili Mathew Laslimbo, said that the meeting was timely assuring of stepping down the message for the overall objectives of the general public and commended the conveners of the meeting for considering them as relevant stakeholders in that regard.
In his closing remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Alhaji Bala Manu Gadau said he was glad for the prompt response of the religious leaders despite the short notice and said the ministry will continue engaging them, not only on this but on any important activity for the betterment of our state as contained in a statement by Isyaka Laminu Badamasi, SA Media to DG BASEPA.
