Niger State government on Wednesday announced plans to mitigate the challenges of flood disasters in the coming months, noting that the state already made provisions in the 2026 budget.
The Commissioner for Planning Commission, Mustapha Ndajiwo, made this known during a 3-Day stakeholders consultative meeting on the Niger State Shock Response Framework organised by the government in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
According to him, “We are preparing and doing our best to ensure that we do all we can within our powers. When we developed the budget, we made provisions for disasters, counterpart funding and when the time comes, we will release funds for the work.
“We need to take action because Niger is a vulnerable state when it comes to disasters. What we are doing is to brainstorm and review all that we have done in the past years and see areas where we can improve on.”
He added that “over the years, the government had worked to draft and implement strategic policies, particularly in the realms of agriculture, food security, and maternal and child nutrition”.
He then lamented that, for too long, the State’s institutional response has been disjointed, treating planning, nutrition, and emergency management as separate silos.
He further urged the participants to design a comprehensive, multi-sectoral Shock Response Framework that ensures the State’s development plans are essentially “shock-proof.”
Speaking during an interview, Niger state Commissioner for Humanitarian and Disaster Management, Mohammed Inga Ibrahim, said the Ministry will work in collaboration with other stakeholders to ensure the people of the state are acquainted with the realities on the ground and to prepare them to be adaptive and resilient towards any shock that may come.
According to him, “we will ensure we look at the mitigating measures and the possibilities of pro-activeness to curb any disaster.
“A framework without a funding mechanism is just a wish list. We must integrate clear, ring-fenced financing strategies that allow for rapid deployment of resources before a shock becomes a catastrophe.”
He then disclosed that for crisis response, it is the duty of everyone in the Ministries of Agriculture and Health, including Local Government administrators, to build the resilience structures that make the State Emergency Management Agency’s (SEMA’s) job easier.
“Our framework must establish clear, data-driven early warning indicators, such as localised rainfall data, market food prices, and rapid nutrition screening metrics, to trigger early action”, he added.
In her goodwill message, WASH Specialist, UNICEF Kaduna field office and the Emergency Focal point, Niger state, Theresa Pamma said the essence of the meeting is to see how funds can be mobilised so as to address shocks after disasters.
She added that to reduce the burden of emergencies on the affected population, the UNICEF will support the state by providing technical capacity, and if resources are available, then we can do more.
Earlier, in her welcome remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Planning Commission, Aishatu Usman, said the state consistently faces a sobering reality, adding that “development is fragile in the face of unforeseen shocks.
Whether it is a climate-induced flood devastating our farmlands, a spike in inflation eroding household purchasing power, or localised security challenges disrupting supply chains and displacing families, shocks have a way of wiping out years of developmental gains overnight.
“When these crises hit, the first casualties are almost always the nutritional status of our children and the economic stability of our vulnerable households.”
