The Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said that the country is prone to climate induced disasters that would have negative impact on the social well-being and economic potentials of the country if care is not taken.

Mohammed Audu-Bida, the director-general of NEMA, raised the alarm Sunday at a program organized by the Center for Climate Change and Freshwater Resources Center in collaboration with National Space Research and Developmental Agency (NASRDA) in northern Nigeria's Niger State.

The director general said while every part of the country would be affected due to their climatic condition, multiple sectors would not also be spared including agriculture, food security, health, sanitation, and environment.

"Nigeria is prone to climate induced disasters as any other part of the world, managing climate-induced risks is a major challenge of today and for the future," the Nigerian Tribune newspaper quoted him as saying.

"The number of reported hydro-meteorological hazards has increased due to climate-induced disasters," he added.

The NEMA chief pointed out that changes in rainfall in the southern part of the country and more intense land use would result in increased deforestation, loss of forest quality and woodlands degradation across the country that would worsen desertification in the northern part of the country.

He added that this would exert greater pressure on already strained coping strategies that might increase poverty and vulnerability of the poor.

He said the climate change has already manifested in the country with sea level rise, leading to coastal and marine erosion and flooding, particularly in southeast and southwest, and bleaching of coral reefs along the coastal zone.

The NEMA boss warned that with certain percentage of the population living within the coast and most cities concentrated along the coastline, the vulnerability to marine-induced disasters from tidal waves and storm surges would also increase.

He advised all the stakeholders especially the second and third tiers of the government to engage the media and community leaders on potentials hazards posed by climate change by activating early warnings and forecasts to reduce the social and economic impact of all natural disasters including flood.

He said time has come for all concerned to jettison old- fashioned reactive strategies to proactive approaches to managing risk and vulnerability in order to save lives.

He added that response agencies must also have adequate knowledge on geophysical processes and causal factors so that effective response measures may be implemented.

(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2009)