NIHSA, Environmental Journalists Deepen Partnership on Flood Early Warning, Water Management

By Aviashima Toom, Abuja 

The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has pledged to strengthen its collaboration with environmental journalists to improve public awareness of water resources management, flood forecasting, early warning systems and other hydrological issues affecting Nigerians.

The Director-General of NIHSA, Architect Umar Muhammed, made the commitment when the Executive Council of the Environmental Media Correspondents Association of Nigeria (EMCAN), led by its newly elected Chairman, Joycelyn Ellekeche Adah, paid a courtesy visit to the agency in Abuja.

Muhammed described the media as a critical partner in communicating hydrological information to vulnerable communities, particularly warnings relating to flooding and other water-related risks.

He stressed that effective management of water resources was essential to preventing water scarcity, contamination and outbreaks of water-related diseases.

“If you do not manage the environment and water resources, one day you wake up and you’d be shocked with what you see. Either you totally run out of water or you have no clean water,” he said.

The NIHSA boss also warned that poor environmental management and human activities that contaminate streams and other water bodies could have serious consequences for public health.

He said the agency needed organisations such as EMCAN to help bridge the communication gap between NIHSA and the public by ensuring that reliable information on water resources, flooding and early warning systems reached communities in a timely manner.

“We will need an organisation like yours to interface with the public and disseminate quality information for public use,” Muhammed said.

EMCAN Seeks Support for COP31

During the visit, EMCAN also informed NIHSA of its plans to cover the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31), scheduled to take place in Türkiye.

Adah appealed to the agency to support the association’s participation in the global climate conference, particularly through sponsorship for two or three journalists who would represent EMCAN.

She said the association had commenced efforts to raise funds for the participation of its members but was also seeking support from relevant government agencies and environmental organisations.

Responding, Muhammed said NIHSA was also preparing to participate in COP31 and was exploring partnerships with international development organisations, government agencies and other stakeholders.

He explained that the agency operates within a statutory funding framework and could therefore not make a definite commitment on sponsorship at the moment.

He, however, said NIHSA would explore possible opportunities that could accommodate additional participation.

“If we are able to secure quite a number of slots, why not? Definitely, it’s something that we could consider,” he said.

NIHSA Wants Greater Publicity, Specialised Training for Journalists

The Special Assistant to the Director-General on Media, Yakub Aliyu, called for stronger collaboration with environmental journalists to improve publicity of the agency’s activities and build the capacity of reporters covering hydrological issues.

Aliyu said greater visibility was needed for Nigerians to understand NIHSA’s mandate and appreciate the importance of hydrological information in preventing disasters.

He noted that Nigeria faced both water scarcity and excess water challenges, particularly flooding, while contamination of water sources remained a major concern.

According to him, pollution of streams and other water bodies through human activities could increase the risk of diseases and other public health problems.

He therefore expressed the agency’s interest in partnering with EMCAN on specialised training programmes that would equip journalists with the technical knowledge required to accurately report hydrological and environmental issues.

EMCAN Prioritises Capacity Building

The EMCAN Chairman said specialised training remained one of the major priorities of the association’s new leadership.

Adah noted that journalists covering technical government agencies needed a proper understanding of their mandates, operations and technical terminology to ensure accurate and informed reporting.

She said EMCAN was therefore seeking stronger relationships with key environmental agencies, with NIHSA identified as one of its important partners.

“As environmental journalists, we have been following and reporting the activities of NIHSA, but we want to do more,” Adah said.

She said NIHSA’s responsibilities in hydrology, flood forecasting, early warning systems and water resources management had direct implications for the safety and wellbeing of Nigerians.

According to her, stronger collaboration would enable EMCAN members to gain technical knowledge while helping NIHSA communicate its activities more effectively to the public.

“We want to intensify our work to support NIHSA to make Nigerians better understand the importance of what the agency does,” she said.

Adah proposed a structured partnership between both organisations, saying journalists who understood NIHSA’s work firsthand would be better positioned to report its activities accurately.

“We believe that when our members understand the work first-hand, they are better positioned to tell the NIHSA story accurately and effectively,” she added.

NIHSA Calls for Better Coverage of Flood Outlook

The Technical Adviser to the Director-General of NIHSA, Stephen Jabo, also called for closer collaboration with the media, particularly in the dissemination of the agency’s Annual Flood Outlook.

Jabo said NIHSA’s work on water and land management directly affected millions of Nigerians but remained insufficiently understood because of inadequate publicity.

He urged media organisations, especially environmental journalists, to maintain close contact with the agency’s press unit, participate in its programmes and help disseminate critical information on flooding and other water-related risks to communities.

He said effective media coverage would improve the visibility of NIHSA and enable Nigerians to better understand and benefit from the agency’s activities.

The EMCAN delegation said many of its members regularly cover environmental issues, including flooding, climate change, water resources and environmental protection, and pledged to intensify coverage of NIHSA’s activities.

Both organisations expressed optimism that the visit would mark the beginning of a sustained partnership focused on public enlightenment, professional development, early warning dissemination and improved reporting of Nigeria’s water and environmental challenges.

The courtesy visit formed part of activities by the new EMCAN leadership to familiarise the association with relevant government agencies and strengthen partnerships aimed at projecting issues of public interest.