968 died, scores rescued in 2017 disasters –NEMA

Umar Muhammed, Lafia

About 968 persons lost their lives to various disasters and communal crises across the country in 2017, the National Emergency Management Agency has said.

The Deputy Director of NEMA, James Akujobi, who revealed this in an interview with Saturday PUNCH in Nasarawa State on Friday, said scores of people were also rescued in the North-East.

He said the agency had already concluded arrangements to integrate some disaster management principles into the curriculum of primary and secondary schools in the country. He attributed the increase in the cases of disasters in the country to the low awareness in disaster management.

Similarly, the Presidency has called on managers of public and private institutions to work with the government to bring to an end all unsafe, poor and inhuman workplace conditions for persons living with disabilities and other Nigerian workers.

The Senior Technical Assistant on Rehabilitation and Disabilities Matters to the President, Prince David Yilbel, made the call in a message at a retreat organised by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation for members of the committee on development of public service emergency policy in Keffi Local Government Area of the state.

He, however, hinted that the government, through the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, had set up a 12-member technical committee on the development of the public service emergency policy to draw up action plans aimed at preventing the menace.

In his paper presentation titled, “Safety management of people living with disabilities in the workplace”, Yilbel said that accessibility should also be understood to include the use of signage, manuals, workplace instructions and electronic information.

He said, “These should be reviewed where necessary for accessibility to people with visual impairment and for people with intellectual disability in particular.’’

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