By Chuks Oyema-Aziken
The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) and the Environmental Media Correspondents Association of Nigeria (EMCAN) have agreed to strengthen collaboration on public enlightenment, water resources management, flood forecasting and early warning systems.
The Director-General of NIHSA, Architect Umar Muhammed, made this known in Abuja when the newly elected Executive Council of EMCAN, led by its Chairman, Joycelyn Ellakeche Adah, paid a courtesy visit to the agency.
Muhammed stressed the importance of closer collaboration with the media in disseminating critical hydrological information, particularly early warnings on flooding and other water-related risks, to vulnerable communities across the country.
He said effective management of water resources was essential to preventing water scarcity, contamination and outbreaks of water-related diseases, warning that poor environmental management could have serious consequences for public health.
“If you do not have good environment and manage 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 expressed concern over the contamination of streams and other water bodies through human activities, noting that such practices could increase the risks of diseases and other public health challenges.
He said NIHSA needed organisations such as EMCAN to interface with the public and ensure that accurate and quality information on water resources and early warning systems reached those who needed it.
“We will need an organisation like yours to interface with the public and disseminate quality information for public use,” Muhammed said.
The EMCAN Chairman, Adah, said the association considered NIHSA’s mandate critical to the safety and wellbeing of Nigerians, particularly its responsibilities for hydrology, flood forecasting, early warning systems and water resources management.
She said the association had continued to report the activities of NIHSA but was seeking to deepen the relationship under its new leadership through stronger collaboration and capacity building.
“As environmental journalists, we have been following and reporting the activities of NIHSA, but we want to do more,” Adah said.
She explained that EMCAN was interested in building stronger relationships with key environmental agencies while ensuring that its members acquired the technical knowledge required to accurately report specialised issues.
Adah also called for a structured partnership between EMCAN and NIHSA, saying journalists who understood the agency’s operations first-hand would be better positioned to explain its activities and warnings to the public.
The association also used the visit to seek NIHSA’s support for its planned coverage of the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31), scheduled to hold in Türkiye, particularly sponsorship for two or three members of the association.
Responding, Muhammed said NIHSA was also preparing for COP31 and was exploring collaboration with international development partners, government agencies and other stakeholders.
He, however, explained that the agency operated within a statutory funding framework and could not give an immediate commitment on sponsorship.
“If we are able to secure quite a number of slots, why not? Definitely, it’s something that we could consider,” he said.
The Special Assistant on Media to the NIHSA DG, Yakub Aliyu, called for closer collaboration with environmental journalists, particularly in publicity and specialised media training.
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, including flooding, while contamination of water sources remained a major concern.
He said the agency was interested in partnering with EMCAN on specialised training programmes that would equip journalists with the technical knowledge required to report hydrological and environmental issues accurately.
Also speaking, the Technical Adviser to the NIHSA Director-General, Stephen Jabo, called for stronger media collaboration, particularly in publicising the agency’s Annual Flood Outlook.
Jabo said NIHSA’s work on water and land management directly affected millions of Nigerians but remained insufficiently known because of inadequate publicity.
He urged media organisations, especially environmental reporters, to liaise closely with the agency’s press unit, participate in its programmes and disseminate critical information on flooding and other water-related issues to communities.
The EMCAN Chairman said the association would prioritise capacity building for its members, noting that journalists covering technical government agencies needed to understand their mandates, operations and technical language to improve the quality and accuracy of their reports.
She added that stronger cooperation would enable NIHSA to enjoy wider public visibility while giving journalists access to technical knowledge and professional development opportunities.
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 itself with relevant government agencies and strengthen partnerships aimed at projecting their activities in the interest of Nigerians.
