The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has flagged off its 2026 National Preparedness and Response Campaign on Flood. The event took place in Benin City, the Edo State capital, as the agency steps up its efforts ahead of the rainy season.
The campaign was held under the theme Strengthening Disaster Risk Governance for Resilience in Nigeria. The framing points to a focus on improving how flood risk is managed and coordinated across the country.
Speaking at the event, the Director-General of NEMA, Zubaida Umar, issued a warning about the scale of the risk this year. She said that 23 states covering 132 local government areas are in high-risk zones as the country heads into the flood season.
The agency also pointed to the toll recorded the previous year as a reference point. According to NEMA's 2025 Flood Dashboard, 27 states across 123 local government areas were affected, with 241 deaths recorded over the course of the year.
Within those national figures, the host state of the campaign stood out. NEMA noted that Edo State did not record any deaths in the 2025 flood season, even as other parts of the country counted fatalities.
The launch reflects a wider push towards early and coordinated action to protect lives and reduce the impact of flooding in the months ahead. NEMA framed the campaign as part of efforts to drive preparedness across vulnerable communities nationwide.
At the state level, authorities in flood-prone areas have also begun early interventions ahead of the peak of the rainy season. These include the desilting of canals and the clearing of drainage channels to improve water evacuation and prevent communities from being overtaken when the floods arrive.