MiFMASS: Agency Offers Space Technology Service To Help Nigeria Combat Flooding

The perennial flooding challenge facing several states  in Nigeria has been described as one that can only be solved when environmental and disaster management organisations improve their level of collaboration.

The Executive Director of the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education (CSSTE) situated in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Dr Ganiy Ishola Agbaje said this on Wednesday, August 28th,  2019 during a media chat with newsmen in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.

Dr Agbaje was in Ibadan to introduce the Multiscale Flood Monitoring and Assessment Services for West Africa (MiFMASS), to the media and other stakeholders in the management of flooding and other emergencies in the state.

While acknowledging the efforts of disaster management agencies and other stakeholders involved in flood management in the country, Dr Agbaje noted that the MiFMASS has only come to compliment ongoing efforts.

The purpose of the project is to develop a number of services through which space technology and particularly satellite data can be used in preventing and mitigating the impact of flooding in the West African subregion.

The end product will see existing agencies in all the countries being trained on how to use space technology, analyze data and communicate relevant information to the grassroots through multiple channels.

MiFMASS is being executed by a consortium of seven academic and research institutions from five West African countries namely Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Benin Republic and Nigeria with Agbaje’s CSSTE leading the project.

The project was facilitated under the European Union Commission’s Global Monitoring for the Environment and Security (GMES) in collaboration with the African Union Commission.

Dr Agbaje, however urged  agencies like NIMET, NEMA, NIHSA and others  to embrace the type of collaboration that the CSSTE consortium now proposes in the interest of the masses, assuring them of better and more sustainable results for their efforts.

The Communication Consultant, for the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP), Mr Abiodun Adefioye was also present at the media briefing.

He lauded  the CSSTE for the idea and particularly their choice of Ibadan as their study site for the pilot stage of the project.

Adefioye, who acknowledged the history of Ibadan with floods, also reiterated his agency’s resolve to embrace every new idea that will make their job easier towards making life better for the people.

He assured the CSSTE consortium of their support and cooperation in making the project successful in Oyo state and eventually become one that would be adopted across Nigeria and other West African countries.

The Secretary of the Oyo State Emergency Management Authority, Alh Lukman Aransi, also expressed delight at the foreign initiative, saying   that it aligns with the efforts of the state government in making flooding less devastating for the people.

Representatives of the Red Cross and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency were also present at the event to identify with the project.

In the last decade, the number of flood events (riverine flood, flash flood) in many West African countries have increased dramatically with serious impact on the economies of the affected countries.