NEMA urges Nigerians to use social media for disaster prevention

Mr Tom Obey, the Information
Communication Technology consultant of National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has
urged Nigerians to embrace the use of social media
platforms to prevent disasters in the country.
Obey said this during the Social Media Week
programme held in Lagos.
In his presentation titled `NEMA and Social Media:
How to Use Media Platforms for Disaster
Management’, he said there was need for the public
to use such platforms in fighting disaster.
Obey defined social platform as the use of new
media for social interactions which include
networking sites such as facebook, twitter, flickr
and linkedln.
He observed that more than five million Nigerians
used the most popular site — `Facebook’ — to post
pictures, communicate and update their status daily.
“There is great potential for social media to provide
real-time status of the situation on ground during a
disaster or incident and could also be used to alert
first responders in advance of any incident.
“We want to promote and create awareness on the
effective use of the social media to assist the
government in mitigating disaster in the country.
“We found out that social media platforms are good
tools in aid of disaster management especially
facebook and twitter are important platforms in
elevating disaster.
“The Social Media Week in Lagos is one of the
events that tries to emphasise the importance of
social platforms.”
According to him, Lagos is one of the 10 countries
in the world that holds social media week to create
awareness on the importance of social media
platforms.
He said the social media could be effectively used
to get attention, spread the news, get feedback,
provide support and organise a strong work force.
He said that the social media assisted NEMA to get
quick information and feedback of any incident for
immediate response.
He further urged other government and private
organisations to get involved in the social media
platform for quick accessibility and for solving
urgent issues which might involve lives and
property.
Some of the participants at the event, commended
the efforts of NEMA in providing simple ways of
obtaining information during emergencies.
Miss Ngozi Okoye, a secretary, encouraged
companies and other official outfits in the country to
embrace the social media culture for easy
communication within or outside the working arena.
“All government offices in the country should
embrace the social media networking system for
easy communication and solving problems outside
the office premises; it is very encouraging,’’ she
said.
Mr Patrick Omoniyi, a lecturer, said that the social
media should be extended to other areas such as
health, crime and other sector for prompt services.
Omoniyi called on the communication industry to
improve on the ICT in the country, to enable the
public to enjoy free services such as WiFi, for quick
report of emergencies, crimes or disasters. (NAN)