Minna—The Niger Government yesterday, said it had spent about N2 billion on disaster management in the state in the past seven years.

The Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Ibeto, who is also the Chairman of the Board of the Niger State Emergency Management, NSEMA, made the disclosure at the opening of training workshop for disaster management coordinators and community leaders in Minna.

This was even as Mr Abdullahi Mohammed, Coordinator, National Directorate of Employment, NDE, in the state also said the agency has trained and empowered more than 1, 940 youths in the state.

Mohammed told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Minna that the youths were trained and empowered in different skills to make them self reliant.

However, Ibeto said that the money was used to purchase relief materials for victims of disasters, adding that 95 per cent of disaster victims benefited from the gesture.

He said that the State Government had concentrated on promoting the well being and needs of its citizenry, adding that this had changed people’s perception about disaster management.

“I commend UNDP for its continuous support to sustain disaster management; we shall continue to partner with you to reduce disaster epidemics.

“I call on all participants to be attentive and be actively involved for your community to benefit from you,” he said.

A facilitator from the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Prof. Godwin Nsofor, said that climate change and global warming were factors contributing to disaster outbreaks worldwide.

Nsofor said that disaster coordinators and community leaders should be knowledgeable about potential disasters around their communities.