Funmi Ogundare
The Special Adviser to the Interim Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Udengs Eradiri, has called on the federal government to engage the commission, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and state governments to solve the problem of perennial flooding across the country.
Eradiri who was a guest on The Morning Show, AriseTV, disclosed yesterday that the commission has just approved the flood remediation action that would ensure the release of resources and action to help those displaced by floods.
He expressed concern that East-West Road has been taken over by the flood and currently inaccessible, adding that he is making preparations to move Jet Ski to the area to assist people.
He said: “A lot of people have been swept away because of the current that the flood is coming with. Some communities are already submerged and people are living on the road sides. This is an opportunity for me to call on the agencies, especially NEMA and Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, to coordinate their activities together. This is not the time to play politics of party. This is the time we must work together to save Nigerians. It would have been far reaching if the states under the NDDC are working together. Before now, I have written to the minister intimating him about how we need to prepare for the flood.”
On the submission that the NDDC is helping the people in the face of disaster, Eradiri said, the managing director of NDDC has already approved flood remediation action for the Niger Delta, which comes in various stages like the medical aspect of it, humanitarian and construction aspects of it.
He said: “All these will involve a lot of money. President Mohammadu Buhari should take a strong foot on the issue of NDDC so that all these distractions can allow us to function properly. The managing director has been coming to work and ensuring that the NDDC functions according to its mandate. There may be lots of issues, but the commission is not immune to the issues that bedeviled Nigeria as a nation.”
The special adviser said that the commission is on top of its game concerning the flood, adding that when he was commissioner, he took action concerning the issue.
“If we work together, we can take this thing in phases. Bayelsa State is already providing succor to the people and doing its best.”
Eradiri said that money has been approved for managing the effects of the floods.
He said: “I am a special assistant, I have a boss, and I know that within his approval limit, he has done that to the department that will deal with the flood. I know that approvals have been done and I was deployed to come and access the situation.
“I can assure you that these funds will be adequately spent. Our responsibility as a government to every Nigerian from the point you take your oath of office, you become responsible to the people and not just the party.”
He noted that his responsibility is to support his managing director and the commission on what is right and to give advice as an aide for the country to move forward, adding, “I know that the Managing Director of NDDC, Dr. Efiong Akwa, will not play politics with the lives of the people of the Niger Delta.”
